Steelworkers make strong gains in new contract with Goldcorp in Timmins

TIMMINS, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 225 members of United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 7580 working at Goldcorp Canada Ltd. in Timmins, Ont., have ratified a new five-year collective agreement that provides significant gains.

Members will see wage increases ranging from 20% for operations worker (with 8% in the first year) and 26% for trades people (with 14% in the first year), over the contract’s term. Wages will be boosted even higher through additional adjustments based on job classifications and cost-of-living increases.

The new contract also provides signing bonuses of $4,000 for operations workers and $1,000 for trades people, as well as increases in shift premiums and improvements to pensions and benefits.

“This round of contract negotiations is part of a continuing pattern of success we have been seeing at our bargaining tables in the last couple of years. Workers are winning more – and deservedly so – as a result of the profits they are generating for their employers,” said Myles Sullivan, Director of USW District 6 (Ontario and Atlantic Canada).

“This is a big win for our members at Local 7580 and it marks the 11^th successive collective agreement they’ve reached without a conflict between the USW and Goldcorp,” Sullivan noted.

Union members also achieved a long-sought improvement to their collective agreement – meaningful increases in short-term disability and long-term disability benefits. The new contract also improves provisions on parental and bereavement leaves, job-classification language, safety boot allowances and personal protective equipment.

The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada and is the largest private-sector union in North America with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.

Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of its strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including better wages, benefits and pensions.