BAYSHORE: PREPARING FOR MEDIATION IN SEPTEMBER
Bayshore Members,
Our next mediation date with the company is Friday, September 27th. As we approach that date, your Union is exploring all our options in order to fight the hardest we can for you.
Thus far, the Company has not been a cooperative partner in mediation. At our last scheduled meeting, Bayshore came to the table with what appeared to be a document from the very first round of bargaining.
They were effectively asking us to withdraw all of our monetary proposals and offer you a 1% lump sum payment. Along with several last-minute cancellations on the Company’s part, this is a move that brings to mind the four years of delaying tactics that UFCW encountered while negotiating the existing Collective Agreement with Bayshore.
With the Company showing this lack of respect for both their employees and for the bargaining process, it becomes imperative for your Union to look at all the alternatives at our disposal as negotiations continue.
It’s especially important that we do so at a time when all of us are suffering from the skyrocketing costs of the affordability crisis. Public sector unions in Alberta’s health care sector are demanding more from the government. We need to do the same with your employer, and to provide you with the leverage you need to get the deal you deserve.
ESSENTIAL SERVICE AGREEMENTS & OTHER BARGAINING OPTIONS
A recent change in Alberta labour law came into effect in April, making home health care workers an essential service under the Continuing Care Act.
Because your work in home healthcare is now deemed an essential service by the government–something previously reserved for the public sector–we need to take steps to solidify your rights to job action.
We will soon be negotiating an Essential Services Agreement that will clarify and solidify your right to strike, along with other key elements of members’ relationship with Bayshore. Such an Agreement will provide you with access to particular forms of job action that might not look like walking a picket line in the traditional sense, but that can still bring pressure to bear on your Employer.
This is far from the only option we’re exploring as we move forward. The Union will be looking to appeal to the public for support and to pursue every avenue available to us to secure a better deal for the membership. Your bargaining committee is dedicated to this effort, and will be fighting hard for you in the months to come.
“The work that Bayshore Home Health employees do is noble and necessary,” says President Thomas Hesse of UFCW Local 401. “They deserve respect and a fair bargaining process, and they deserve a deal that meets their needs.”
“It looks like we may very well be facing a fresh round of delay tactics from Bayshore,” adds Local 401’s Secretary Treasurer, Richelle Stewart. “The workers at Bayshore Home Health and their clients in the community deserve far better in the face of an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis in Alberta.”
“At the end of the day,” says Chris O’Halloran, Executive Director of UFCW Local 401: “There needs to be a good-faith bargaining process where the company shows a real interest in getting a deal done.”
Stay tuned for further updates!
In solidarity,
Your Union
UFCW Local 401
Posted on: August 02,2024