How You Benefit

You and your co-workers are the foundation of IKEA Coquitlam. You keep the business running – you keep it growing.

Isn’t it time you had a stronger voice in your future with IKEA?

Over the last few years, many of you have talked with us about joining Teamsters 213 – about joining our union so that you can get the protection, wages, benefits and voice that will make life better and more secure.

Right now, it's just the opposite. Here are just some of the issues IKEA workers have talked with us about and how a Collective Agreement can help. Oh, and if you have more issues you'd like to add to this list, please send us an email through our Contact page or share it with everyone through the Ask Away forum (and remember, even though your question may be posted and answered on the forum, you are never identified).

To view the Richmond collective agreement click on this link http://www.lrb.bc.ca/cas/WTK11.pdf

 

Current Problem
 

With a Collective Agreement
Capped wages: No raises in years, and none in sight. Bonuses have been shrinking and they're controlled  completely by the employer - if you think about it, they're just a handy excuse management can use to justify not increasing your wages. Let's be clear, you deserve to be able to negotiate wages - you work hard and have earned a say in how you're compensated. With a union Collective Agreement, wages are negotiated between you and management. And you'll have stability in knowing what the increase will be for every year of your contract.
2-tiered wages
 A two-tier wage band is extremely unfair and detrimental to worker morale as it ignores the basic principle of equal work for equal pay. What happens at non-union workplaces like 313 is that workers may be performing the same job as one of their co-workers but being paid less.  Companies use this because it gives them a huge cost savings in wages. And workers may not even know it's going on and that they're being paid less than their fellow coworkers. Why? Because wage contracts have strict confidentiality clauses that mean workers can't discuss their wages. Ikea Richmond used to have an unfair two-tier wage band but it will be eliminated upon expiry of the  current Collective Agreement. This could only have been achieved by having the co-workers support each other, stand together with one voice in negotiations, and force the company to change.
Wavering benefits: Right now, there is nothing stopping management from arbitrarily changing the weekly hours required for full benefits or the 80% partial coverage. And they're able to control how many hours part-timers work week-to-week, putting your coverage in jeopardy at any particular moment. With a Collective Agreement, you've got certainty in coverage thresholds - no more manipulation by management when it suits them. And in the Richmond store agreement, for example, there is greater certainty of weekly hours for more part-timers.
Uncertain scheduling: Have you been "asked" to stay on because there's no one to take over in your department? "Asked" to change shifts for that day? Sound familiar? IKEA Coquitlam needs to recognize that you... you know... have lives. Family, post-secondary, softball and much more - they're the things that make up your life, and you should be able to make time for those things without having IKEA pull the rug out from underneath you at the last minute. Here's the thing: Management is absolutely allowed to ask you to make changes in your schedule. But there should be some rules for that to make it fair for you. And that if you agree, then overtime and other factors should come in to play. And you'll have that with a Collective Agreement.
Split shifts:
 Are you sometimes having to work four hours in the morning and then a couple more on the late shift? Or having to work mornings and then come back in for a department meeting? With split shifts, it's almost like working one long day - the time in between shifts is basically lost. With a Collective Agreement, you are back in control of your scheduling. Split shifts are an exception rather than a management option - and one that you will be appropriately compensated for.
Equality: Basically right now, management can play favourites with shifts and hours, and there's nothing you can do about it. A united, well-working team starts when there is a level playing field for everyone. Workers know that if they come in and do their job they'll be treated the same way as the rest of their co-workers.