February 22, 2019
The CATCA Contract Committee and NAV Canada bargaining team met in Ottawa this week, February 18 – 22, for the fourth full week of contract negotiations.
At this point, all non-monetary proposals from both sides have been presented, and preliminary discussions have been had surrounding all proposals. A great deal of this week’s work dealt with scheduling issues and, as members will understand, the discussions were long and vigorous.
While there is still a lot of work to be done on many topics, we are making progress towards a final agreement. Once these non-monetary items have been resolved, talks will begin on monetary increases for salary and premiums.
Considering the amount of work to be completed, additional bargaining dates have been scheduled past April 1. Although the contract team was focussed on the April 1st deadline for a new collective agreement, it appears unlikely that the deadline will be met. This is not to be taken as a negative signal, instead, it is a sign that both sides are seriously discussing each other’s issues in an attempt to bring forth a collective agreement that will ultimately receive a high ratification percentage from our membership. This round of collective bargaining continues to progress in a positive and constructive manner.
As always, we remind our membership that no items agreed to at this point are final until we have a complete package to bring to the membership for ratification.
The teams will meet again the week of March 25 in Cornwall.
On behalf of the Contract Committee,
Peter Duffey Doug Best
President Executive Vice President
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