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Date: |
September 19, 2024 |
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Location: |
Saskatoon |
Dear members:
We met with the Employer for negotiations on September 11 and 12 in Saskatoon. After the June dates the only issues still on the table were funding for the driver’s medical, a minor change to the provision for gloves for drivers, and wage increases for everyone. We were confident we would get a deal. But that’s all there was when we met in June as well and we were confident we would get a deal then—it seemed so simple.
The Employer tabled a proposal on the morning of the 11th that included adequate provisions for the gloves and driver’s medical, a 3-year term for the contract, and wage increases that were less than we wanted but were pretty close. We counter proposed with a wage increase that was different from theirs by only 1% in one of the 3 years and had a $500.00 signing bonus. We agreed to their proposals for the drivers’ gloves and medical. It was still the morning of the first day and we were separated by only 1% and $500.00. That’s it.
The afternoon of that day wore on and, after asking for two weird little hallway chats with subgroups of our committee, the Employer eventually told us they would not be able to respond that day and would need even more extra time—a coupe of hours—before they could meet with us the next morning. We were disappointed but, with this Employer, we weren’t surprised.
The next morning, we waited, drank a lot of coffee, and set up a pool for when they would get in touch. At that stage there was nothing else we could do. The Employer finally contacted us at 11:45 and asked for another hallway chat. They told us their discussions inside their committee were going really, really well and they really had a lot of optimism about getting a deal, but they needed a bit more time, so they asked us to break off bargaining for the day and look for more dates in the future. I told them I did not believe they were bargaining in good faith since there is not enough on the table to need more time. Stephanie Hahn Chisholm told them that she and the other members on the committee were not about to return to the workplace just to say more time and money was going to be spent on bargaining when it was plainly not needed. We told them to bring their full committee to meet with all of our committee in 10 minutes to receive our response.
At that meeting we told their committee that we declined to meet in the future because there was still time that day to resolve bargaining. We were very close, and the solution was obvious. We said that we maintained our most recent proposal and that if they didn’t agree to it by 5:00 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, September 20, or provide a counter proposal, we would consult with the membership to determine how to proceed including discussing whether to vote on their last offer and whether to consider job action if the Employer’s offer is rejected.
It’s offensive to be treated this way. It may be that they are trying to goad us into taking this exact step believing there will be no appetite for job action and we won’t tolerate delays, so we’ll end up accepting their most recent offer and they can tell you to blame the union for not getting more. But they’ve asked for more time for no apparent reason twice and months have gone by. In the last round of bargaining, we wasted time for more than five years. We will not let that happen again.
Please watch you email and the SEIU-West website for more updates. We expect to have something to tell you after this Friday. Thank you for your support and patience and please forward any questions or comments to the member resource centre. They can be reached at 1.888.999.SEIU (7348) ext. 2298 or [email protected].
Your SEIU-West Bargaining Committee
SEIU-West members: Heather Dyck (currently absent); Kristie Pearton (Unit Co-Chair, CBS Saskatoon); Shelley Barker (Unit Co-Chair, CBS Saskatoon); Jason Coombs (Bargaining Committee member, CBS Regina); Stephanie Hahn-Chisholm (Bargaining Committee member, CBS Regina); • SEIU-West staff: Cam McConnell (Negotiations Officer); Marj Markwart (Union Representative) and Shelley Johnson (Union Representative)