With our first session with NAIT at the table completed on July 10, consider this officially to be Bargaining Update #1.
There were 21 NASA members not on the bargaining committee in attendance as observers. It is a wonderful sign to see so much interest in negotiations in the middle of summer vacation.
Our first day at the table started with opening remarks.
Opening remarks are the opportunity for both parties to set the stage for negotiations, talk about their priorities, and help the other side anticipate what will be discussed. NASA’s speaking notes from the opening remarks are attached. If NAIT is willing to provide theirs we will provide them in a future update.
In NAIT’s opening remarks they said they have 5 substantial proposals but did not give any hint as to what they were. They later said they do not intend to disclose what those proposals are to NASA members in their bargaining updates, only to provide summaries. NASA’s Bargaining Committee gave notice to NAIT that it would be disclosing the full proposals that each side tables so that NASA members can be informed of what’s being discussed for the future of your working conditions!
NAIT also said they will not be putting their monetary proposals including wages on the table with the rest of their proposals but will do so at a later undefined date. For NAIT’s side, they have said they are doing this to allow the parties to “build momentum”, by avoiding wage talks while we discuss non-monetary matters. This seems like an odd choice in the current context.
Many other public sector employers already tabled their wage offers months ago. We have not seen a wage offer higher than 7.5% over four years or less than two percent per year – still below projected inflation over that period, and definitely not making up for past inflation. NAIT is not alone though, as others like Athabasca University have also refused to table their wage offer.
In the last round of bargaining the pattern of wage offers from employers suggested the mandate from the Government of Alberta was a wage rollback of three percent on top of the erosion in the value of your purchasing power through inflation. In that case, NAIT went even further than most employers in their wage offer and proposed that NASA members who were not yet at the top of the pay scale would have that top step of the scale cut by another five percent. Given that it is public knowledge that 7.5% is the consistent wage offer so far, it’s fair to ask if NAIT is planning to table an offer worse than what we’re seeing at other public sector tables.
We know wages are the top priority for most NASA members, and that your Bargaining Committee and most members will want to know what the wage offer is to assess the proposals in their entirety. In spite of this NASA intends to table its full proposal package including wages, and has asked NAIT to do the same. In NASA’s opening remarks NAIT was informed that the wage proposal will be twenty-five percent in the first year, and ten percent plus a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in the second year as the proposal supported by the largest number of NASA members. NAIT did not disclose details of any proposals in their opening remarks.
We are now looking for NASA members’ feedback on whether or not NAIT should table their wage proposal:
(In the email to members the following question was asked in a multiple choice yes/no survey)
Should NAIT table their monetary proposals including wages at the next bargaining meeting?
NAIT had provided limited availability over the summer for negotiations and we have not been able to schedule any additional dates at this time.
We do not currently have another date scheduled with NAIT and NASA in part due to limited summer availability. Our likely next step will be the hearing at the Alberta Labour Relations Board with hearings now scheduled on October 8 and 9. If NAIT decides to drop the complaint or perhaps compromise to avoid litigation, then we can finally begin normal negotiations where NASA bargaining committee members aren’t using vacation time to reduce the costs that you pay to bargain.
Look for another update that will touch on the second aspect of the first day – establishing bargaining protocols, as well as any news we may have on the labour board complaint.
When we have more dates scheduled we will send out an invite for observers once again.
We wanted to end with a quote from one of those observers:
NAIT’s opening remarks implied they were not looking to make any substantive changes to staff compensation in this round of bargaining. NASA’s remarks made it clear that the inequities in staff compensation, our desire for pay increases to match inflation, and our need for job security were priorities this time. It’s clear NASA will have a tough round of bargaining this time if we are to see changes that will improve our working conditions.
I have confidence that the NASA bargaining team will work hard to push NAIT to improve the working conditions for NASA staff. The bargaining team has diverse perspectives and represents staff interests well – they are up for the challenge of negotiating on our behalf.
Being an observer was insightful and gave me a better idea of what the bargaining process entails. I was happy to help support our NASA team (who volunteered their time for the day!) and show NAIT that our bargaining committee is only a fraction of the people who are supporting NASA’s negotiations this round.”
Signed in solidarity,
Trevor Zimmerman – Labour Relations Director and Bargaining Committee Spokesperson
Shauna MacDonald – NASA President and Chair of Bargaining Committee
On behalf of the NASA Bargaining Committee