CUPE Local 2087 has ratified a new contract with the City of Rossland.
The previous contract expired Feb. 28 last year, but negotiations didn’t start right away for “a variety of reasons.”
“Some of it [was] our personal change, and then [there was] some personal change on the negotiating team of the union,” explained Mayor Kathy Moore.
Originally CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) Local 2087 asked for a three-year contract and the city for a five-year, but compromised on a four-year agreement. There were also compromises made on both sides regarding employee raises, which ended up being two per cent per year.
“When you’re in bargaining it’s always, you know, we have one side and they have the other side,” said Jean Pool, president of CUPE 2087. “So we settled. Our aim for the raise was two per cent and we did get two per cent.”
Moore was happy with the way the process went and thought that negotiations had ended well for both parties.
“They had very good productive meetings and the two sides weren’t very far apart, and we’re pretty happy. We came to a fair deal for everybody,” said Moore.
Union members also seem to be happy with the agreement.
“The membership ratified it 100 per cent, so I think that they are very happy about it,” said Pool.
The collective agreement consists of a two per cent increase in each year along with improvements in extended health benefits, bank time and contract language.
CUPE 2087 represents 24 workers in the City of Rossland.