Date: November 14, 2022
Greetings Sisters and Brothers, members of Riverbend, West Park Crossing, Stonebridge Crossing, and The ICH at The Village at Stonebridge,
The four Sienna Units and their respective Bargaining Committee members attended a joint meeting, with SEIU–West staff in attendance (all via Zoom) on August 11th, 2022. Our discussion centered around having Sienna agree to bargain all four of these Business Units at a common table, since we felt there may some additional strength in bargaining collectively, in this way. We would need to have Sienna in agreement to do so.
Sienna responded and indicated they had other plans and would continue to work towards completing negotiations with Riverbend, since we were well into bargaining with Riverbend prior to Sienna’s purchasing Riverbend from Esprit/Extendicare, and taking over. Prior to the sale, Riverbend and SEIU–West had spent 19 dates bargaining.
The employer’s position is that each CBA will be bargained separately, and that the West Park Crossing collective agreement (currently in place) will be used as a template for the first collective agreement at Riverbend. Sienna has also indicated they would also like to complete bargaining with West Park Crossing (prior to bargaining with Stonebridge and The ICH at Stonebridge), since negotiations had already commenced prior to their purchase of West Park Crossing.
We restarted bargaining with Riverbend on October 7th, and initiated our discussions with Sienna’s bargaining team by having a discussion about how to move forward following the long pause. Additional dates of October 21st and October 25th were set up and bargaining has resumed, clearing up most non-monetary issues, and clearing the table for starting monetary discussions on the next date, November 18th, 2022.
Stonebridge Crossing and The ICH at The Village at Stonebridge will be negotiating their first agreements, and we will begin to set dates as soon as we have concluded the Riverbend Crossing negotiations. SEIU–West sees this as being advantageous to development of these first agreements. We will know what pattern Sienna has settled on, and will be able to develop and tailor our proposals package to meet the unique needs of each of these bargaining units. Sienna has the same bargaining team for all four Sienna Units. We need to keep in mind that we will be bargaining retroactivity to any increases in wages, therefore our members will not be missing out on economic increases due to any delays.
Sienna had made an offer to Riverbend employees in early October, and proposed some temporary premiums for wage increases through a Letter of Understanding (LOU). The offer included the introduction of a temporary premium of $1.00 per hour to all employees covered by the Certification Order at Riverbend Crossing. The LOU was taken to the membership for a vote on October 11th, and was rejected. The membership at Riverbend indicated the rejection was due to their perception that the offer was an insult, and to indicate to their employer that they mean business.
We are looking forward to our next bargaining date with Riverbend on November 18th to see what their idea of a reasonable monetary settlement may be.
Stay tuned for further updates and remember to check out your Union Bulletin Board, or seiuwest.ca for further updates. We will continue to communicate with you, and keep you up to date.
If you have any questions about your workplace, please contact the Member Resource Centre (MRC) at 1-888-999-7348 ex. 2298 or email them directly at [email protected]. The MRC Officers will be able to assist you or will refer your question if necessary.
Your participation in your Union makes us all strong!
In Solidarity,
The SEIU-West Sienna-Sabre Bargaining Committees
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