Tag Archives: Reveralicious

Marion Chateau, The Bentley at Saskatoon, and The Bentley at Yorkton

January 23, 2012

Sisters and Brothers;

Your Bargaining Team returned to the bargaining table with the Employer’s representatives today.  We went back with the understanding of meeting for two more days.  Unfortunately the Employer’s representatives did not set that amount of time aside for us.  While we only met for about a half a day, we made significant progress.

Virtually all of the outstanding issues identified in the last Bargaining Report have now been addressed and agreed to.

We have now completed the body of the collective agreement language.  The only outstanding issue at this time is the wage schedules and the rates of pay.  We are also discussing the length of the new Agreement and the amount to be assessed as the pay increases for each respective year.

The parties will next meet on March 6 & 7.  At that time we will begin discussions concerning the wages.  It is our honest desire to work through to a final agreement on these and thus conclude bargaining to the point of bringing a package out to the membership for consideration and ratification.  Although we cannot guarantee it, we hope that such package will be brought with a recommendation to accept.

Union Dues

To date there has not been any deduction for Union Dues made from your wages.  With the implementation of your Collective Agreement this deduction will begin.

Union Dues within SEIU-West are set at 1.7% of your bi-weekly gross pay.  There is a one -time initiation fee of $10.00/member.  SEIU-West also has a minimum bi-weekly dues payment of $5.00 and a maximum bi-weekly dues payment of $38.00.

We want to remind you that 100% of all dues paid to the Union are tax deductible.  Your employer will include the total amount of dues paid during the taxation year on your T-4 slip for you to claim that amount when completing your income tax return next year.

Appreciation

We want to acknowledge the support the membership as a whole gave us over the course of this entire process.  It is our opinion and belief that without your strong support shown through the membership meetings and the strike vote that we would not be this close to having an agreement that easily addresses the majority of your issues in a very positive manner.

The Employer attempted to stall our actions through legal processes with the Labour Relations Board.  It is obvious that the job action mandate caused serious concerns to the Employer.  It is blatantly clear that without your support of the strike mandate we would not have made the progress and gains that we have made.  We will continue to strive to conclude a successful round of negotiations with the Employer.  We trust your continued support of this Committee will help to bring that goal to fruition.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please speak with your Unit representatives.  Your ideas and opinions are important and welcomed.

In solidarity,

Marion Chateau:

Rene Spelliscy
Joanna Kosskamp
Cheryl Lambie

Bentley at Saskatoon:

Linda Pederson
Kyliegh Gloeden
Delaenie Gloeden

Bentley at Yorkton:

Deborah de Jong
Karen Pedwell
Eleanor Grandquist

Union Representative:
Bob Desjarlais

Negotiations Officer:
Kerry Barrett

To view a PDF version of this update click on the following link: Report on Bargaining no. 3: Revera Retirement Units

Marion Chateau, The Bentley at Saskatoon, and The Bentley at Yorkton

January 18, 2012

Sisters and Brothers;

Your Bargaining Team returned to the bargaining table with the Employer’s representatives last week.  The intent was to meet for three days however, we were only able to get true face time with the Employer for two days (January 9 & 11).

While were not able to spend a lot of time with the Employer, we did make significant advancements in the language of your new Collective Agreement.  The Employer surprised us by coming in Monday morning and agreeing to almost every provision the Union had advanced at our first meetings in October.

The issues that remain outstanding include:

• Overtime on Scheduled Days Off
• Footwear Allowance
• Training Premium
• Benefit Plan Premiums
• Vacation Accrual
• Length of Probationary Periods
• Increments
• Notice of Layoff
• Job Postings
• Work of the Bargaining Unit (Contracting Out)

Also outstanding is the duration of the Collective Agreement and the Rate of Pay.  We tabled our proposal on Monday, January 9^th.  The Employer then left the room to seek approval to respond.  When they returned on Wednesday, January 11^th, the response received was neither complete nor acceptable.  They did not present a Schedule of wages.  They simply said they would increase the existing wages.  Our response was “That’s nice but, what are the existing wages?”   We need to see the current wage schedule and the wage progression (increments) they are proposing.

We have additional days scheduled for next week (January 23 & 24) in Saskatoon.  We are hopeful that with serious concentration and work by the Employer we will be able to conclude our negotiations and bring a complete Collective Agreement out to you for ratification sometime in February.  Keep your fingers crossed.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please speak with your Unit representatives.  Your ideas and opinions are important and welcomed.

In solidarity,

Marion Chateau:

Rene Spelliscy
Joanna Kosskamp
Cheryl Lambie

Bentley at Saskatoon:

Linda Pederson
Kyliegh Gloeden
Delaenie Gloeden

Bentley at Yorkton:

Deborah de Jong
Karen Pedwell
Eleanor Grandquist

Union Representative:

Bob Desjarlais

Negotiations Officer:

Kerry Barrett

To view a PDF version of this update click on the following link: Report on Bargaining 2: Revera Retirement Units