UNIFOR LOCAL 5555, UNIT #1
BARGAINING BULLETIN - 01
APRIL 4, 2016
At the Proposals Setting Meeting on March 29th, a
member asked about the bargaining process, so we’ve
written this bulletin to answer that question by
explaining the process. More information will be
forthcoming in future bargaining bulletins.
IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE POWER - Unifor bargaining starts
and ends with our members. They raise the individual
concerns as well as the collective issues which become
the bargaining proposals that gear us up for
negotiations. Elected Workplace/Bargaining Committee
members and the Unit Chairperson work with Unifor
National staff and lead the bargaining process but it is
the support of our membership and their determination
that is the key to making progress. Although the elected
bargaining committees lead the bargaining, acceptance
or rejection of the collective agreement rests with the
members. In the Bargaining Process Flowchart, those
boxes outlined in red indicate which parts of the process
our members have input into and ultimately control. The
membership informs leadership of bargaining concerns
and priorities through surveys, suggested proposals and
meetings.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING – IT’S ABOUT WORKPLACE
POWER - AND “limiting management rights”. Unless
workers have the protection of a collective agreement,
management has a free hand to do virtually anything
they please. Only the laws of the land would be a
limitation, but even then, if there is no union to act as
a watchdog, even the laws of the land can be ignored.
With every word and every clause of the collective
agreement, we are defining what management can and
cannot do. The collective bargaining process is a process
of negotiation between employees and the employer
aimed at negotiating agreements to stipulate the terms
and conditions of the employment relationship.
At the Proposals Setting Meeting on March 29th, a
member asked to have the Local’s bargaining
Committee introduced. And another member asked
who was on the university’s bargaining committee. Here
are the players in our collective bargaining process:
WHO ARE WE? - Your Bargaining Committee consists of:
Unit 1 Chairperson
Barry Diacon
Workplace/Bargaining Committee members
Sarah-Kai Antanaitis
Dan Ciavarella
Stephen Goertz
Jeanne Norris
Rosemary Viola
Local 5555 Vice-President
Beth Couchman
Local 5555 President
Emily Hiekoop
Unifor National Staff Representative
Jim Woods
WHO ARE THEY? - McMaster University’s Bargaining
Committee consists of:
Dean, Faculty of Science and Chair of the University’s
Bargaining Committee
Robert Baker
Professor, Pathology and Molecular Medicine
John Hassell
AVP Admin & CFO
Deidre Henne
Director, Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences
Rose Mason
Director, Administration, Pediatrics
Tammy Troy-Hempey
Senior Health Physicist, Health Physics
Dave Tucker
University Counsel & Director, Employee/Labour Relations
Geoff Tierney
Director, HR Service Centre
Michele Leroux
Associate Director, Employee/Labour Relations
Maggie Pooran
Employee/Labour Relations Advisor
Tiffany Steinke-Roblin
Employee/Labour Relations Analyst
Courtney Humes
Reporting & Control Analyst, HR
Sinisa Medic
UNIFOR LOCAL 5555, UNIT #1
BARGAINING BULLETIN - 01
APRIL 4, 2016pg2
WHO DOES WHAT? – You, our
members, have informed us of
bargaining concerns and priorities by
participating in the two bargaining
surveys, emailing us suggestions to
[email protected], and
at the March 29th Proposals Setting
Meeting. The Workplace/Bargaining
Committee researches and develops
proposals based on past grievance
hearings and union-management
meetings, what other Unifor Locals
and even other unions have in their
collective agreements. The Workplace/
Bargaining Committee also solicited
and collected data from the
membership through the two online
surveys, monitoring the above email
and at the Proposals Setting Meeting.
They will keep the Local’s leadership
informed through ongoing
communications, and keep you, the
members, informed through
Bargaining Bulletins such as this one.
The Unifor National Staff Representative will chair the bargaining meetings
and utilize Unifor National resources
by calling upon different experts as required (for example, legal, economic,
pension), throughout the bargaining
process. The Unit 1 Chairperson will
lead the team by presiding over the
Workplace/Bargaining Committee’s
discussions, sharing information and
explanations regarding issues, and
making presentations to the
membership.
Future Bargaining Bulletins will
outline the steps in the collective
bargaining process.