Ryerson workers ratify new tentative agreement with 8.5% wage increase

February 18, 2011 

The 1300 OPSEU members at Ryerson University have ratified a new tentative agreement as of February 17, 2011.

"Congratulations to the bargaining team, and to the entire membership at Ryerson," said OPSEU President, Warren (Smokey) Thomas. "You have demonstrated once again that solidarity makes us strong."

The team went to the table with a strong message to the employer: We will not take home zeros. They negotiated from July 2010 to make sure that happened. With a wage increase of 8.5% over four years, the team's patience clearly paid off.

A $150 signing bonus for all active members; improvements to meal allowances; staff development fund improvements over the life of the contract and paid Family Day were some of the key gains made during bargaining.

In addition, if a member is laid off, they are now able to access vacancies for one grade above their position if they are able to do the duties without training. This is an improvement over the previous agreement, which specified that a member could only apply for vacancies one grade below.

The new agreement includes no concessions.

A 95.3% strike vote last fall gave the bargaining team the strong mandate from the membership that they needed to get this agreement. 

OPSEU members at Ryerson University include support-staff, researchers and athletic staff.