CUPE ratifies new contract, ends strike
The strike of Carleton University’s 850 non-academic staff has ended.
CUPE Local 2424 announced on social media that its members ratified a new agreement with the university on Tuesday night, following a strike that lasted 30 days. The tentative deal had been reached late on Monday, following a full day of talks facilitated by an outside mediator.
Jacynthe Barbeau, CUPE’s national representative, said that the union’s members were satisfied with the new three-year deal, which runs until the end of June 2020. “And I think members are happy to go back to work (Wednesday).
“We’re relieved, to say the least,” she added. “It was a long road.”
Rob Thomas, Carleton’s assistant vice-president, human resources, issued a statement following the agreement that read, in part, “Our employees have been missed over the last four weeks. We look forward to them returning to work on Wednesday, April 4, so we can continue to support our students through their studies, together.
“The new agreement is a balanced, fair and reasonable settlement that protects the pension plan and its governance and keeps the plan financially sustainable. It also includes salary increases over three years, enhancements to benefits and improvements in contract language for CUPE 2424 members.”
At the heart of the dispute was the university’s planned change to the collective agreement language that guaranteed a defined benefit pension plan for workers.
According to a summary of the agreement provided to the union’s members, provisions in the new agreement will make it no longer possible for the university’s board of governors or its pension committee to unilaterally eliminate the defined benefit aspect of the plan.
The new agreement is a balanced, fair and reasonable settlement that protects the pension plan and its governance ...
A clause in the new agreement also eliminates the possibility of the board amending the terms of the pension plan without first negotiating with the unions or obtaining a recommendation from the pension committee.
The union, meanwhile, will have a grievance procedure by which it can challenge future changes to the pension plan that it considers adverse to its members’ interests.