| Bargaining unit merger
issues head to mediation After a considerable delay, the collective agreement issues associated with the CIRB’s decision to merge GSU’s bargaining units at Viterra’s Moose Jaw and Saskatoon terminal elevators with the larger GSU Country Operations and Maintenance bargaining unit in Saskatchewan will be the subject of CIRB assisted mediation on February 10 and 11 in Regina. GSU and Viterra representatives first met in October, 2009 in an effort to work out the details of merging the collective agreements covering with Moose Jaw and Saskatoon units with the agreement already in place for Saskatchewan based Country Operations and Maintenance employees. While a number of issues were resolved, the company and union committees were unable to agree on a number of issues that are key to union members working at the two locations that will merge with the bigger bargaining unit. Following the October merger meetings, GSU filed its brief with the CIRB regarding the unresolved bargaining unit and collective agreement issues in early November 2009 and Viterra responded. GSU also proposed meeting or hearing dates in December of last year and January of this year, but Viterra was unresponsive. “GSU members working at the Moose Jaw and Saskatoon terminal elevators take pride in and rely on the gains they’ve made over the years, especially in relation to seniority rights, hours of work and other working conditions,” said GSU General Secretary Hugh Wagner. “Union members at both locations have no enthusiasm for knuckling under just because Viterra management thinks they should.” Also in dispute in the description of the merged bargaining unit. On January 19, 2010, GSU filed its submission proposing that the in-scope and out-of-scope line in the merged bargaining unit should follow the current description of the unit comprising employees in the Country Operations and Maintenance unit. Viterra’s January 22, 2010, submission regarding the description of the merged bargaining unit would take anywhere from 100 to more than 200 employees out of the merged bargaining unit. GSU replied in opposition to Viterra’s submission on February 2. “Viterra’s position in this whole process strikes me as fanciful and outrageous,” said Hugh Wagner. “On the one hand the company wants a single collective agreement that is exactly the same as the agreement currently in place for Country Operations and Maintenance employees, but then on the other hand the company is arguing to overturn decades of sound labour relations in the name of taking scads of employees out of the bargaining unit and denying them the benefits of the collective bargaining.” “The GSU Committee will do its best to resolve or at least reduce the number of issues in dispute when we meet with our counterparts on February 10 and 11. If that doesn’t result in a settlement, GSU will ask the CIRB to resolve things,” Wagner said. GSU will release a report following the February 10 and 11 mediation meetings. Posted Feb. 5, 2010 GSU fights for reasonable transition for Moose Jaw, Saskatoon terminals On November 2 GSU filed its submission with the Canada Labour Relations Board (CIRB) regarding the Board’s order to merge the union’s bargaining units at Viterra’s Moose Jaw and Saskatoon terminal elevators with the larger Country Operations and Maintenance bargaining unit in Saskatchewan. GSU’s written submission to the CIRB followed unsuccessful negotiations with Viterra’s representatives on October 5 and 6. “GSU’s committee tried to negotiate a reasonable transition to a single bargaining unit while protecting key collective agreement rights identified by union members at both locations,” said General Secretary Hugh Wagner. “Except for some grandfathering on vacation accrual, Viterra came to the table with the attitude that employees in Moose Jaw and Saskatoon should make all of the concessions and give up everything they have bargained over the years,” Wagner said. “This all or nothing position made it very difficult to find a compromise on issues most important to union members.” The following issues remain unresolved: 1. Continuation of local employment conditions and practices. 2. The application of seniority rights. 3. Continuation of current hours of work rules including voluntary overtime. 4. Wage rates and wage increases. 5. Scope of the merged bargaining units. Hours of work issues and seniority rights were the most contentious subjects at the negotiating meetings on October 5 and 6 as Viterra balked at taking proactive steps to address employees’ legitimate desire to promote and preserve a balance between work and family life. As stated above, GSU filed its submission regarding terms for merging the bargaining units on November 2. Viterra’s submission arrived on November 9. GSU then filed a reply to Viterra’s brief on November 19. At this point it is not clear whether there will be additional meetings to resolve the outstanding issues or whether the CIRB will make a decision on the basis of the parties’ written submissions or whether hearings will be held. Updates will be issued as developments occur. GSU’s submissions are available here:
Posted Dec. 2, 2009 GSU consults with members - Moose Jaw and Saskatoon terminals (Viterra) In the wake of the CIRB decision to roll the Moose Jaw and Saskatoon Units into Viterra’s Country Operations agreement, GSU has been busy consulting with the members involved. Meetings have been held in both locations to determine what issues the members would like to see addressed in the talks to incorporate the two separate agreements they work under now into the Viterra country operations/maintenance agreement. While there are a lot of language differences, members have identified a short list of things they feel are critical to maintain in their worksites. The Union has told management that we are ready to enter into talks, as required by the CIRB. Posted Sept. 11 |