There is some labour peace within the education system.
The Vernon School District and local 5523 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees have reached a two-year collective agreement.
“This agreement, ratified by both parties, covers the period of July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2012,” states a press release.
“This agreement follows 11 days of bargaining considering 134 proposals from both parties. This collective bargaining process concluded with agreements on 55 of the proposals.”
Under the contract, there is no net increases in total compensation costs, but there have been some compensation trade-offs.
“During bargaining, the district and union worked to resolve local issues, outstanding grievances scheduled for arbitration, achieve language improvements, language clarity and modernization of the collective agreement,” states the release.
Contract changes were made to streamline the grievance and arbitration process; clarify the bumping, recall, and posting processes; clarify the seniority rights of temporary employees; and address the allocation of certain leaves to better suit both employees and the employer and to reflect the unique ethno-cultural needs of employees.
“The bargaining teams also made commitments to keep working together after the agreement is signed to explore potential restructuring of extended health benefits for employees and to address local issues that can be resolved outside of the collective bargaining process,” states the release.
