Administration encourages participation as PSAC seeks membership direction
By communications staff
The local leadership of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), representing post doctoral fellows, will hold meetings to obtain a strike mandate regarding its on-going negotiations with the university. The university's administration is urging employees to exercise their rights to get involved by voting at one of the meetings being held by PSAC.
"We respect the collective bargaining process and we encourage everyone to take advantage of the opportunities they have to get engaged with the process," says Dan Bradshaw, Associate Vice-Principal (Faculty Relations). "Depending on the union's specific constitution and by-laws, a mandate vote may be an individuals' last opportunity to get involved in the decision-making process around whether or not to go on strike."
PSAC has stated explicitly that it will be seeking a strike mandate from its membership when it meets:
12:30 pm, Botterell 148
5pm, Botterell 147
12:30pm, Chernoff 117
5pm, Chernoff 117
12:30pm, JDUC 240, The Robert Sutherland Room
5pm, JDUC 240, The Robert Sutherland Room
Under Ontario's labour laws, unions are required to seek a strike mandate from bargaining unit members, all of whom are entitled to vote by secret ballot. A strike mandate requires a simple majority (50%+1) from those who attend the vote and cast a ballot – not of the total membership of the bargaining unit.
Contract talks for this first collective agreement have been on-going since April 2012. PSAC and the university are currently in conciliation – a process that allows a provincially-appointed conciliation officer to work with the two sides and, hopefully, narrow the issues and find points of potential agreement.
The conciliation process began September 5 and talks are expected to continue September 17, 18 and 19.
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