{"id":44120,"date":"2021-10-07T16:44:35","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T20:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sutton.ca\/staging\/?p=44120"},"modified":"2025-07-14T15:55:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T19:55:48","slug":"the-town-of-sutton-updates-its-agreements-on-employee-working-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sutton.ca\/staging\/en\/the-town-of-sutton-updates-its-agreements-on-employee-working-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"The Town of Sutton renews its agreements on employee working conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Sutton, October 7, 2021<\/strong> \u2013 During the October 4 meeting, Sutton\u2019s municipal council adopted the renewal of the two agreements concerning the working conditions of the Town\u2019s employees: the collective agreement for unionized employees and the policy on working conditions of management employees. These agreements had expired in December 2020 and were renewed retroactively on January 1, 2021 for a period of five years, until December 31, 2025.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sutton, like many municipalities, is suffering from a general labour shortage. It has been experiencing a very high rate of staff turnover, which affects the efficiency of its administration and, thus, the services it can provide its citizens. \u201cIt was imperative that we review salaries to attract and retain staff, particularly our blue-collar workers, as they are being offered increasingly competitive salaries every month,\u201d said Mayor Michel Lafrance at the council meeting. \u201cWe wanted to address these issues before the end of our mandate to allow the next council to have a free hand.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collective agreement<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Negotiations for the renewal of the collective agreement (Resolution number 2021-10-415) were held between four representatives of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) \u2013 Local 3246 (the union of Sutton’s employees) and three representatives of the Town’s administration, that is, the Mayor, the Director General and the Director of Public Works and Capital Assets. According to Director General Pascal Smith, \u201cthe negotiations went well in a climate of collegiality and collaboration. The union and management parties reached agreement rapidly to everybody\u2019s satisfaction.\u201d <\/a>In addition to the agreement on the nominal clauses (those that do not affect the payroll), both parties agreed to a significant salary adjustment of 16.7% applicable in 2021 in order to catch up with other municipalities and the private sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policy on the working conditions of management employees<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With respect to the renewal of the agreement with the managers (Resolution number 2021-10-413), the council called upon the expertise of the Union des municipalit\u00e9s du Qu\u00e9bec (UMQ), who delegated Ms. Chantale Boisvert to assist Mayor Michel Lafrance and Councillor Andr\u00e9 Forest. Following discussions with three management representatives, the new agreement grants a 7% salary increase applicable in 2021 to management employees, thus making the positions more attractive. “We also corrected two major irritants concerning overtime and a trailer clause,” said the mayor. This trailer clause obliged the employer to automatically grant any gains or benefits obtained in the collective agreement for unionized staff\u2014for example, salary increases \u2014to management. This clause has now been abolished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Manager’s employment contract<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As part of the renewal of the agreements, the employment contract of the General Manager was removed from the policy on working conditions for management employees (Resolution number 2021-10-414). “The contract is now separate from the management policy in order to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest during negotiations,” noted the mayor. The current general manager\u2019s contract has been modified and extended until January 5, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparisons<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Payroll analyses were conducted by the UMQ as part of the negotiations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n