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Good day brothers and sisters.
A lot of you may not be aware, but our Collective Agreements expires on Dec31, 2008.
That means it’s time for us to negotiate a new contract, or collective agreement. I just came back from the Local presidents meeting within our region. The purpose of the meeting was to inform the Locals presidents of the new strategy for this term of bargaining. My goal is now to inform you, as members.
Did you know that the Collective Agreement( CA) is the most important document affecting your life? It dictates what type of house you will live in, what type of vehicle you will drive, affects decisions of when you will retire and your security in the future. The amount of money you make affects all those decisions, and what you make, is, governed by the CA. The CA has a profound influence on everything you do. It also governs what types of benefits you receive, what medical and dental insurance you receive and the types of treatment you can receive if you get ill. So why not invest a little time into the CA or contract you have with your employer?
Firstly in this round of bargaining, the intent is to negotiate the issues first. In the past the bargaining team, was required to negotiate the Essential Services Agreement(ESA) first. The government negotiators dragged their feet, during the process and it took six months to get the agreement done, so that a strike could be managed. The issues where negotiated in no time in comparison. It cost both sides millions to negotiate the ESA . This year the government approached the Union, to see if the issues could be negotiated first. The Union agreed and an agreement was signed by both parties to negotiate in good faith.
What this all means? Well it means that it is possible that the new CA could be agreed to and that the ESA does not have to be negotiated. It also means that if the new terms of the CA are not agreed to, then the essential services will be negotiated, but only if a new contact is not reached by years end. This also means that the old bargaining time lines are out the window.
The new timelines have been formulated and they key ones look like this( please refer to the table included)
April – demands survey issued – filled and returned to Locals.
Apr 21-May 30 – demand setting meetings- local members vote on top ten demands to be forwarded to Regional offices
June 7- start of bargaining team selection
June 9 –deadline for submission of demands to Regional offices
June 21- bargaining team selection
June 25- regional offices deadline to submit tabulated demands
Sept 8-12- bargaining team training
Nov 4 – issues bargaining starts
Dec 23- deadline for issues bargaining
Early Jan 09- if no deal essential services agreement proposal to employer
So folks its time to start thinking about how the old CA has affected your life and how you would like to make changes to it, so that those changes, affect, the rest of your life.
Getting involved in the process is the only way to ensure benefits to you and your family’s future.
Look for the survey. Fill it and return it to your Local executive in a timely manner.
Attend your demand setting meetings. Vote on what is important for you.
Try to get elected onto the bargaining team if that interests you.
When bargaining begins, support your team.
Thanks for your time
Fern Blais
President Local 447
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