CBS Support bargaining begins!
As you all know, our Collective Agreement expired on March 31, 2013. OPSEU served CBS with a notice to bargain on February 21, 2013. We had hoped to get bargaining dates in early Fall 2013 but unfortunately because of Employer re-structuring we were only able to get dates in February 2014.
CBS Support bargaining begins!
Each local covered by the Support Collective Agreement held elections for their representative on the bargaining team. The following individuals were elected by their respective members.
Local 160 – Katherine Zan-Payne
Local 200 – Gus Dino Kourlas
Local 210 – Leigh Anne Siebert
Local 477 – Wendy Lapointe
Local 5103 – Audrey Smith
Our Staff Negotiator is Anastasios Zafiriadis who is also assigned to assist our Sector
The initial proposal
Each local participated in a bargaining survey and held a demand set meeting to prioritize the results of their surveys. These results were then provided from each local to the bargaining team. The top demands in no specific order were General Wage Increase, Guaranteed Part-Time Hours, Equalization of Hours, Anniversary Increments and COLA. The team considered these and other demands to formulate an initial proposal on behalf of the members of Local 160, 200, 210, 477 and 5103; and the process was completed in October 2013.
Negotiations begin…
On February 18-20 the bargaining team met with the Employer for the first time across the table and exchanged proposals. The Union and the Employer realize there are significant challenges and hurdles on both sides of the table during this round of bargaining. We know the “road ahead” is challenging and as the employer has indicated on numerous occasions they are seeking efficiencies within the organization: The efficiencies come with hard decisions.
The Employer has proposed some changes to important issues for the bargaining unit that will require serious discussion and tough decisions by the team; but the team is committed to achieving a fair collective agreement for all our members.
Next steps
Bargaining continues in April with three days scheduled for April 23-25. The Bargaining team will report again to the membership after our meetings in April.
We thank you for continued support.