United Steelworkers Local 8223 members who walked off their jobs as school support staff Aug. 30 in a quest to reach a new contract voted overwhelmingly in favour of accepting an offer from the School District of Mystery Lake (SDML).
Of 168 ballots handed out, 158 were in favour, three were spoiled and seven were not returned by the deadline at 4 p.m. Sept. 7. No one voted against accepting the offer.
The offer presented on the fifth day of union members picketing outside the school district office includes retroactive pay hikes of 1.5 per cent for July 2017 and January 2018, 1.6 per cent for July 2018, 1.4 per cent for July 2019 and 0.5 per cent for July 2020, as well as a cost of living increase for July of this year, CBC reported.
Changes to non-monetary language in the collective agreement and repayment of benefit premiums the union paid during the strike are also included.
USW Local 8223 represents about 185 SDML employees, including custodians, maintenance workers, educational assistants, librarian clerks, information technology staff and other support staff who had been without a contract or wage increases since 2017.
