WAPSO Ratifies Agreement with City of Winnipeg
On Thursday, August 13th, members of WAPSO/IFPTE Local 162 voted to ratify a tentative agreement with the City of Winnipeg. This was an incredibly important contract for Local 162 members, as it was the very first contract bargained with the city that would put the membership in a strike/lockout position. Previous contracts had the option of seeking an Arbitrated Settlement, however the city removed that provision during the last round of bargaining. Negotiations also took an unpredictable turn when they were interrupted in March 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bargaining was placed on hold for months as both sides waited for the health and safety of the negotiating teams could be guaranteed.
“It is definitely a round of bargaining for the history books. We knew we were going into a strike/lockout situation for the first time. We knew the city had been seeking concessions from other bargaining units and had had tough negotiations. We did an amazing amount of outreach and information gathering with our membership. We had multiple surveys done in person and online and conducted numerous in-person meetings leading up to negotiations. We knew where our members wanted to go and we believe this contract takes them there.”
The pandemic also presented challenges connecting with members. All information sessions regarding the contract were required to be held over Zoom out of concern for the members. Voting was also conducted online. In the end, the membership came away from negotiations with some of the following gains:
4-year agreement with 0, 0.5%, 1.5%, and 2% in wage increases.
Maintaining the additional week-long vacation granted above their regular allotment, called the “WAPSO Week”.
New overtime regime, wherein the additional 100 hours annually is now broken down quarterly.
Reintroduction of Arbitrated Settlement.
Signing Bonus: $500 in 2021 (Y2).
Flex benefits plan LOU.