Bargaining update: Progress on non-monetary issues; monetary proposals tabled
Your Community Social Services Bargaining Association (CSSBA) committee continues to work hard
at the table to deliver renewed collective agreements that reflect your priorities.
After 29 days of bargaining with the Community Social Services Employers’ Association
(CSSEA), we’ve reached agreement on several key non-monetary improvements. These
include:
• Improved language on employer-led investigations and disciplinary meetings
• Stronger provisions around health and safety including where there are health and safety
related workload issues
• A requirement for the employer to consult employees before permanent transfers
• Stewards’ email addresses to be provided to new employees
• Changes to the expedited arbitration process
• A commitment to renegotiate local issues after the renewal of main agreements
We’ve also made progress on housekeeping and formatting changes and updated outdated
terms like “residential” to “residence” to better reflect the work and settings of our members.
Discussions are ongoing on several important items including union meetings at worksites,
technological change, harassment and bullying language, and leave provisions for casual
employees.
Monetary proposals
On October 3rd, we tabled our monetary proposals. This allows CSSEA to begin reviewing and
costing our proposals during a brief scheduled pause in negotiations. We will resume non-
monetary talks later this month and then shift our focus to monetary negotiations.
Indigenous Services (IS) bargaining update
The CSSBA and CSSEA Indigenous Services Bargaining Committees met on September 8 for their
first joint session. It was a positive and productive start. We finalized and signed the Indigenous
Services Gathering Protocols, reviewed joint committee work, and discussed shared priorities. The
next round of Indigenous Services bargaining is scheduled for October 22–24, where we’ll begin
substantive discussions.
Your continued support and engagement is critical to our collective success at the bargaining
table. We have 12 more bargaining days scheduled through the end of November. Please ensure
that your contact information is up-to-date with your local, and that you are continuing to monitor
your email for updates as we continue work at the bargaining table.
In solidarity,
Your CUPE representatives on the CSSBA Bargaining Committee
Sheryl Burns CUPE 1936
Lee-Ann Lalli CUPE 1936
Valeria Mancilla CUPE 1936
Bob Crozier CUPE 523
Laura House CUPE 3999
COPE491