13 August, 2018
For immediate release
Montréal, QC – 150 members from IAM Local Lodge 2309 in Montreal overwhelmingly ratified a tentative agreement after eight long months of negotiation.
“It wasn’t a regular bargaining session with the employer,” said Michel Richer, Grand Lodge Representative, who was present throughout the negotiations. “The employer was squarely against any improvements to the contract, and they made it quite obvious.”
“The LL2309 Bargaining Committee knew what we were up against,” said Richer, “including Peter Tsoukalas, Stéphane Baril and John Toto. Before his recent retirement, Gérald Tremblay also helped greatly in the long negotiations,” he said.
“The Committee was great, and we got strong support from the membership. With this kind of solidarity, how could we have lost?” he continued. “We have some stars in our membership, and they fought hard for ALL the members,” concluded Richer.
The most remarkable aspect of the newly-ratified agreement are the pay increases. On average, the increase stood at 24%, and, in some cases, due to “raising the floor”, some members received a 35% increase over five years. This is in line, or higher than, the industry standard.
Other improvements include an increase to “personal days”, increases to vacation days and a marked improvement to the flex time – members can start work anywhere from 5:30 am to 9:00 am, and finish their day relative to their start time. The members have long wanted this, and now they have it. They also won indirect improvement of their pension through the salary increase, as well as improvements on recalls, bereavement leave and subcontracting.
“The five-year contract will let our members breathe a little bit and come to work with some peace of mind,” said Richer.
AJW Technique began aircraft component maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations in Montreal in 2013, after purchasing the former Aveos component shop, which was represented by the IAM.
The IAM is among the largest industrial trade unions in North America, representing more than 500,000 active and retired members, and administers more than 5,000 contracts in transportation, woodworking, aerospace, manufacturing, service, health services and public services workers.
– 30 –
For more information:
Michel Richer, Grand Lodge Representative
(514) 910-9339
