Lakeland College: Unexpected shift in negotiations

Your negotiating team met with Lakeland College on August 20 to continue bargaining.  

We expected to continue the conversations we began at our last meeting.  

Instead, the employer began the session by telling us that they had reached an agreement with the College Faculty members. It was immediately clear that the employer wanted to use this separate agreement as a way to pressure us to settle, too. They said they wanted to finish negotiations by the end of our two days of meetings even though they had not shared complete proposals with us.

We refuse to be blind-sided. Your team will not rush into a deal that does not meet our needs. We are committed to putting in the time and effort to reach a fair agreement that includes the raises and working conditions we deserve.  

We insisted on continuing the discussions we feel are not appropriately resolved. The employer’s insistence on making verbal offers instead of putting forward written proposals is not appropriate. Even their wage offer was verbal – unacceptable.

In response, your negotiating team used the second day of negotiations to prepare a complete proposal package. We are prepared to present and fight for these proposals at our next meetings on November 17 and 18.  

Despite the unexpected turn in negotiations, we did sign off the following articles with minor changes or improvements:

• Article 53 – Printing of Agreement
• Article 39 – Acting Incumbent
• Article 38 – Job Opportunities
• Article 43 – Safety and Health
• Article 37 – Position Abolishment
• Article 42 – Classification

Please contact a member of your negotiating team if you have any questions or concerns.

AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – LAKELAND COLLEGE

Lonnie Boothman  
lonnie.b@sasktel.net

Kathy Williams  
kathywmcu@yahoo.com

Susan Werner  
lakelandsusan@gmail.com    

Michael Fritz (Alt)  
michael.fritz07@outlook.com

Weiwei Li (Alt)
lweiwei456@gmail.com

Matthew Robinson (Alt)
Mattrobinson1@gmail.com

AUPE RESOURCE STAFF

Scott Drake Negotiations
s.drake@aupe.org