SPECIAL Nego Newsletter – February 14, 2022
Why do employees in school service centres or school boards in the South get paid more for doing the same job?
The answer is quite simple: until we have new collective agreements, wages will not change, except for the advancement in steps.
Why don’t we have new agreements yet when negotiations in the South have been over for several months?
Again, the answer is fairly simple: Management Negotiating Committees (MNCs) don’t have the mandates to give us what we are demanding on your behalf. In other words, management representatives refuse to respond positively to our priority demands. However, as we explained in our February 4 Nego Newsletter, there has been some progress in our negotiations with the Management Negotiating Committee for the Kativik School Board (MNCKSB). On this side, we are hopeful we will reach agreements-in-principle in the next few weeks. This is also what the members of the MNCKSB believe. As for the negotiations with the Cree School Board, the talks are progressing but the pace is slower. Management representatives are unyielding on our priority demands. Unless there is a tremendous turnaround, it is difficult to expect any agreements-in-principle with the CSB in the short term.
When will you get your salary increase and your retroactive payments?
As explained in an earlier Nego Newsletter, there are several steps before wages are adjusted and retroactive payments issued. Once the agreements-in-principle are reached, members will be consulted and asked to vote for or against them. If they vote against the agreements, we will need to go back to the bargaining table and members will have to engage in heavy pressure tactics. If they vote in favour of the agreements-in-principle, the texts of the new agreements will be drafted by the employer parties. These drafts will then be sent to us for review. If they are in line, we will proceed to the signing stage of the agreements. If the texts are not aligned with our discussions, it may be necessary to go back and forth several times to have them corrected so that they fully reflect what was previously agreed at the negotiating tables. Once they are signed, the new agreements come into effect. School boards then have 60 days to adjust wages and to make retroactive payments.
Solidarity!
Larry Imbeault, President and Negotiation Coordinator
