Millwrights at Sappi’s Skowhegan Mill Ratify Three-Year Contract
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Millwrights at Sappi North America (Boston, Mass., USA) Somerset Mill in Skowhegan have ratified a new three-year contract that gives them a 3% raise in the first year.
Machinists Local 2740, which has 74 members, ratified the contract this past Thursday evening after an earlier contract offer was unanimously rejected in a vote last week, after which the union then voted to authorize a strike. The union said in a news release that it went back to the bargaining table with Sappi and won significant improvements in the contract offered by the company.
The new three-year contract, which took effect on Feb. 1 and extends until Jan. 31, 2022, includes:
- Wage increases of 3% in the first year, 2.25% in the second year and 2.5% in the third year.
- An additional $1 contribution to the pension.
- Improved dental, accident and safety insurance.
The union stated it also beat back provisions the company sought that would have weakened the grievance procedure around the overtime list.
"The members won this contract by standing strong together," Wes Perry, a millwright and president of Machinists Local 2740, said in a statement. "We won our fair share of the wealth we create for this company. It feels like a new day on the shop floor. Members are proud and feel the dignity of standing together."
