In the early morning of Sept. 9, a vote count indicated three bargaining victories for the University and the public employees who serve its needs.
Following the ratification of collective agreements between Queen’s and its faculty association, agreements between the University and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 229, 254 and 1302 have been ratified.
The negotiation process took place between the University and CUPE over the past 15 months, logging 23 bargaining dates across the groups. A provincially-appointed conciliator assisted with seven of the bargaining dates.
The negotiations culminated with the announcement of tentative agreements by the University on August 6.
CUPE members voted on the tentative agreements following a vote by the Queen’s Board of Trustees’ Human Resources Committee. The majority of members in both groups voted to accept the new contracts, which came into effect on the morning of Sept. 9.
The contracts will serve for a four-year period, expiring on June 30, 2018.
Local 229, which represents roughly 250 heating and maintenance employees, has negotiated a scale salary increase across the board of 1 per cent as of July 1, 2015, 1.25 per cent as of July 1, 2016, and another 1.25 per cent as of July 1, 2017.
Local 254, representing 90 technicians, and Local 1302, representing 55 library and archive employees, negotiated the same scale increases across the board, with an additional clause that eligible employees will receive an increase in salary following pre-determined steps.
All parties entered Memoranda of Agreement, affirming their mutual commitments with the University to the University Pension Project. The University has stated that it will provide further information via its Labour News website.
Tags
bargaining, Collective agreement, CUPE, public employees, ratification, Unions
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