Last week, a new group of workers at Winnipeg Airport joined the UCTE family. These 30 airport workers have ratified their first collective agreement and become part of Local 50600, which represents employees of the Winnipeg Airport.

As employees of Bouygues Energies and Services (a contractor), these workers didn’t have any union protection. As a result, they worked alongside unionized airport workers who had access to greater protections and more effective ways to address workplace issues. Without representation, these members simply didn’t have the same clout when it came to raising issues and advocating on their own behalf.

That’s why it was so important to us to ensure that these members had protections like those of their unionized counterparts. Their unionization will help us more effectively advocate for better working conditions at the airport, whether workers are directly employed by the airport itself or by a third party.

In addition to becoming part of Local 50600, these members also have a brand-new collective agreement: on February 13, they voted unanimously in favour of ratifying the agreement reached by their bargaining team.

For these members, the new collective agreement comes as a sigh of relief; as UCTE members, they will have access to representation when they need it and they’ll have a more robust mechanism for addressing workplace issues. The agreement includes a grievance procedure as well as language aimed at creating a harassment-free workplace.

Members will obtain a $900 signing bonus, as well as the following economic increases:

November 1, 2018: 2%
February 13, 2019: 2%
November 1, 2019: 2%

The agreement expires October 31, 2020.

UCTE would like to extend its warmest welcome to these new members. We look forward to being a fierce advocate for you and your rights in the workplace.