To ALL CUPE Local 104 Members,
BARGAINING UPDATE:
Our bargaining team has been very busy negotiating with the employer. Since January, we had 5 sessions with the employer and 2 additional sessions with our team.
- January 5-6-7
- January 25-26-27
- February 8-9-10
- February 22-23-24
- March 8-9-10
- March 21-22-23
- Apr 5-6-7
During those sessions, we were able to come to agreements on a few more articles. We have also exchanged proposals on all articles except the final salary table. Rest assured that we have been keeping up to date with our salary research and proposals. It is important that we continue working on the substance of the terms and conditions of employment before we exchange our salary proposals.
Our team has been working very hard at combining the terms and conditions of employment for our two categories of employees. We knew this was going to be a monumental task, but we need to correct the disparity and conflict generated by the employer when they created the PO group in 2014.
As for where we’re at right now… We believe there are some more articles that we are getting close to an agreement on. We are hopeful that extensive preparations will help us maintain the momentum as we strive to sign off more articles at each session. We are also keenly aware that as we work through every article in our first collective agreement, it is going to get tougher to come to an agreement that maintains our current terms and conditions of employment and ensures that we all enjoy the same benefits as each other. Our jobs are unique. We are all public safety communicators working in critical roles within the Public Service and the RCMP.
We have more bargaining sessions scheduled every second week through June 2022 and we will be requesting more dates with the employer through summer and fall. We know you want this signed as soon as possible, and believe us, so do we! However, we need this to be a fair collective agreement for all of us and, as much as possible, to correct the disparities the employer created between Civilian Members and Public Servants.
We are continuing to bargain in good faith, and we respect the confidentiality of the bargaining process. This allows us to have open negotiations with the employer. Please remember that once we have reached a tentative agreement, it is you – the membership – who ultimately decide whether to accept the agreement.
It is especially important that all of us show solidarity with each other throughout the bargaining process. The stronger we are as a Local, the stronger our position is at the bargaining table. Please keep supporting each other, your stewards and your executive. We will get there together!
Please continue to reach out directly to your Stewards or Regional Chairpersons if you have questions or concerns.
UPDATE TO OUR MEMBERSHIP LIST INFORMATION:
As we progress in our bargaining, we are asking ALL OF YOU to please update all your information, if you haven’t already done so lately. Simply go to the CUPE 104 website and fill out the MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION FORM or https://104.cupe.ca/membership/, especially your personal email and work location (exact name and address of your office location). This form gets sent directly to the CUPE 104 Recording Secretary who maintains the Membership Master List. Your information is protected and only used by the Executive to contact you for union business.
Having your updated information will help us communicate timely information to you during bargaining and when we get to voting on your first collective agreement. We need to be able to reach you during this critical time and the only way is if you give us your information.
Please pass this request on to all your colleagues in case they didn’t see this message.
In Solidarity,
Your CUPE 104 executive
Kathleen, Robbin, Myles, Robb, Cyrus, Marc-Étienne, Alex, Brandon, Randy and Ron.