We are preparing to enter our first round of bargaining with the employer and will soon be looking for your support – stay tuned to hear from us what you can do to help get a strong fair collective agreement.
Once we have a new collective agreement, it will be available here.
What rights do you have now?
You now have a new level of accountability and protection in the workplace even before negotiating a collective agreement. These include:
The right to representation: For discipline or any other workplace issues, you can reach out to your CUPE servicing rep Cassie Bisson (cbisson@cupe.ca). Once you elect Stewards, they will also be a resource to you!
Statutory Freeze: The employer must not, except with the consent of the union (you!), alter any rates of pay or any other condition of employment, right, privilege, or duty until a Collective Agreement is reached. This includes continuing to provide things that were promised prior to unionization, for example a general wage increase.
Just Cause Protection: Your are now covered by Section 12.1 of the Labour Relations Act, which states, “the employer shall not discharge or discipline an employee in that bargaining unit without just cause during the period that begins on the date of certification.” This means that you now have some job security and a protection that you only gain through unionizing.
Further Protections: Under the Labour Relations Act there are further protections that are in place including that the employer must not interfere in the running of your union–including in the representation of members–and the employer cannot discriminate against you because of union activity and / or union membership.