Negotiating team needs your feedback
After you have spent two stressful years providing frontline service during a pandemic, enduring massive layoffs, and struggling to make ends meet in the face of rising costs, Living Waters finally let your negotiating team know what their monetary proposals would be, more than one year after the start of bargaining.
They want to rollback sick time, overtime for custodial/maintenance, benefits for new employees and cut back the Health Spending Account by $300 to convert it to a Flexible Health Spending Account.
They want a wage freeze in place for four years, no other monetary improvements whatsoever, and two-tiered wages for Educational and Administrative Assistants that would deny current employees future step increases and pay new employees lower rates of pay for the same work.
Needless to say, your negotiating team could not agree to these outrageous and insulting demands.
Our response to the employer was as follows:
- maintained current entitlements (no rollbacks!)
- modest improvements to wages, including improved wages for Classroom Supervisors, provisions for casuals to be paid at the rate of pay applicable for the position they are working and/or their length of service, and a second long-service increment after 20 years
- inclusion of Canada Day and Remembrance Day as paid holidays (regardless of the day they fall on) and the addition of Truth and Reconciliation Day
- conversion of the Health Spending Account to a Flexible Health Spending Account at the current amount of $950
- improved safety footwear allowance
- increased pay for employees holding valid First Aid or dual ticket certification
- reimbursement for record checks and cell service for employees required to use their personal phones at work.
As we await Living Waters’ reply to this fair and reasonable proposal for settlement, we need to hear from YOU!
Members have been sent a survey by e-mail so that you can let us know your priorities for monetary improvements to our collective agreement. If you did not receive the e-mail, please contact a member of your negotiating team. The deadline to complete this survey is March 6.
Living Waters Catholic Schools Negotiating Team
Sarah Cross (Slave Lake) crossar@hotmail.com
Jane Arndt (Edson) janearndt75@gmail.com or 780-725-1912 (cell)
Laurie Martinot (Whitecourt) lmartino@telusplanet.net or 780-706-5857 (cell)
AUPE Resource Staff
Merryn Edwards, Negotiations m.edwards@aupe.org or 780-952-1951 (cell)
Tracy Noble, Organizing t.noble@aupe.org or 306-304-2853 (cell)
Mimi Williams, Communications m.williams@aupe.org