AMHERST, N.S. – There will be three more years of labour peace at one of Amherst’s largest employers after unionized employees accepted the company’s final offer at IMP Aerostructures in the Amherst & Area Industrial Park.
While he could not give the specific vote count, Richard Allen, president of Local 4883 of the United Steelworkers of America, said it was a majority vote in favour of accepting the contract offer.
“It was a close vote,” Allen said.
The vote was held Sunday at the Amherst Fire Department.
Allen would not get into specifics of the offer of whether it addressed the issue of life insurance and long-term disability benefits for its older workers.
“Stability in the workforce is always a good thing,” Allen said. “It’s bittersweet. The sacrifice made if it were voted down would’ve outweighed the benefit of accepting it.”
Back in December, the unionized employees, many of which have been working for the company for 25 years or more, voted more than 80 per cent against a company offer.
There are just over 200 unionized employees at the plant that was the scene of a bitter strike in early 1994.
