December 19, 2008 at 12:00 AM
For the past month the CAW and the GTAA have held meetings for the purpose of consolidating the three collective agreements of the GTAA. During this time, multiple offers had been tabled.
The Bargaining Committee has extensively reviewed and encompassed language from all three collective agreements that most benefits the membership. However, it appears that the GTAA were never using the bargaining process to sincerely attempt to consolidate all of the collective agreements but rather, to move everyone into the Local 0004 collective agreement.
It is imperative that all of the membership of District 333 be represented and respected in these discussions. A strong foundation will support our collective efforts to build solid relationships within the membership and, also, between members and the company.
In spite of the Union's best efforts to reach a resolution, the GTAA remains inflexible. They rejected the CAW's suggestion of utilizing a third party in order to finalize an agreement without the Canada Industrial Relations Board, (CIRB) having to intervene.
Talks have reached an impasse.
Therefore, the parties will submit a written summary to the CIRB before the end of the month. We will be requesting the CIRB issue notice per Section 18 of the code to consolidate the bargaining units.
The parties are scheduled to meet at the CIRB during the week of Jan 19th 2009. The CAW will tell the CIRB that the employer has been neither fair nor reasonable during the bargaining process relative to their approach to open, consolidate, and negotiate a single collective agreement which benefits all of the members the CAW services.
It is important to note that whatever direction the process moves there will be no impact on the wages or upcoming salary increases of the Local 0004 members.
There are no further dates for the parties to meet at this point. However, we will continue to keep you advised as the matter unfolds.
Your Bargaining Committee
Jeff Hatt
Todd Browne
Mark DaSilva
Antonia Grabowski
Hafeez Hussain
Pauline Leloudas
Fred Romolo
Lars Sorensen
Joel Fournier, National Staff Representative
Ashley Watkins, Executive Assistant East