Civil Service Master Agreement: Union Requests Arbitration

Good afternoon,

Your Union Negotiating Committee (UNC) met for Conciliation with employer representatives on September 16th and September 23rd. Unfortunately, the employer representatives advised the union that they have still not received a mandate from the newly elected Provincial government.

In an effort to help move things along, the union proposed a without-prejudice process which would have allowed us to negotiate agreed upon “recommendations” for improvements that would then be tied to an overall acceptable monetary agreement at a later date. However, the employer representatives did not receive the approval to proceed with this process.

Outstanding items include:

• Article 20 – Standby and callback
• Article 21 – Vacations
• Article 23 – Special Leave (Domestic Violence)
• 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

We are now in the midst of formally requesting Arbitration pursuant to the Civil Service Collective Bargaining Act. We advised the employer that we are prepared to return to the table in the event they have a mandate and are prepared to move ahead with bargaining in a meaningful way.

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 Committee below. You can also call the NSGEU at 1-877-556-7438 (toll-free) or inquiry@nsgeu.ca.

Your Union Negotiating Committee (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