Unionized brewery workers at Andrew Peller Ltd., Canada’s premium wine producer, have signed a new collective bargaining agreement that ratified on May 19, 2026. Around 45 members received major gains on the new 3-year agreement, including: better vacation language, increases to uniform allowance for glasses and boots, increase to bereavement leave, and much more.
“We made major gains 3 years ago & I wasn’t sure we keep up the momentum. We succeeded on most of our proposals and didn’t give up any concessions,” says Steven Farthing, plant chairperson at Andrew Peller. “The two big wins were getting Three (Tier 2) members elevated into the core (Tier 1) which is close to $7.00 difference. We also achieved a $1.00 wage bump for maintenance department prior to the percentage increases.”
The previous agreement was successful, and the momentum continues with this round of collective bargaining including wage increases of 3.5% in year 1, 3% year in 2, and 3% in year 3.
“This was my first time negotiating with the committee,” says Clayton Benko. “Great learning experience all-round. With great teamwork and a respectful, calm approach, we were able to make our CA even better than it already was.”
Workers look forward to having previous sick days changed to personal days where they can now book 48-hours in advance. Newcomers have also gained a paid day to attend their Canadian citizenship ceremony.
Unionized workers at Andrew Peller Ltd. are part of many SEIU Local 2 members in retail liquor stores, breweries, wineries, and other alcoholic beverage facilities. Workers in the beverage industry across Canada are seeing their wages stagnate and working conditions eroded by companies focused primarily on cutting costs. Together, workers can improve working conditions by connecting with one another and forming a union. We see this with the continued success of Beverage Workers rising with their union!
