Membership voted strongly in favour of the collective agreement, which came days after negotiations.

Port McNeill residents don’t have to worry about UFCW 1518 union members who work at IGA going on strike this holiday season.

Port McNeill’s IGA will not close for a strike in coming weeks after penning a collective agreement for IGA employees who are members of UFCW 1518. The collective agreement came 10 days after union members voted to have striking as an option, which was brought to the negotiation table shortly after.

Patrick Johnson, UFCW 1518 executive assistant, had said via a phone interview that “the members took the strike vote and it went back to the table, the employer heard the concerns and they were able to negotiate stronger wage increases for all the members.”

On Dec. 1, the union members took a vote to have a strike as a negotiation option, which received overwhelming support. Following that vote, UFCW 1518 went back to the negotiation table on Dec. 6-7, which concluded the negotiations after both parties struck a deal.

The union membership voted strongly in favour of a collective agreement, which was signed last Tuesday, Dec. 11.

“At this point, we’ve reached a deal, a four-year collective agreement,” Johnson noted. He also stated that employees who are UFCW 1518 union members will, in fact, get an increase in pay by at least 2 per cent on their current wage for every year of the four-year term.

Table negotiations also extended to ensuring that all employees will get a wage increase in anticipation of B.C.’s minimum wage increase expected next year in June.