August 23, 2019
The week began with both parties discussing issues surrounding fatigue and the teams received a presentation from a fatigue/sleep expert. Bargaining then continued, and some progress was made on non-monetary items.
NAV Canada responded to CATCA’s offer to settle with their opening position, which included wage and premium proposals. Unfortunately, the offer was not acceptable to the Contract Committee as NAV Canada’s and CATCA’s positions on a reasonable settlement differ significantly. The Contract Committee believes the gap between positions is unbridgeable at this time, and further collective bargaining is not warranted.
The week concluded with CATCA informing NAV Canada that we now wish to turn our attention to negotiating a Maintenance of Activities Agreement (MOAA). An MOAA dictates what services must be provided in the event of a strike or lockout. At this point, we stress that CATCA is not in a position to initiate any strike action, and we believe it would be several months before that could be the case. However, after a difficult week of bargaining, we must begin taking steps to protect and prepare our Association for all possible outcomes.
The September bargaining dates have been cancelled, and no additional dates are scheduled at this time. Our focus now turns to securing an MOAA. If and when NAV Canada is prepared to make an offer that your Contract Committee believes is beneficial to CATCA members, we will immediately return to the bargaining table.
Now more than ever, we ask our members for their support as we continue this process. Please remain professional in the continuance of providing all ATC services until such time as otherwise directed by the Union.
On behalf of the Contract Committee,
Peter Duffey Doug Best
President Executive Vice President
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