As you know, negotiations to renew our Collective Agreement with the Hamlet took place in the community last week.  The parties did make progress and were moving toward a deal.  Unfortunately, your Employer scuttled the deal over $30.40 per day and hours of work for water and sewage truck drivers and swampers.

On Thursday, July 31, with most elements of the new contract tentatively agreed to, your Union Bargaining Team met at 8 AM with the W/S crews and presented them with the three potential work schedules created by the Employer, all of which would have them working 10-hour days.

One of the schedules was for 7 days on and 7 days off, similar to the current work schedule but with longer hours per day.  The other two proposed schedules involved complicated rotating shifts.

The W/S crews agreed to work 10 hours per day and voted unanimously in favour of the 7-day schedule.

Your Bargaining Team went back to the Hamlet office to meet with the Employer for 9 AM and inform them of the decision.

On arriving at the office, your Bargaining Team was shocked to learn that despite the consultation with the workers – which the Employer k

The schedule your SAO wants to unilaterally impose means that the drivers and swampers would have to:

• work a 10-hour shift starting at 7 AM daily and ending at 6 PM
• work different days every week over a period of 8 weeks
• have only 3 weekends off every 2 months
• work a confusing schedule of some 30-hour weeks and some 40-hour weeks to average 35 hours a week over 8 weeks – meaning weekly pay would be affected

 

Despite the willingness of the drivers and swampers to accommodate the Hamlet by working 10-hour days, your Employer decided unilaterally on the rotating shift the W/S crews had just unanimously rejected because they felt it was too complicated and would cause them to miss work.

Your Union Bargaining Team then waited in the Hamlet office for almost three full hours for the SAO and his lawyer to come to the table.

Read more in the communique below.