On Wednesday, December 10, 2014 CUPE 960 filed for conciliation.

What is conciliation?

Conciliation is a process by which a trade union or an employer can ask the Ontario Ministry of Labour for help in resolving their differences so that they can reach a collective agreement. Either party may apply to the ministry. If parties are in negotiations, they must use, the government's conciliation services before they can get into a position to engage in a strike or lock-out.

What if the employer and the union cannot reach agreement in conciliation? 

The conciliation officer informs the Ontario Minister of Labour that a collective agreement was unable to be effected. The minister would then generally issue a notice informing the union and the employer that he or she "does not consider it advisable to appoint a conciliation board" (section 21(b) of the act). This notice is known colloquially as the "no board". [Conciliation boards are exceedingly rare. They have not been appointed in recent years.]

  What further assistance is available to the bargaining parties after a "no board" gets issued? 

If the parties have not reached a settlement in the conciliation stage, the ministry continues to offer the services of a mediator who will confer with the parties and endeavour to effect a collective agreement. This is referred to as the mediation stage, a process by which a third party attempts to help a trade union and an employer in reaching a collective agreement. Since mediation is discretionary, the service is only used if both parties agree to it.

 

We will be in touch with members about the mobilization committee and more as we have more information.

Please email [email protected] with any questions or phone 905-924-3932.