Municipal employees retract wage increase to help Leamington

CTV Windsor: Support for Leamington Support for those impacted by the devastating Heinz announcement continues to grow. Sacha Long explains.

Weeks after Heinz announced their decision to close their Leamington plant, municipal employees are retracting items from their contracts to help the town.

Teamsters local 879, has been in ongoing talks with the Town of Leamington working on a new contract. The union represents 30 employees working in the roads department and at the Sherk Aquatic and Fitness Centre.

Rick Parent is with local 879. He says when negotiations started with the town; the union was seeking a two per cent wage increase over two years, among other things. One week after contract talks started, the Heinz announcement came down.

It was at this point the town came back to the Teamsters, floating the idea of a zero per cent increase. The union not only accepted, but pulled all other items off the bargaining table.

“The town is devastated and we’re not going to put people out on the street when things are so uncertain,” says Parent. “It’s not easy, but it has to be done.”

Employees ratified the deal Monday night by 98 per cent.

The ratification is some of the best news Leamington has seen since Heinz announced the closure of the plant on Nov. 11.