The company and union negotiation teams met June 6th to 8th for our first round of Interest Based Negotiations (IBN). Under the guidance of an experienced facilitator, the ground rules and the opening statement were accepted. According to the IBN process, the ground rules are a set of self-determined and self-imposed rules which govern the negotiations. Both negotiating teams generated a list of issues to resolve, categorized them, selected a number to begin with, and substantive discussions took place on several important issues. Tentative grounds for agreement in some areas of interest have been established, but the IBN process does not embody traditional sign-off as agreement is reached. (This is one area where our traditional method of negotiations differs with IBN, agreements are parked until the process is complete, and are thereby subject to revisit as subsequent issues are discussed.)
Overall the negotiations team felt positive with these first steps in IBN. The sides will meet again the week of July 25th to resume discussions, beginning with reports from several small committees assigned tasks in the interim.
Attached is the Opening Statement, developed jointly between the company and union negotiating teams. It is a tool for the teams during negotiations, and provides a reference point that we can look back at to ensure we’re staying focused on what we set out to do.
We will continue to update the membership as contract negotiations continue.
Our next Negotiations bulletin will include a more complete description of the IBN process. If you have any questions about negotiations or feedback you wish to give to the team directly you can contact them at Negotiate@crpeg.ca.