We have filed a bargaining in bad faith complaint with the Labour Relations Board.
The Good Samaritan Society (GSS) has decided to shut down negotiations by cancelling all bargaining meeting dates.
The employer said they were cancelling the meetings for “research in the broader market.” GSS has had five years to do this research. We do not accept this excuse.
The last time we met with the employer to negotiate for Continuing Care, they said they would come to the next meeting on March 3 and 15 with a “fulsome package with intent to resolve.”
The employer said they would bring a full response to our proposals for Group Homes, including a monetary offer, to our next dates at the bargaining table which were confirmed for March 6 and 16 (then postponed the March 6 date to March 14.)
Enough is enough. The employer has shown no respect for you, the hardworking members who have been in negotiations for over five years.
Now is the time to fight back!
Your negotiation team is going to do whatever it takes to bring GSS back to the bargaining table and reach a deal that reflects the importance of the job you do and recognizes that you have not had a wage increase in many years. If you want to get involved in the fight back, contact your AUPE organizer Mary Riemer at m.riemer@aupe.org.
Labour Relations Board Complaint
Your negotiation team has filed a bargaining in bad faith complaint against the Good Samaritan Society for cancelling these dates. Labour Relations laws in Alberta require employers to negotiate in good faith. That means scheduling dates to meet with us and showing up to those meetings with an intent to reach a collective agreement.
We warned GSS the last time we met that if they didn’t meet their obligations to show up and negotiate, we would file a complaint. We are now making good on that threat. We are asking the Labour Relations Board to require GSS to immediately return to the bargaining table in March and to require them to immediately table their monetary position.
Further, we wanted to make sure you know that 36 members are being laid off from the Southgate location of GSS. We consider this action by GSS to also be an act of bad faith bargaining and this matter will also be the object of a complaint. They knew a long time ago that they were planning to do this, and they didn’t tell us, in spite of the fact that they have an obligation to do so.
We will provide more information on this process as soon as we have it available. Something to keep in mind – if GSS fights us on this complaint, and it goes to a formal hearing, the hearing is open to the public. That means if you are not scheduled to work, you can come to the hearing and hear for yourself how GSS thinks they can push you around in collective bargaining. We will be encouraging all members who are available to attend any hearings related to this complaint.
Essential Services Agreements
And finally, Essential Services Agreement negotiations are ongoing. We are working as fast as possible to get these agreements done, as they are essential to moving us forward in the event GSS continues to behave in such a reprehensible manner.
If you have any questions or feedback about this bargaining update, please contact a member of your negotiating team.
AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – GOOD SAMARITAN SOCIETY CONTINUING CARE
Betty Wiebe
timbetty@telus.net
Debbie Caplette
acdcfam@telus.net
Diana Bigelow
dianabigelow@gmail.com
Tahera Khalfan
taherakhalfan@gmail.com
AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM - GOOD SAMARITAN SOCIETY GROUP HOMES
Daljinder Bassi
daljinderbassi@hotmail.com
Donald Loiselle
mrdonnywong@gmail.com
Aaron Truman
aarontruman75@gmail.com
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Kate Robinson, Negotiations
k.robinson@aupe.org
Mary Riemer, Organizing
m.riemer@aupe.org
Michelle Szalynski, Organizing
m.szalynski@aupe.org
Maureen Mariampillai, Communications
m.mariampillai@aupe.org