Employees at three branches of a local credit union have ratified a new four-year agreement.
Unionized staff at the Rossland, Nelson and East Shore (Crawford Bay) branches of the Nelson & District Credit Union (NDCU) have voted in favour of a new four-year collective agreement agreed to between the NDCU and the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1-405 on Aug. 24.
This is the first collective agreement that has been agreed to without a strike vote, mediation, threat of job action, strike of lockout in the 40-year history of the USW being certified to the NDCU, according to a press release put out by USW Local 1-405.
“I believe it signals that a page has been turned on that history,” Jeff Bromley, lead negotiator for the USW Local 1-405, said in the release. “My membership realizes that the profit margins of the credit union aren’t what they used to be and that there are challenges to the business, however I believe that both bargaining committees worked hard to bring this deal back to the membership and the NDCU board. It’s a deal that works for both parties and was a fair process that shows what can happen when both parties work as partners rather than adversaries.”
“Nelson & District Credit Union is pleased with how smoothly and respectfully negotiations went and I would like to personally thank both negotiating teams for their hard work to find common ground,” Tom Murray, NDCU CEO, said in a statement. “While we may have different positions, I believe we reached a four-year agreement that is fair to the credit union and to our employees. By reaching an agreement in three months, without going to mediation or a strike vote, [it] shows that this is a new era for our community credit union and we are looking forward to turning our focus back to serving our members.”
The agreement includes special vacation for long-term employees, an increase in orthodontic coverage, a health care spending account increase, a 7.4 per cent wage increase over four years, a discipline sunset clause, improved job posting language, improved promotional increase language and job share flexibility.
