Civil Service Mediation Update: Parties proceeding to binding arbitration

Dear Civil Service Local member,

Your Union Negotiating Committee (UNC) completed two days of non-binding mediation on Sunday May 8 and Monday May 9 in an attempt to conclude a new collective agreement.

While the Union and Employer had several productive exchanges, the parties were unable to reach a deal.

The parties will now proceed to a binding arbitration beginning on June 3.

A three-person mediation-arbitration panel assisted in the mediation phase this past weekend. That panel will now decide the final terms of the collective agreement in the June 3 arbitration. The current collective agreement expired March 31, 2021.

There is no deadline for a final decision from the panel, however, decisions of this nature are often provided within a couple of months of the arbitration.

The mediation-arbitration panel consists of an NSGEU appointed nominee, labour lawyer Paul Cavalluzzo. The employer’s nominee is long-time civil servant Rollie King. The parties subsequently agreed on Susan Ashley as the independent Chair of the Arbitration Board.

It is possible the parties may enter further negotiations in advance of the arbitration. The union will advise the membership if that happens.

As part of its case, the NSGEU has prepared submissions to the panel. Those submissions highlight, among other things, the impact of inflation on wages for civil service members. The NSGEU pre-hearing submissions can be found here.

The NSGEU hired Dalhousie University Economics Professor Dr. Casey Warman to examine the impact of increases in the Consumer Price Index on purchasing power since the last Master Agreement which covered April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2021. You can read Dr. Warman’s report here.

In addition, Dr. Warman prepared an amendment to his submission and it can be found here.

The province filed its submissions and the Union had the opportunity to respond. The Union’s response to the Employer’s submissions can be found here.

NSGEU and the Employer may agree to file further submissions in advance of the arbitration. Should the Union prepare further submissions it will share them with the membership.

Your Union Negotiating Council (UNC):

Clerical (CL)

Chair – Tammy Gillis, Local 2 – tammygillis@eastlink.ca

Vice-Chair – Sherry Dennis, Local 7 – sherry424@hotmail.com

Professional (PR)

Chair – Scott Hart, Local 8 – scott.hart@novascotia.ca

Vice-Chair – Michelle Stonehouse Local 3 – michelle.h.stonehouse@novascotia.ca

Technical (TS)

Chair – Hugh Gillis, Local 480 – secretarytreasurer@nslabour.ca

Vice-Chair – Holly Martin, Local 17 – holly.martin@novascotia.ca

Chief Negotiators:

Odette MacLeod, NSGEU Servicing Coordinator, omacleod@nsgeu.ca

Jim Gosse, NSGEU Servicing Coordinator, jgosse@nsgeu.ca