Free Press strike ends

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This article was published 29/10/2008 (3219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Your Free Press will be back on your doorstep and on the street Thursday after a 16-day strike of unionized employees ended Tuesday night.

Members of the the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, which represents the 1,000 Free Press striking employees, ratified the final company offer Tuesday evening.

"I'd like to thank all of our employees for voting in favour of this offer and I look forward to welcoming them back to work on Wednesday morning," said publisher Bob Cox.

Employees accepted wage increases of two per cent annually for the next five years. The increase raises the annual wage of a senior reporter to $72,000 immediately and to $77,000 by the end of the contract.

The compensation of Free Press carriers will also increase by two per cent. Their minimum reimbursement for each kilometre they travel will rise and a new formula will be used to raise the reimbursement as fuel prices increase.

Under the old contract, vehicle reimbursement rose with the price of fuel, but not as quickly. City carriers earn, on average, $266 a week for delivering 129 newspapers, a task that takes them just under two hours a day. They are paid separately for each flyer delivered, and extra if they insert anything manually.