Via Rail engineers and yardmasters ratify agreement
Employees to see a 10.5 per cent wage increase over four years
Via Rail Canadas locomotive engineers and yardmasters have ratified a new collective agreement with the passenger rail company. Nearly 89 per cent of the employees voted in favour of accepting the contract.
The 350 employees, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), will see a two per cent wage increase in the first year, a 2.5 per cent increase in the second year, and a three per cent increase in both the third and fourth years of the agreement.
"Having this four-year agreement in place provides stability from a business and customer service perspective, and positions us well to tackle future challenges as a team," said Via Rail president Marc Laliberté.
TCRC also indicated that improvements have been made to the employees benefit package and that there will also be the introduction of a Health Care Spending Account to help offset costs for retirees.
The two parties reached the agreement back in April with the help of a mediator. The contract is retroactive to January 1, 2011 and expires on December 31, 2014.
