May 11, 2017

Local 55 – Workers’ Compensation Board: Bargaining Proposals Exchanged

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Dear Local 55 Member:

Your collective agreement expired on December 31, 2014, and your Bargaining Committee has exchanged proposals with the employer. If you are a Local 55 member and have not received the proposals by email, please contact the Resource Centre at 902-424-4063 (1-877-556-7438) or email inquiry@nsgeu.ca and they will ensure you get a copy.

The NSGEU has bargained with the WCB on May 2 and 3, and has further dates scheduled for May 24 & 25, 2017. This is shaping up to be the most difficult round of bargaining with the WCB since the NSGEU was certified as the bargaining agent for the bargaining unit in 1990. There are two major reasons for this:

1.

 The provincial government has passed legislation that mandates wage restraint and the end of accruing time towards the Retirement Allowance. The WCB is covered by this legislation. Although the Bill has not yet been proclaimed, your employer will not back down from the legislative provisions unless the government changes the Bill. If proclaimed, the legislated wage increases would be as follows:

January 1, 2015 0%

January 1, 2016 0%

January 1, 2017 1%

January 1, 2018 1.5%

December 31, 2018 0.5%

This makes it very difficult to achieve a tentative collective agreement which can be recommended to the Local 55 membership.

2.

 With the likely implementation of WCB 2020 during the life of the new collective agreement, job security for union members has become a major priority. This round of bargaining will need to result in strengthened job security language to protect all of you and the work that you do. Your Bargaining Committee expects that this will be a major challenge.

Please plan to participate in the upcoming telephone town hall, which is in the process of being scheduled, in order to hear details about the proposals and what to expect during bargaining.

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