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The 830 locked-out employees at Reliance Home Comfort sites in Ontario are heading back to work after their union ratified a new contract with the company on June 30.

The new collective agreement includes two new paid sick days, improvements to the extended health benefits cost-sharing and a one per cent increase to the matching formula for the group registered retirement savings plan.

Read: Via Rail, Unifor deal increases employer contributions for hybrid pension members

James Tauvette, president of Unifor Local 1999, says the new benefits cost-sharing ratio is 60:40 employer to employee, up from a previous 50:50 ratio. In addition, Reliance will now match up to three per cent in group RRSP contributions, effective September 2021, he says.

The 3.5-year deal is retroactive to April 1, 2021, according to a press release.