Faced with no other option than to take it to their membership for a vote, the Service Employees’ International Union (SEIU-West) fired a warning shot across the bow of the South East Cornerstone Public School Division this week.
Barb Cape, president of SEIU-West, which represents about 300 employees in the local public school division, said their negotiating team was handed a final, take it or leave it situation by the public school division just before the Christmas break.
With no other outstanding issue other than wages on the table, Cape said the members will be asked to either accept or reject a two per cent wage increase for the first year of a two-year contract offer and another two per cent hike in the second year.
“They’ll vote next week on the offer, and it will take a day or two to gather and tabulate the results,” Cape said.
Cornerstone is the only school division in the province that has reached this point in the negotiation process, she added. SEIU has prepared their opening presentations for the Chinook public division and Holy Family, the other local school division operated by the Roman Catholic system, is not yet in negotiations with either SEIU or the other service union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). That union recently closed a negotiated deal with Cornerstone that is close to what is being offered their SEIU counterparts, according to Cornerstone spokeswoman, Lynn Little, the division’s director of education.
SEIU members include workers engaged in such positions as bus drivers, food service, teacher assistants, library assistants, administrative support staff and facility maintenance employees.
“We had held about seven or eight bargaining sessions with Cornerstone and we thought we were going in the right direction and then we received this take it or leave it, final offer,” said Cape. “I know there is a lot of pressure on the school division by the Ministry of Education, and the timing of this offer is interesting, but I believe, coincidental.”
Cape went on to say, “the two per cent is below the annual cost of living index and the language in the contract needs improvement, but they felt this final offer was the way to go. To be honest with you, I haven’t talked with our negotiating team yet, but I feel it’s difficult when you force an offer on the employees at this point in the process.”
Cape provided some assurances that whatever the results of the vote are, strike action probably wouldn’t be the first or preferred option.
“We would probably choose mediation, or ask for it,” said Cape, and Little echoed that sentiment of mediation or conciliation as being preferred over a strike.
“I don’t think this group of employees has ever struck before, so I don’t see them wanting to do it right away, but I have heard rumblings of discontent with the offer and it’s timing,” said Cape.
She added, “good faith negotiations require more than a few meetings to find and meet the needs of the employers and employees. I don’t think enough effort was expended on this contract, before they gave our union a take it or leave it situation.”
By looking for other immediate options, other than strike, Cape said SEIU could provide assurances to mothers and fathers of students that there are a number of steps that would have to be taken before they picked up picket signs and removed themselves from the workplace. She said the Labour Ministry has to be notified as well as the Education Ministry and the school division.
Little said strike action would probably not “shut the system down, but at the end of the day, student safety and welfare is the priority. But, I believe we’re a long way off from that at this stage. I definitely hope this will be resolved.”
Cape agreed that any strike action would not be imminent, but if it was deployed, it would eventually impact the school division negatively since they would be without janitorial and utilities service, library assistants, education assistants, front office and administration support personnel on several fronts.
“This is just a heads up to the division so they can be aware and that no one is caught off guard,” said Cape.
Little said the division’s bargaining team had felt they were down to the point where they were near the end of the negotiation and therefore provided the SEIU negotiators with their final offer on Dec. 19.
“It’s very similar in nature to the offer made to CUPE that was ratified,” said Little, referring to the other union in the school division that has employee members who provide similar services as the SEIU members.
