Sarnia council has ratified a new contract agreement for the city's inside workers, public works and parks and recreation staff.
The members of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) locals 3690, 153 and 2713 will get pay hikes of 1.5% in each of the four years of a deal that’s retroactive to January 1, 2017.
The terms, where applicable, will also be applied to non-union staff.
Human Resources Manager Jim Crawford says future post-retirement benefits will be administered through a retirement benefits account.
Existing retirees will have their benefits frozen at the recently negotiated level until their eligibility for post-retirement benefits expire.
Adjustments have also been made to some benefits to help manage costs.
Some health and dental coverage will be reduced or limited, including orthotics, paramedical services, travel coverage and dental scaling.
