Bargaining Update: Civil Service Master Agreement

On November 3, 2021, you Union and employer met with a conciliation officer and the parties failed to reach a collective agreement. Following conciliation, the Union Negotiating Council (UNC) declared an impasse and the conciliation officer also, considerers the matter to be at an impasse and will file their report in the coming days. Coming out of conciliation, UNC recommended a continuation of the union’s initial request for Arbitration (filed on September 28) pursuant to the Civil Service Collective Bargaining Act. The request for arbitration was also supported today by your members of the Bargaining Unit Negotiating Council (BUNC).

A previously scheduled case management conference before the Labour Board has been adjourned until November 16th regarding the Union’s request for arbitration.

There are still a number of outstanding items to address:

• Article 20 – Standby and callback
• Article 21 – Vacations
• Article 32 – Travel Regulations
• Article 38 – Pay Provisions:
• Rates of pay
• Step adjustment (CL, PR, TS)
• Pay equity (CL)
• Shift & Weekend Premiums
• Acting Pay
• Retention incentive (twenty-five (25) years of service)
• Article 44 – Term of the Agreement
• Appendix 11 – Work from home programs

Your Bargaining Committee appreciates your solidarity and support through this process.

Please watch for updates and share this information with your coworkers. If they haven’t received this email, let them know they should contact the union to confirm their email address.

If you have any questions about bargaining or the bargaining process, please contact a member of your Bargaining Council below. You can also call the NSGEU at 1-877-556-7438 (toll-free) or inquiry@nsgeu.ca.

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 – David Brewster, Local 4 – david.brewster@novascotia.ca

Vice-Chair – Scott Hart, Local 8 – scott.hart@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