Grain handlers reject union; Sask. health-care talks drag on; Criminal record checks challenged
Grain handlers reject union
Winnipeg — In a vote supervised by the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, the 197 grain handlers employed by Viterra in Manitoba have overwhelmingly rejected union representation. More than 80 per cent of the 183 employees who mailed back a ballot voted against the Grain Services Union. This union represents about 1,000 Viterra workers in other parts of Western Canada and had been certified to represent the workers in Manitoba in July 2008. However, Viterra contested the order because it included two grain-handling units that had been in another bargaining unit before Viterra became the employer.
Sask. health-care talks drag on
Regina — The Saskatchewan government is urging the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) and three unions that represent 25,000 health-care workers to reach a settlement. Agreements with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Service Employees International Union and the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union expired on March 31, 2008. The unions said employers, and the government, have yet to put a monetary package on the table. But SAHO said that will not happen until the three unions finish bargaining contract language separately and move to a common forum. Other stumbling blocks include the employer’s demand for easier transfer of employees from one site to another, restricting seniority to a single location, weekend overtime and a proposal that wage increases will not be retroactive.
Criminal record checks challenged
Regina — Two of Saskatchewan’s largest public sector unions are to appear before the province’s labour board over the issue of criminal record checks. Representatives of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) argued last fall the government should have consulted the union before it unilaterally expanded the list of employees who require criminal record checks as a condition of employment. The board agreed. The government asked for a reconsideration and on Aug. 25, CUPE, joined by the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union, will revisit the dispute. The former NDP government brought in the changes in 2005 after a government employee defrauded the province of almost $1 million.
