An agreement in principle was reached Friday between the City of Montreal and its blue-collar workers over pension plans for municipal workers.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) — a section of which represents the city’s blue-collar workers — said in a news release that the “agreement protects the interests of the workers in a responsible manner, within a challenging environment.”
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The negotiations, which CUPE described as “intensive,” became necessary after Bill-15 was adopted into law in December 2014, forcing workers to make equal contributions to their pension funds, to offset a $4-billion pension fund deficit.
Despite having reached an agreement, CUPE said it would continue its legal challenge to have Bill-15 declared unconstitutional.
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Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre took to social media to announce a deal had been reached, and to express his satisfaction.
Details of the agreement will only be made public once the agreement has been formally adopted by union members, pending a secret vote.
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The city previously reached similar agreements with the firefighters union in May and Montreal police in June.