The Communiqué – CUASA Files for Mediation, Refers Pension Grievance to Arbitration

May 9, 2018

CUASA Issues Formal Request for Mediation

CUASA’s Chief Negotiator, Chantal Dion, has issued a formal request to the Employer’s Chief Negotiator to pursue mediation. Pursuant to Section 19(1) of the Labour Relations Act, the parties must mutually agree to the mediation process before making a formal request to the Ministry of Labour.

Further, under Section 19(2), once a mediator has been appointed, the previous appointment for conciliation will be terminated. Mediation diverts the process from conciliation, and therefore, at least temporarily, removes the possibility of a strike or lockout. A favourable strike vote will, however, put pressure on the employer to mediate in good faith and pressure them to not return to conciliation.

CUASA remains committed to reaching a fair deal for its membership and hopes the mediation process will allow a deal to be reached without leading to an unnecessary strike or lock-out.

CUASA Refers Pension Plan Grievance to Arbitration

In an April 25 hearing with the Employer, no delegated authority was present to hear CUASA’s grievance. Your representatives asked for a rescheduled meeting where a delegated authority of the Employer would be present. Since no additional dates were offered, CUASA has now exercised its option under the collective agreement to refer the grievance to arbitration.

CUASA grieves that since July 1, 2011, the Employer has been requiring all members of the Carleton University Retirement Plan, including all CUASA members who participate in the Plan, to make contributions to the Plan that are over and above the regular contributions that were required of Plan members on April 30, 2009.

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