Your union bargaining committee met for the first time with VICE management Thursday August, 11. We presented a series of non-monetary proposals based on your responses to the negotiations survey and input from your workplace reps. Our proposals are aimed to meet the negotiations objectives we presented back in July. We seek to improve vacation time and sick leave, formalize hours of work and overtime, editorial independence, and ensure that employees are protected from being fired for no reason. We plan to present our wage and benefits proposals later this month or in September.
There hasn’t been any formal responses to our proposals from VICE management yet, but we got a sense of where further discussions will be needed to get to an agreement. Management did not make any proposals of their own this week.
We won’t be including the details of the negotiations in our updates, but please do talk to a workplace rep or contact Federico or Terri if you have a question or issue that the bargaining team should know about. We will keep you up to date on the main points at the negotiating table and you will have an opportunity to vote on the final agreement. We count on your support and we thank everyone for all the encouragement we’ve gotten so far. Our next negotiating session is scheduled for August 25.
We are also extending an invitation to all VICE members: If you are in Toronto on Labour Day, bring along your family and friends and join your colleagues on Monday, September 5, for a fun day at the Canadian National Exhibition – at no charge. CMG marchers (including family and friends) get in to the Ex for free; you’ll also get tickets for rides and food.
When: 9 a.m. SHARP Monday, September 5, 2016
Where: Meet at the corner of University Avenue and Queen Street West, close to the median (look for the CMG logo)
Your negotiating committee:
Raffi DerGhazarian
Navi Lamba
Maggie McCaw
Federico Carvajal, Staff Representative (federico@cmg.ca)
Terri Monture, Staff Representative (terri@cmg.ca)