Government Members Choose Binding Conciliation
IBEW members in the federal government have chosen "binding conciliation" as their preferred dispute resolution procedure. Binding conciliation was one of the options put forward by Minister Brison in his June 3rd letter to the bargaining agents.
For IBEW members, binding conciliation is the best hope for a fair collective agreement. It allows a third party to review both side’s proposals without some of the legislative imbalance contained in the PSLRA. It also ensure continued service to Canadians by agreeing to settle our dispute without resorting to a strike.
Before we proceeded any further in bargaining it was important to know the "end game". Our bargaining strategy was based on a conciliation-strike process mandated by the previous government. Now that the members have decided on an alternate process, the negotiating team can turn its mind to resuming bargaining. To this end, IBEW will be contacting the Treasury Board for further bargaining dates. Our next steps include reducing the number of items to proceed to conciliation as well as negotiating the framework for binding conciliation.
When the TBS served notice to bargain on the IBEW more than two years ago, I expected a protracted negotiations. The previous government’s bargaining position was nothing short of ridiculous. Formally, the employer’s position on sick leave hasn't changed but at least the current government is open to a more balance dispute resolution process.
Your negotiating team and I thank all members for their continued patience. Further updates will be posted in due course.
In solidarity,
Daniel J Boulet
Business Manager / Financial Secretary