Labatt Brewing Company workers vote in favour of new deal

Unionized workers at Labatt Brewery in London, Ont. have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new collective agreement.

The vote affects more than 400 members of SEIU Local 2.

Of the 326 workers who voted, 86 per cent voted in favour of a new deal, 14 per cent voted against. The four-year agreement is retro-active to January 1 of this year.

This is the third deal workers have voted on, having rejected two previous offers.

SEIU Local 2 president Jeff Robinson told CTV News that employees were prepared to walk off the job Monday at 12:01 AM if a new deal was not reached.

“Workers are holding more cards today than they have in a long time. They’re demanding more not only from employers, but of unions,” said Robinson. “Our first deal that would normally have passed back in February was soundly rejected by the members and they sent us back to the table. Then the company gave us another final offer and they soundly rejected that by 94 per cent. And they gave us the leverage to go back to the table and get what they needed.”