November 4, 2008 at 12:00 AM
On Thursday October 23rd, the Bargaining
Committee of District 333 along with Local 2002 President Leslie Dias, CAW
National President Ken Lewenza and National Staff Representative Joel Fournier
met with the company to begin the process of consolidating the three collective
agreements of the GTAA.
"Since the vote (to elect the CAW as the official
bargaining agent) it has been a tough haul for the workers of the GTAA," said
Lewenza. He emphasized the need to move forward and committed the National's
full support and resources to facilitating the success of District 333.
The Bargaining Committee has done a lot of
preliminary work reviewing the three collective agreements. Using the former
PSAC Local 4 collective agreement as a template, a document representing how the
Bargaining Committee felt the new agreement should look was compiled and tabled
to the company. A meeting to review the document has been scheduled for November
10th.
Our objective is to obtain a collective agreement
early and have it ratified by the overwhelming majority of the membership.
Further meetings are planned during the month of November in order to continue
to clearly define and develop language in the new collective agreement that most
benefits the membership. This strong foundation will support our collective
efforts to build solid relationships within the membership and also between
members and the company.
We will continue to keep you informed of our
progress. However it is important to note that the Bargaining Committee can not
discuss specific details when in collective bargaining. Your cooperation in
respecting this restriction is appreciated.
In Solidarity,
Ashley Watkins, Executive Assistant East