Greetings Union Members!
On Friday, August 25 CNMEU declared Impasse. So little had changed with each Bargaining proposal in the preceding weeks that the Executive Council and Bargaining Team voted to move immediately to end the process.
On Monday, Aug. 28, Admin moved to call a Federal Mediator. Over the next few days a Mediator will be chosen from a list of seven available Mediators. Then, each party will bring a proposal containing only essentials to a mediator who would then try to find common ground to reach agreement. The process is non-binding and is not mandatory. This stage is a continuation of Bargaining with a Mediator present. The Union would prefer to vacate this avenue since it has proved non-productive in the past, and the general tone at the Bargaining Table is toxic. Admin may want it, not out of sincere desire to find common ground but to delay the process and put pressure on the Union, as well as to congratulate themselves on having Mediation Mindset.
Assuming no agreement is reached during Mediation the parties then go to Fact-Finding. A Federal Arbitrator is then chosen to review the proposals of each party and make a determination to accept one proposal in total. This proposal will be the same as the work taken to Mediation, and must be acceptable within certain limitations of Fact Finding: each party may only discuss compensation, benefits, and terms and conditions of employment in the proposal. Since all of our efforts have been around Uncompensated Labor, Workload and project pay, we feel that this is a good forum to gain a hearing. We will begin working with our Lawyer and Advisor to craft the most acceptable proposal to a Fact Finder while addressing our fundamental needs.
There are important details I would like to share with you all. These will be posted in the Google group and discussed in our Monday Zoom meetings. We also have open Executive Council meetings every Friday at 8:30 am. Please join us: It is vital that you participate.
In Solidarity,
Mark Love-Williamson