Pensions were given top priority by unionized employees at Rio Algom’s (TSE) Elliot Lake, Ont., operations, who voted recently to accept a new 3-year wage contract.
Roughly 74% of Rio Algom’s maintenance and production workers and 83% of the technical staff gave the green light to the new contact which provides fully indexed pensions. Under the contract, workers with 35 years experience can receive $2,015 a month if they retire in January.
The pension provisions in the contract are considered important because there is no guarantee that Rio Algom will continue to mine at Elliot Lake after its uranium supply contracts with Ontario Hydro expire in 1996.
Under the new wage deal, workers now earning $16.61-21.34 an hour will also earn a maximum of $24 after three years.
Rio Algom has agreed to prepare its 500 employees for future layoffs by including retraining provisions in the contract.
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