Canada: Ikea Richmond employees getting back to work after 17 months of conflict

On Wednesday 22 October, unionized employees from the Ikea store in Richmond, near Vancouver, signed a new collective agreement with the store's management, marking the end of a battle that has lasted 17 months. A mediator was required to help reach a settlement on the new collective agreement. This struggle is indicative of the complete deterioration of the relationship between the British Columbia store’s management and its 350 unionized employees.
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The store was forced to reduce its opening hours after 350 employees — members of the Teamsters’ Union — went on strike in May 2013, following failed negotiations on the renewal of the collective agreement covering the next 10 years. The agreement, which was reached after the intervention of a mediator, involves improved wages and benefits, the details of which have not been made public. The Teamsters’ Union were in particular opposition to a wage scale which would have made pay increases less

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