April 19, 2011
This morning at 2AM an impasse was reached with the Employer. We have requested that both the Provincial and Federal Conciliation Officers, who were assisting the parties, ‘book-out’ of the dispute. The clock is now running.
We expect to be in a legal position to take strike action or be locked out on or about May 10, 2011. Both sides have agreed to meet on May 6, 2011 using the conciliation officers as “mediators”. It is clear to our negotiating team that this impasse was caused because the Employer expected CULE to roll over and accept the same concessions which CEP Local 2025 have recently agreed to.
During the two days of negotiations, both sides presented ‘without prejudice’ packages. These had to be accepted or rejected in their entirety and your negotiating team was not willing to accept any package which contained concessions.
The Employer came to the table wanting to conclude a memorandum of settlement based on CEP Local 2025’s tentative agreement. Informal discussions facilitated by the conciliation officers moved the parties close to a settlement. However, concessions remained on the table. To be absolutely clear, we are not prepared to negotiate concessions or spin concessions in a manner to convince the membership that they are anything but.
We thank you for the overwhelming strike vote mandate you provided to your team and we do not take this responsibility lightly. There is no doubt we can seriously affect the business of the PSAC in the coming weeks. However, our first priority is to conclude a fair collective agreement on your behalf, and we are still committed to do so.
You should be contacting your CULE Director and providing the following information as soon as possible:
• Personal phone numbers (Home and cell), and • Personal e-mail addresses.
Information regarding mobilization, strike pay, media communications and job action will be forthcoming through your CULE Director.
Your negotiating team is in the process of creating a document which will provide a complete overview of the outstanding proposals and the formal position of the parties in those areas.
In Solidarity, Your negotiating team