Signs of improvement in manufacturing sector
An agreement between the Saskatoon School Division and Local 8443 of CUPE lines up the expiry of the agreement with the end of the school year, but doesn’t make many other significant changes.
Wages will increase by eight per cent over 21 months, with two trades seeing bumps as well.
New language is added to the agreement for the employment of apprentices at the Board. Ominously, other new language will allow the Board and the union to negotiate the terms of severance in “special circumstances.”
Specific provision is made for electronic communication between the Board and union and the Board and employees, and for electronic posting of information.
Two Steelworker agreements in the fabricated metal industry, one at Nova Forge in Nova Scotia and the other at Union Drawn Steel in Ontario, show some improvement in a badly hurt sector.
Wage increases are between one per cent and two per cent, trending upward over the terms of the agreements, and other premiums and benefits are largely unchanged.
Bus drivers for the City of Guelph will get 6.75 per cent in wage increases over the next three years. Shift and weekend premiums will also go up.
One of the arbitration awards in this week’s issue takes on the question of when video surveillance is admissible at arbitration. Not surprisingly, there are two schools of thought: One holds that the employer must have had a reasonable suspicion that the grievor was abusing sick leave before commencing the surveillance. The other standard is lower and requires only that the evidence to be presented is relevant to the question before the arbitrator.
