Northern Lakes College: We signed off on several Articles

Your negotiating team appreciates your patience during this long bargaining process. We were unable to meet with the employer in April as originally scheduled due to illness, then several members of the AUPE negotiating team stepped down.

We met with the newer members of the team on August 11 to review progress and prepare to meet with the employer.

We met with the employer on August 12 and, after a productive meeting, signed off on eight Articles.

We signed off on these Article with no changes:

• Article 22 – Travel Expenses.
• Article 40 – Medical Examinations.

We signed off on these Articles with minor changes:

• Article 5 – Union Recognition: We specified that filing a grievance is a legitimate union activity.
• Article 7 – Union Membership and Dues Check-Off: The employer must now provide the AUPE Records department with more information for their databases, including an employee’s personal email.
• Article 10 – Time Off for Union Business: We added a clause to clarify that the employer must allow the negotiating team to book time off to meet without the employer invoicing AUPE.
• Article 11 – Attendance: We changed the wording to say that you must report an absence “as soon as possible” before your start time.
• Article 24 – Disciplinary Action: The employer must now provide you and AUPE 24 hours’ notice before a disciplinary meeting.
• Article 36 – Health and Safety: We added a clause to add Psychological Health and Safety as a standing item on the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee agenda. (This is an important step to address your requests for better mental health supports. It ensures a forum with elected union representatives will discuss psychological health and safety in the workplace.)

Next meeting dates

We’ve tentatively scheduled our next bargaining meetings for December 8 and 9. We plan to discuss illness leaves, including the requirement of sick notes and how you can address difficulties in accessing healthcare practitioners.

If you have any questions, please contact a member of your negotiating team.

AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – NORTHERN LAKES COLLEGE

Danielle Stradling
stradling.danielle@gmail.com

Patricia Johnson
pdj6180@gmail.com

Tracey Beaudette
beaudettert43@gmail.com

Sharon Anderson (Alt)
anderson_sf@hotmail.com

Susan Horner (Alt)
susan.horner50@gmail.com

AUPE RESOURCE STAFF

Scott Drake Negotiations
s.drake@aupe.org