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London, ON—Members at the newly organized Unifor Local 27 bargaining unit at The Original Cakerie have ratified a first contract that covers 820 workers who produce up to 10,000 cakes per day for Costco and other big chain grocery stores.
“Original Cakerie workers know that the most powerful way to achieve fairness and respect in the workplace is to join a union and negotiate the conditions of their work,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “In one short year, these courageous trailblazers have organized and won an incredible contract that showcases the remarkable power of worker solidarity, especially as we fight back hard against economic injustice.”
The new three-year contract includes a 12 per cent wage improvement over the lifetime of the agreement, increased weekend and shift premiums, and enhancements vacations, scheduling, time-off, and pensions.
“While this was a long round of bargaining, the union was able to negotiate a great first collective agreement for these members at The Original Cakerie. Unifor local 27 is very proud to have been involved with organizing these members through bargaining and now representing them on a day-to-day basis,” says Unifor Local 27 President Brian Chapman.
About 68% of the bargaining unit includes workers who are from equity deserving communities—as such, this agreement also achieves significant protections to support the diversity of the workplace, including a new full-time union representative, new Women’s and Racial Justice Advocates, and joint anti-harassment and discrimination language.
Unifor members at The Original Cakerie, who joined the union in July 2023, are team leads and workers in production, set-up, mixing, decorating, machine operations, sanitation, and maintenance.
