The meetings today were a resounding success, and I want to thank all of you for attending this important day. Attendance was well over 60% of the department. What we wanted all of you to come away with today was a better understanding of the unions position, and what the employers response to your demands were. Also the big point was that we wanted to tell you all in person, and we thank you for giving us the opportunity to do that.
You all now have a better understanding of what is at stake and what we were willing to do to get a deal. You saw it in black and white with no punches pulled. You saw the facts as tabled by both sides, no fancy words or creative writing exercises involved here. You all made up your own mind on the facts and it was pretty clear what those facts told you. Then many of you told us what your opinion was, and we have heard you, and we will move forward from here.
If today's meetings are any indication of the support the team has then we are doing just fine, and our course of action has been correct from the start. With the info that we gained from our connections with other unions, you are all now aware that this is not just a fight for us, but for the industry as a whole. If we fail, we all fail. The employer knows it, the CAW knows it, and now you know it too. With your continued support we will continue to move forward with your demands.
7 comments:
the meeting was a benefit..i also feel from being on the floor that we are united..
i also feel we do have a good team and it is appreciated the work all of you have done..
from the first person on the full time list to the last person on the contract list let's all work to getting a fair contract!!
There are so many issues but my main one is the ratio of full time to part time and everything done by senority. This ratio would create movement and job security for us all including those who are on contract.
Also if someone decides to drop down to part time then they should be replaced by a part timer. Again this creates job security for full time positions. The repeating "NO" to our demands by the employer is strengthening our resolve.
We need to stay strong and together while supporting our negotiating team! I think more meetings in the near future would be beneficial as our unity grows to wanting what is right and what we deserve!
Just to clarify, the only way that a full time person could drop down to a part time position, is if there is a posting for a part time opening. A full time person cant just decide to drop down. Agin this is just to clarify. Just so you know when we looked at the reverse, Partime moveing to full time, we used a ratio of 2080 hours which is roughly a year of worked hours. Using that formula there are very few part partimers that would move above the last person on the full time seniority list if they moved to full time. Part of the reason for this is that there have been no fulltime guys hired in almost 5 years.
the pt hours worked would just determine where the person moving to ft would be placed on the list?would the process of hiring ft be by senority?
the only issue with the hours work for being a pt that i can see is that we are two sites and one department. there may not be as much oppurtunity at cn as there may be at fv for shifts and hours..
also are the ratio issues and pt going to ft still negotiating issues at this point?
In responce to your first question you are correct, that is how the hours would be used. It is our intent that the positions would be granted by seniority,but you must keep in mind that the disciplinary record would still be considered in the process.
I do realize that there are less hours avilable for part time officers at CN but that is something that is still currently beyond our control.
As far as it still being on the table it is, as far as fulltime postings are concerned, if a position comes up we would like to see it filled by partime and again it would have to be a posted position. They just wouldnt be able to move just becuse they want to, and you would be placed at the bottom of the seniority list.
How would the disciple record affect the hiring of full time process?
Those hours worked for a part timer, if 5 part timers are hired at once (it's hiring by senority correct?) do the hours worked affect where they would be placed on the full time list against each other?
How exactly does the 2080 hours work againt the bottom end full timers or the hired part timers if applicable?
Just say that there are 3 full time spots and 5 guys apply, and they are all have the same start date and seniority level, but two of the five have had suspensions on their files. Those people without the suspensions would be offered the jobs.
The Employer has this right because it is in the Managements rights clause of the collective agreement, and it is protected right for them.
Yes those hours could be used where they would be placed on the full time seniority list.
Any part timer that would move from part time to full time right now would not have enough hours in the entire five years of working to move ahead of any full time officers. We did a calculation of a number of part time officers, and found that there would be no impact on full time officers at all, and would not give any part timers an advantage.
Also One thing I must also add is that if, any part timer feels that that they are being treated unfairly they must file grievances. Up until now it has been very difficult for the union to fight for fairness, because of the reluctance of part time staff to file. The reason that this is important is so that we have documentation to present to the employer at negotiation time.
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