We met with the Company Friday and we have to tell you – we are very disappointed with their lack of response to our comprehensive proposal which we had tabled at the end of October. They will not respond to our package because they have to go through all of the language again. After months of talking about the same issues, we have to ask ourselves why they are intent on stalling the process. We felt that we had committed to a few initiatives from the company last meeting on the issue of pay equity and were fully expecting that they would return with an offer. Instead we’ve received nothing but excuses and delays in actually getting down to bargaining language that reflects the work we do and the conditions we want in our workplace.

The company has acknowledged that their failure to provide a response to the union’s proposals hampers our progress and leads to a great deal of frustration not only for the bargaining committee but the entire workplace. We’re meeting again this week and pressuring the company to commit to bargaining for an agreement. We are considering all of our next steps and will of course keep you posted.

We would like to formally welcome the members of IMS/Virtue who have been placed into our bargaining unit after an application was made to Canada Industrial Relations Board by the company to re-define the unit after certification. We are making sure that we understand this area of work so that their positions and wages can be captured into our proposed wage grid, and we are working with the IMS/Virtue group to make sure their concerns are brought forward in the same spirit of collaboration that all members expect of our union.

Your Bargaining Committee

Raffi DerGhazarian
Deb Hong
Maggie McCaw
Priscilia Van Vield
Justin Ling
Federico Carvajal, Staff Representative
Terri Monture, Staff Representative