April 16, 2012
Sisters and
Brothers
The
negotiating committee has met with the company for approximately 17 days. We
have 4 days scheduled at the end of this month. We are encouraged with the
progress and the talks are ongoing.
The reason
we had to extend the contract until April 30th is because the Ministry of
Labour did not come into negotiations until April 5th. Typically the Ministry
does not enter into negotiations until there is an impasse. This meant that the
"no board report" was not submitted until April 5th. This put either
side in a legal work stoppage position as of April 30 at 12:01am.
We are back
across the table on April 26, 27, 28 and 29th.
Provided we
reach a tentative agreement, we anticipate having a ratification meeting on or
about May 5th.
In
solidarity,
Bob Martin
President
BCTGM 154G
