Brandon, Manitoba-Koch Fertilizer Canada Ltd. has a new four-year contract with the United Steelworkers Local 7184, according to the union, which said its members ratified the settlement. The contract is the first one negotiated since Koch purchased the plant from the previous owner, Simplot Canada Ltd. The union said it provides a 15.5 percent wage increase over the life of the agreement, along with an 11 percent increase in the employees’ defined pension benefit plan. Transition issues associated with the new ownership and subsequent workforce reduction were also addressed through negotiations. The 120 workers at the Brandon plant work for a subsidiary of Kansas-based Koch Nitrogen Co., which through its affiliates produces more than 7 million mt of fertilizer annually.
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