Share
Members,
This past week, your union met VIA Rail at the table, primarily addressing the major concessions tabled against members covered under Agreements 1 and 2.
On advice of the Conciliator, both parties agreed to an extension of the conciliation period for Local 100.
This extension is critical to Local 100 negotiations. The entire monetary package is affected by Agreement 1 and 2 bargaining and by the concessions that the company has levelled against our union sisters and brothers in Council 4000.
Rail workers are stronger together, and Unifor Local 100 and Council 4000 will push back against these concessions with a united front.
A primary focus of the Corporation’s appears to be depriving Council 4000 members of longstanding job security top-ups.
One such concession includes VIA wanting to force the senior laid-off member(s) who are in receipt of Supplementary Unemployment Benefits to perform casual and part-time work and hours when required, which is a breach to the layoff and recall provisions of Agreements 1 and 2.
The collective agreements permit members with the right to refuse recall if the duration of the work for which being recalled is less than 90-days, and/or the work is not within their own job security eligibility territory. This is an infringement of members’ seniority rights and protections. Extra work of intermittent hours should be performed by existing part-time staff or spare board assignments.
You will remember from the last Rail Line that the Union argues that the payment of layoff benefits in these instances is a decades-old practice. These benefits are provided to supplement the Employment Insurance (EI) benefits a member receives, and where VIA pays the difference of the EI and/or outside earnings up to an amount of 80 per cent of the member’s basic weekly rate at the time of layoff.
Your bargaining committees have proposed next week for ongoing negotiations and we await VIA’s response. While we remain committed to negotiating the best possible collective agreement, we will also prepare for possible collective action.
Local 100 and Council 4000 are forming strike committees in all work locations.
The union does not bargain in public, but we will use these tools to update you as often as possible. We would ask all members to not listen to the Employer for updates, or entertain rumours that may come up during the bargaining process. Please reach out to your local union representatives for additional information or with questions.
For Local 100 members, the first step in your support for a stronger contract is to add your name to the growing list of members pledging to stay with Unifor, and say no to the raid by the CSN. Start today by signing your card join.unifor.org/viarail.
Please see below for the updated Schedules for both Local 100 and Council 4000.
| Collective Bargaining Process: | Local 100 Dates: | Council 4000 Dates: |
| Notice of Bargaining | September 3, 2019 | September 3, 2019 |
| Notice of Dispute | October 28, 2020 | November 27, 2020 |
| Ministerial Decision | November 5, 2020 | December 7, 2020 |
| Conciliation | 75 days (extended by mutual agreement of parties) | 60 days, unless extended by mutual agreement of parties |
| Termination of Conciliation | January 19, 2021 | February 5, 2021 |
| Cooling-off Period | 21 days | 21 days |
| Acquisition of right to strike/lockout * | February 9, 2021 | February 26, 2021 |
| Mediation | no time limit | No time limit |
*Right to strike cannot be exercised until 1) Strike vote is taken, and 2) 72 hour notice is given
In solidarity,
Local 100 and Council 4000 Bargaining Committee
