An update from the LCFA Bargaining Team

My fellow faculty members,

It is with great regret that your Negotiating Committee has to inform you all that we could not come to an agreement with Administration on our efforts to bring forward a new Collective Agreement for ratification.

What does this mean?
It means that both parties are at an impasse on certain items in our contract and need outside assistance.

What does outside assistance mean?
Outside assistance means that both parties agree to move to the next level which is call Informal Mediation.

What is Informal Mediation?
Both parties bring their final proposals on outstanding Articles or Letters of Understanding in a package and present those articles to a Mediator to go over those Articles or Letters of Understanding to try and workout a compromise to get to an agreement.

Does this mean we are going on Strike or possibly being locked out by Administration?
The answer to that question is NO not at this time. There are many levels we need to get to before job action will take place. At this time we do not have an Essential Service Agreement with the College so that process if needed will still have to be implemented. Both parties have agreed to a joint application for a Mediator and the College has at this time agreed to the individuals who were recommend by our Labour Relations Officer from ACIFA..

How long will this process take?
We are going to try and get all our paper work in before mid December. I have been advised that we are most likely looking to mid January to the first part of February before a mediator is in place, but I will keep you all update as this process moves forward.

With all that being said, I Ryan Kaupp will be stepping down as Official Spokesman for our Negotiations Committee during mediation and Brian McCullough from ACIFA will take over my duties. I am still the Chair, but Brian has the expertise working with other Institutions going through this same process and knows these individuals more than I do.

I want to thank my committee for all their hard work and all the time they have devoted trying to come to an agreement, but unfortunately at this time it is not to be - which is frustrating for all of us, especially you, our members.

I am going to ask that you respect the process of mediation and that is our final items will remain in confidence as we can not disclose information for the mediator to bargain with. Any information I can share I will share at the permission of the mediator.

Personally, I never thought we would end up here. I had hope that we could come to an agreement to bring forward for ratification and for that please accept my personal apology for not getting us to that point.

Thank you all for your support over the past 23 years I have done the best I can for you the members as that is what Executive Officers and Executive are elected to try and accomplish. I wish I had better news but unfortunately this is the cards we are dealt with.

Please if you have any questions I may be able to answer send me an email, or stop by my office. It was discussed at our meeting to do a town hall online. I am open to accommodate for your convenience.

Thank you again,
Sincerely,
Ryan Kaupp
VP Negotiations and Welfare