January 7th to January 24th Negotiations Timeline
Wednesday, January 7
The employer gives CUPE 3903 a pass that they call a “comprehensive offer” and asks the CUPE 3903 bargaining team to bring it to the membership for a vote. This “comprehensive offer” fails to respond to the reductions in demands CUPE 3903 made that day, indicating it was likely prepared ahead of time as opposed to as a part of the negotiation process.
Thursday, January 8
At a General Membership Meeting, 85% of the members present vote to deem the Employer’s offer inadequate and send the bargaining team back to the bargaining table.
Friday, January 9
When the employer shows up at the bargaining table, they announce they will be asking the Ministry of Labour to run a forced ratification vote on the January 7th offer. No Movement from Employer
Friday. January 9- Tuesday, January 20
No bargaining because of call for forced ratification. Employer Unwilling to Bargain
Monday, January 19 and Tuesday, January 20
CUPE 3903 membership rejects (once again) the employer’s Jan 7. offer by a 63% vote.
Tuesday, January 20
The employer announces to the media that they will not be negotiating any further.
No Movement from Employer
Wednesday, January 21
Morning Dalton McGuinty announces he is appointing his lead mediator—Reg Pearson—to bring both parties back to the bargaining table.
1:00pm CUPE 3903 bargaining team returns to the bargaining table. Employer’s bargaining team does not show up. CUPE 3903 Ready to Bargain
Thursday, January 22
CUPE 3903 bargaining team gives the employer a memorandum of settlement offer that cuts demands from a 10.8% increase to a 9.4% increase over 2 years. Movement from CUPE 3903
Friday, January 23
1:30am The mediator (after having kept CUPE 3903 waiting at the table for a response) announces that the employer will not have a response until the morning.
10am The employer’s bargaining team sends back its next pass which is identical to the offer from January 7 except that it has a new cover page and changes one word. No Movement from Employer
3pm CUPE 3903 bargaining team communicates to the mediator its willingness to further narrow demands to a few key priority areas, representing a cut of more than fifty proposals and a decrease from a 9.4% increase to an 8.3% increase over 2 years. Movement from CUPE 3903
5pm: The mediator returns with the Employer’s response: they are unwilling to move on any issues. No Movement from Employer
Saturday, January 24
Midnight: The mediator tells CUPE 3903 bargaining team that he will be calling McGuinty at 7am and that he expects to hear from them by 2am whether they will agree to binding arbitration rather than face back to work legislation.
2:30am: CUPE 3903’s executive and bargaining team vote to reject binding arbitration. CUPE 3903’s bargaining team requests, via the mediator, to continue negotiations with the Employer on Saturday. CUPE 3903 Ready to Bargain
3:30am: Mediator informs CUPE 3903 bargaining team that the Employer is only willing to continue negotiations if CUPE 3903 will agree to the Jan. 7 offer made by the Employer. Employer Unwilling to Bargain
Noon: Dalton McGuinty announces that he is calling the legislature back for a 1:00pm Sunday meeting to legislate CUPE 3903 back to work because of deadlocked negotiations. He ignores the fact that the “deadlock” is one-sided and that the employer is being significantly rewarded for refusing to bargain for seventeen days.