Mandate:
This Committee will negotiate renewals of the MRSA/MRU Collective Agreement, utilising available and appropriate resources, and the Labour Relations Code to obtain the most fair and favourable outcome for the membership. Any proposed agreements, which have been agreed to in principle by the Committee, will be presented to the membership for ratification. The Committee is required to provide thorough communication to the membership to allow for proper consideration of any tentative agreement, or access to any of the available legal processes, with the goal to reach a renewed collective agreement.
Membership:
Chair: Executive Director
Maximum of five (5) members
One (1) member placement reserved for a Board member
Members are appointed by the Board following a call for expressions of interest.
The Executive Director may provide recommendations to the Board regarding the composition of the committee. Recommendations will be to encourage diversity and for the broad interests of the bargaining unit.
Should vacancies arise during a round of bargaining, the Board reserves the right to appoint alternate member(s).
The Operations Administrator (OA) may provide additional administrative support and guidance to the committee, on an as needed basis.
Length of term is for the duration of the bargaining process.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Meetings are scheduled as per the Collective Agreement, and on an as needed and agreed to basis with MRU.
The Committee has the ability to access budgeted funding for bargaining preparation, training, negotiation and conclusion needs, mediation, and legal action(s).
Additional funding may be available with Board approval, as per policy.
Decisions of the Committee are made generally through consensus by the MRSA members of the committee, however, should consensus not be reached, a majority of the voting members may authorise a decision.
Specific responsibilities:
Research all appropriate and necessary information regarding collective agreements, employment terms and conditions, and economic factors which may have an impact on collective bargaining.
Survey members for input and to determine the mandate for collective bargaining.
Provide regular updates to the Board and membership regarding the bargaining process.
Participate in collective bargaining with the MRU Board of Governors (BoG) as per the Collective Agreement and the Labour Relations Code with the goal to conclude bargaining.
Mindful that the legal obligation in bargaining is to agree to improvements that have the most improvement to the majority of persons.
Consideration of potential issues of discrimination, and how particular conditions of employment may affect groups within the bargaining unit.
Provide fulsome communication to the Board and membership if there are significant issues obstructing the conclusion of negotiations, in order to assess and determine how to proceed up to and including access to the process of legal strike.
Communicate fulsome information to the membership regarding any proposed tentative agreement, for the purpose of ratification.
Prepare and support the ratification process for the membership, including information sharing and voting process.
Support the implementation of a new collective agreement.
Reporting:
The Chair will provide regular updates to the Board and membership, while respecting the confidentiality of the bargaining process.
The Chair will provide an update for action to the Board and membership when any tentative agreement is available for approval.
The Chair will provide fulsome communications to the Board and membership if there is a need to enter into mediation, or any other legal actions are proposed or taken.
The Chair is responsible for proper record taking, as well as administration of all bargaining processes.
Level of Authority:
Active Agent: The Committee takes action within its mandate.
The Board authorises the Executive Director to act as signing authority for any agreements in principle during the bargaining process, when agreement has been reached by the Committee.
The Board authorises the committee to access budgeted funds, as per the mandate of the committee, within policy limitations.
Final authority to approve any collective agreement is as per the Labour Relations Code requirements, which is a vote of the entire membership and passes with a simple majority (50%+1) of the voting participants.
Executive Board Approved: September 25, 2024