It’s been 9 days since the employer declared an “impasse” over job security at the tail end of mediation and walked away from the bargaining table – again.It’s been 9 days since the employer sent the message across the table that college presidents are united in the view that this strike does not impact students – instead of bargaining job security language that will save even a single support staff job.
Over the past week, we have made it clear all over the province that our strike means no business as usual. This is not something the colleges can “wait out.”Your bargaining team is back together in Toronto to meet as a team, and we invite the employer to sit down once again actually and negotiate.The College Employer Council (CEC) has insisted that we share their last letter with “the entire full-time support staff membership” – and we are happy to do just that. You can find the full, annotated letter, with our response, below:
Accessible version of above PDF can be found
here.You can also find our direct response at the table
here.
Where are the parties still apart?
Bargaining is a two-way street. On the so-called “impasse” regarding job security – namely, protections from jobs eliminated through contracting out, and protections from management taking on core support staff duties: CEC’s refusal to discuss language at all isn’t bargaining.
We’re advocating for ways to protect members that actually save jobs. For instance, regarding managers not doing support staff work, this type of bargaining unit clause language exists in most collective agreements and is very typical of what is found in agreements throughout the education sector.
This is not breaking new ground or pushing the envelope. We are proposing to protect our work in a way that unionized members have for a very long time. We can have a conversation across the table about situations where it makes sense to have exemptions. The employer can deal with concerns by presenting a counter-proposal.During our last pass, U24, we put together a package of proposals with some agreed to items and withdrew 25 proposals. We expect to see the same commitment to movement from both parties.A full list of proposals exchanged can be found
here.Solidarity,
Your College Support Full-Time Bargaining Team:Christine Kelsey, Chair – Local 416, Algonquin College
Shelley Gartshore, Vice-Chair – Local 124, Lambton College
Veronica Attard – Local 416, Algonquin College
Dan Brisson – Local 672, Collège Boréal
Bob Holder – Local 243, Niagara College
Dana Leaman – Local 241, Mohawk College
Xiaoyan Wang– Local 561, Seneca CollegeStay connected & follow us on social media:
For all bargaining inquiries: [email protected]
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