Negotiated improvements for Bee-Clean Workers in Atlantic Canada

We are pleased to report that this week the Bee-Clean maintenance workers in Dieppe and Saint John NB and St. John’s NL have ratified two new collective agreements with their employer. 

Union negotiators, including a bargaining unit member, began meeting with Bee-Clean management in February and came to a surprisingly quick tentative agreement. Our demands that were achieved include: 

• Increased wages, pay protection and protection against inflation; 
• More paid leave including increased vacation, sick, bereavement leave; 
• New paid leaves, including: leave for other reasons (closure of the office, weather, power outage etc.), quarantine leave, and domestic violence leave; 
• better health and safety protections and money for protective equipment. 

The employers’ negotiators started out with some wrong information from the local managers but we were quick to show them the truth. 

Monetary 

We were successful in removing the bottom three (3) steps of the wage scale. 

Increase of sick time to 5 paid days by end of agreement, and other paid leave protects pay. 

Language that protects pay for a minimum 5 days every week. 

$100/ year for steel toes and $60/ year for pants that the employer does not provide. 

Pay increases immediately from 7.3- 22% depending on the Step the member was on previously. 

Full retroactivity back to the date of the expiry of the previous agreement. 

Protection against minimum wage increases- if the applicable minimum wage rises, so does the wage in the collective agreement. 

CUPW is proud to have the Bee-Clean workers as members in the Atlantic Region. When we join our collective power to ensure that workers are receiving better wages and working conditions but more so, that they are given dignity and respect, we all win. This battle may be over, but there is more to gain for all workers. These workers are still part of Canada Post’s lower wage plan and we have to stop that plan. 

Please join us in congratulating our Bee-Clean Sisters and Brothers for taking a stand and demanding more from their employer. 

We would like to thank the other negotiators Kim Whittaker-Cormier, Bonnie Cormier, Line Doucet, Debby Ready and Mike Brown. 

In solidarity, 

Jim Gallant
Regional Grievance Officer

Toni MacAfee
Regional Education and Organization Officer