*****UPDATE*****

 

On July 8, 2005, Linda Laminman, the Local 3 rep on the bargaining committee, sent an email in which she responded to the issues raised by the petition.

 

The relevant portions of her response are reproduced below:

 

Local 3 is part of the General Services Bargaining Committee (GSBC) as per the Public Employees Relations Act.  We are one of 9 Locals represented at the GSBC.  The GSBC met several times last summer and fall and voted at one point to bargain at a single table where all 9 Locals are represented.  Approximately 19000 members make up the GSBC.  60% of Local 3 returned ballots voting on the contract.  40% did not vote!!  60% of Local 3 who voted voted not to ratify the contract.  The other 8 Locals voted in favour of the contract so therefore the contract will be ratified.  Seems democratic to me!

…

If you have been paying attention to other settlements-this contract is one of the best out htere. Teachers have settled for 2-2.5%.  Other provinces provincial employees have settled for considerably less than we have.

 

The bottom line is this…-Local 3 is only one Local at the GSBC.  All other locals voted for the ratification of the contract.  The position of the bargainging committee after 7 months and many hours at the table was that this was the best contract we were going to get.  We put it to a vote as a result and the majority of the GSBC voted to ratify the contract.  The vote was democratic and as a result the contract will be ratified-this is the direction the GSBC has given Dan with a yes vote.

 

This response is not satisfactory.  It fails to address the guarantees in the AUPE constitution that: “The President shall sign and execute all Agreements on behalf of the Union, only following ratification by the members of the bargaining unit affected” and that “In every case of ratification only the members affected by the collective agreement being ratified will be entitled to vote.”

 

In our case, the employees affected by Subsidiary Agreement #003 did not ratify it. Therefore, the President, Dan MacLennan, can not sign and execute the Subsidiary Agreement.

 

Linda Laminman, as the Local 3 rep, does not have the power to surrender the rights of her members as guaranteed in the Constitution.  If the GSBC want to bargain as one table, then they can do it.  But, ultimately, each Local has the power to ratify or not ratify their respective Subsidiary Agreements.

 

We, the members of Local 3, demand that Dan not sign the Agreement.  In the event he already has, then he must immediately notify the employer that he signed the agreement without the authority to do so.  

 

We also demand that Dan respond directly to our petition.  Under the AUPE constitution, he has the final say on the interpretation of the constitution.  The petition was address to him.  He is the one that must answer to the membership.

 

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Attention Local 3 Members,

Please have everyone at your worksite (who is a Local 3 member!!!) sign this
petition and then fax it directly to AUPE headquarters ASAP.

Since a majority of Local 003 (60%) voted against the tentative agreement, we
want to make sure Dan MacLennan does not sign off on Subsidiary Agreement# 003.

The subsidiary agreement is the part of the collective agreement that deals
with wages and other conditions of employment specific to Correctional and
Regulatory Services (boot allowances, etc.).

We did not pass the agreement -- so Dan MacLennan has no mandate or authority
to sign off on it.

 

Click here for a copy of the Local 3 Petition