May 25, 2004
To: All CULE Members (Unit I and II) From: CULE Negotiating Team Re: CULE Strike Vote
This memo is to provide you with further information on how CULE members can support their negotiating team as per our negotiation update dated May 4, 2004.
A conference call between your negotiating team and the CULE Executive took place on Tuesday May 4th. The CULE Executive animously accepted the recommendation of the negotiating team that a strike vote be conducted. The strike vote will commence on June 1, 2004 with a deadline for ballots to be returned of June 18, 2004. The Charlottetown R.O. has volunteered to conduct the strike vote.
You can support your negotiating team by voting in favour of strike action if a fair and equitable settlement cannot be reached with the employer. With a strong strike vote mandate you will be telling this employer that you stand behind your negotiating team and are ready to take whatever action is necessary to achieve a fair and equitable collective agreement.
Our May 4th negotiation update also advised you that we would be applying for the appointment of a conciliation officer and that we expect that the officer would be available to assist us for the last part of our scheduled June meeting with the employer.
The reason for making this application at this time is to ensure that the bargaining process will not be delayed. In the last round of bargaining CULE applied for the appointment of a conciliation officer on July 5th. Conciliation meetings were not held until August 30th. One last conciliation meeting was held September 21st. By applying for conciliation now, we believe we can avoid the extended time period it takes to complete this process. A strong strike vote mandate and the appointment of a conciliation officer are but two ways to send a clear message to this employer.
We also value any and all feedback regarding the bargaining process. As per the CULE Constitution the Directors are the vehicle you can use to communicate that feedback to us.
Your negotiating team requires your support in order to achieve a fair and equitable collective agreement. VOTE YES!!!! UNITED WE BARGAIN, DIVIDED WE BEG