Strike action at a Nestlé chocolate plant in Toronto, Canada, have come to a close as the company settles a three-year deal with workers.
The contract was agreed between both parties last week, allowing production to resume at the plant, Nestlé said.
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The Sterling Road factory had been shut since 5 May when 461 employees staged a walkout at the site in a dispute over pension pay.
Strikes had gone on for three weeks, with negotiations making “zero advances”, the local trade union, Unifor, said at the time.
Participating workers included chocolate bar packers, machine operators, shippers, receivers and “general labourers… in skilled trades”.
According to Unifor, employees had walked out due to the company’s “lack of improvement to pension”, as well as how long it takes workers to hit the top rate of pay.
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By GlobalDataAs part of the agreed three-year contract, Nestlé will boost wages by 3.25% in the first year, 3% in the second and by 2.25% in the third.
Under this agreement, the company will also increase the defined benefit pension plan for “non-skilled trades” by C$1 ($0.73) each year, while the “skilled trades” pension plan will see a C$2 increase each year.
Workers will also gain access to more health benefits, such as “tool allowance, vision, and dental care”. Employees over 65 will also gain access to health benefits for the first time.
The agreement will also enable fourteen contract employees “with the highest seniority level at ratification” to earn a full-time salary “with full benefits”.
Meanwhile, shift staff will earn C$0.75 an hour for afternoon shifts, and C$0.90 for overnight work.
“We’re pleased with this contract,” Eamonn Clarke, president of Unifor’s Toronto branch, local 252, said in a statement.
“It is a robust agreement that addresses the needs of members, from monetary to health. In past contracts, we have fought for more job security and improved pensions, and this continues to build on what we’ve done. Our members are ready to get back to work.”
In a statement sent to Just Food, Nestlé said it was content “that a collective agreement has been reached with Unifor, the union representing production and maintenance employees, at our Sterling Road factory in Toronto”.
It added that it was “pleased to have our valued employees back at work and look forward to the continued success of the Toronto factory”.
The Sterling Road factory manufactures KitKat, Coffee Crisp, Aero chocolate bars and Smarties confectionary.
Strikes also took place at the site in 2001, when workers dropped their tools for 20 days in a push for better pensions and “grow-in rates for new employees”.
