This is an update about a bargaining in bad faith complaint filed against NAIT with the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB).
Our first bargaining session with NAIT was on July 10th, held virtually. Many NASA members chose to attend as observers, including some who were working that day but had the negotiations session video running while they were otherwise completing their work.
After the session concluded, NAIT took the position that those members would be required to use vacation for that day. This requirement was not communicated ahead of time to those members, or to NASA.
Your collective agreement is clear in 16.02 that “Instructors are responsible for completing all components of their workload and have the flexibility to perform work as their assigned schedule allows.”
This has meant that instructors have been able to attend to matters during the day and make up for time otherwise in evenings or on weekends.
NAIT’s claim that there is case law supporting their position is disingenuous, as the case they have referenced was for a meat packing workplace where flexible work schedules and the ability to run a video of a virtual meeting while otherwise completing work was not possible.
NASA suggested that while we may disagree with NAIT on their interpretation, that it would at least be reasonable not to expect those members to use their vacation day, as that had not been communicated to them ahead of time. NAIT refused the suggestion.
NAIT’s position on the inability for members to have flexible schedules allowing them to observe negotiations sessions combined with their insistence that bargaining will normally take place during the day time is a barrier to observers attending during this round of bargaining. In a past survey 62% of NASA members responding said they would like to attend at least one session as an observer, and to date 29 members have joined one of the sessions on July 10 and August 1. Placing barriers like this will have the effect of reducing transparency in negotiations.
Many members have told us that flexible schedules have been a common practice within their programs, and NAIT’s refusal to acknowledge that practice here is unwarranted. Expecting members to use vacation time when they had completed their work that day amounts to an expectation from NAIT that their work shall have been done for free.
Notably this issue could largely be avoided through having negotiations take place in the evenings, as NASA has been suggesting since January.
The Alberta Labour Relations Board has accepted NASA’s request that our complaint be combined with NAIT’s so that both can be dealt with together at the October 8th and 9th hearings.