Essex County Council has endorsed a three-year collective agreement with Teamsters Local 879, which represents workers with the roads division of the County’s Infrastructure Services department.

The contract replaces seasonal rates with a single rate and provides for an average wage increase of 3.38 per cent in the first year, 2.98 per cent in the second year and 3.01 per cent in the third year. The agreement is retroactive to April 1, 2023 and expires on March 31, 2026.

The deal provides friendly improvements to benefits, and features enhancements to procedures governing vacations, scheduling, holidays and overtime. It also makes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation a paid holiday, a provision already in place for other County of Essex employees.

“This is a fair deal that respects our hard-working employees as well as taxpayers and I want to thank the bargaining teams from the Teamsters and the County of Essex for their dedication to the process and their determination to find common ground,” said County of Essex CAO Sandra Zwiers. “We appreciate and value the work our roads employees perform, day in and day out, to maintain and keep safe the County’s vast road network.”

The deal was ratified last week by members of Teamsters Local 879, which represents 34 employees in the roads department, including operators, mechanics, lead hands and traffic signal electricians. The department is responsible for a road network that is 1,503 kilometres long and spans all seven local municipalities.