bargaining update 118/020
On Sept. 14 & 15 your Bargaining Committee, Chapter Executive, Negotiator and Organizer formed two teams and traveled across the Special Areas, hitting all your worksites to collect votes from as many members as possible on the Employer’s “Final Offer.”
This is the “Final Offer” that the Employer tabled but did not trust enough to initiate a Final Offer Vote. So, we conducted the vote for them, and the results are in:
Of the 214 eligible votes, an overwhelming 195 ballots were cast: 124 of those were not in favour of the Employer’s “Final Offer.” That means the majority of members – 64% –rejected the “Final Offer.”
Clearly, the Special Areas Board is out of touch with most of their employees. We completed this vote with no "white vans on every corner" or "AUPE propaganda”. The only party tossing around misinformation was the Employer, who attempted to widen the divide they and the PBCO created within the membership by proposing an unfair contract that treated you unequally.
The Bargaining Committee plans to request the Parties return to the table and bargain a fair collective agreement for ALL members in the bargaining unit. Over the two voting days when we met with employees all over the Special Areas, we listened and heard what the membership had to say. Our members are keenly aware of what is going on in other municipalities and with other recently ratified collective agreements in the Province.
According to the Employer updates and Mr. Christianson, the Special Areas Board is "committed to getting a new collective agreement in place and have been working with AUPE to achieve this since May 2019". If this is true, they’ll meet with us without the ALRB forcing them. Mr. Christianson also stated, "I want to thank all employees for your continued hard work over the past two years". Again, we’re challenging the The Special Areas Board to give us more than hollow praise. If the employer really values us, they will return to the table and reward ALL Special Areas Board employees for their hard work.
Your Bargaining Committee is willing to meet on weekends, we’re willing to meet after hours, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to bargain a fair collective agreement that sees modest improvements for ALL the membership.
Your AUPE team sees you. We see your hard work, and during our travels across the Special Areas, we saw just how many Albertans you support; we saw your dedication, we saw how seriously you take the contract negotiations, and in return, we received incredible support for our efforts at the table. The camaraderie among the 118/020 membership is unparalleled. What we need now is respect from the employer. We need a return to the productive relationship we once shared. To get there, they need to scrap the PBCO and lawyers and negotiate a deal with us that we can ratify.
SPECIAL AREAS BOARD NEGOTIATING TEAM MEMBERS
Paulette Pratt pkp.2005@hotmail.com or 403-664-0549
Clint Nicholson poolshot69@yahoo.ca or 403-854-1056
Robin Lacelle robinlacelle@gmail.com or 403-363-9855
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Christian Tetreault, negotiator c.tetreault@aupe.org
Farid Iskandar, organizer f.iskandar@aupe.org
Celia Shea, communications c.shea@aupe.org