Dr. Oetker plant workers in London Ont., reach tentative agreement with company

The union representing workers at the Dr. Oetker plant in London Ont., have reached a tentative agreement with the company.

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 175 members will vote on the deal Wednesday.

The members at Dr. Oetker in London have been on strike since Wednesday, Feb., 16, causing the company to temporarily shut down as a result.

Members of the UFCW Local 175, which represents approximately 251 workers at the plant, entered legal strike position at 12:01 a.m. Feb., 16, after voting against the offer from the company.

Roughly 60 per cent of members at the plant, 162, voted to strike, with just over half, 91, voting to reject the deal, union officials said.

One of main reasons the workers decided to strike was that the final offer from the company included a staggered wage increase that differed based on the member’s classification, Sam Caetano, director for UFCW Local 175 said last week.

“It wasn’t the equal amount of increase in rates of pay across the table. Also the production bonus. There were two different production bonuses, depending on which classification you were in,” Caetano said.

There is no word yet on what this latest deal involves but more details will be provided once they become available.

With files from Matthew Trevithick