June 29, 2021 at 12:00 PM
Bargaining talks between Unifor and the employer have taken a brief pause after both parties agreed on June 25th that time was needed to resolve several outstanding issues.
Preparations to bargain a new collective agreement began in January 2021 when Unifor initiated the process soliciting for a bargaining committee representative. Nick Downhill was appointed to the position and joined Mike Kennedy ‐ Unifor 2002 District Chairperson, Ashley Watkins ‐ Assistant to the Local 2002 President and Paul Shiels ‐ Unifor National Representative to create the Unifor bargaining committee.
The committee developed membership surveys, followed by proposal meetings in March 2021. This process is often referred to as the double-check mechanism; a procedure to ensure that the data received from the surveys is consistent with what the membership’s priorities are for the bargaining committee when at the negotiating table.
Unifor and Nasittuq made arrangements to meet on June 22nd to June 30th (inclusive) in Belleville, Ontario, to formally begin bargaining a new collective agreement. The parties exchanged and introduced their proposals on the first day and immediately began working on the non-monetary items. By Thursday, June 24th, the union and employer had completed most of the non-monetary items on both sets of the proposals. However, by the end of the day on June 24th, both parties had flagged a number of concerns relative to how the application of hours of work are applied.
As a result of the complexity of these issues, the union and the employer agreed to take a break in order to determine the correct processes on the above matters.
We will reconvene bargaining after we have completed the research required to continue dealing with the remaining proposals. We will continue to keep you informed as the bargaining process unfolds.
The collective agreement expired on May 30, 2021. Nasittuq members supply a complete range of support services to Canada’s Department of National Defense including facilities maintenance, airfield operations, food services and transport, logistical and administrative support at CFS Alert.
In Solidarity,
Your Unifor 2002 Bargaining Committee
Mike Kennedy, Chairperson District 381
Nick Downhill, Bargaining Committee Representative
Ashley Watkins, Assistant to the Local 2002 President
Paul Shiels, Unifor National Representative
For more information, please contact:
Ashley Watkins, Assistant to the Local 2002 President
/21-06-29 Nasittuq negotiations update EN.txt