November 19, 2012 at 11:33 AM
The CAW and ASP were to resume bargaining on November 15 and 16. Unfortunately, the company canceled the 15th which left the bargaining committee only one day to negotiate.
The bargaining committee submitted a written proposal setting out regular scheduled hours for full time employees, minimum standards for overtime after eight hours and also for overtime after forty hours in a week. These minimum standards are in line with the Canada Labour Code.
ASP CEO Dean Lovric made it clear that the company was not prepared to accept these minimal standards and furthermore, insisted that the union start considering concessions.
In fact, concessions were the only item that the company brought to the table in this round of bargaining.
"The membership of ASP has sacrificed enough,” responded Joel Fournier, CAW National Representative. "This company needs to start recognizing the hard work and dedication of these workers!”
This type of one-sided negotiation is totally unacceptable to the union. The membership at ASP did not vote for the CAW to represent them, in order to give the company more concessions.
Negotiations are at an impasse and both parties will be proceeding to binding arbitration as soon as an arbitrator is chosen.
On another note, our old friends from Teamsters Local 837, who now call themselves the United Sports and Entertainment Workers (USEW) are up to their old tricks. They have filed another application to the Labour Board to decertify the CAW.
This interference can only prolong what is already a difficult negotiation process and shows blatant disrespect for the long-suffering membership of ASP. The Teamsters/USEW are the people responsible for the situation that we find ourselves in today; this is their collective agreement that we are trying to correct and improve.
The CAW is determined to make progress for the membership of ASP using all of the resources available.
Please follow the CAW Local 2002 website for further updates.
Your ASP Bargaining Committee:
Savithri Alahari
Jesse Jackson
Gurpreet Malhi
Joel Fournier, CAW National Representative
Ashley Watkins, Executive Assistant