日本語版のダウンロードはこちらから。Download Japanese version here.

Negotiations for your first collective agreement with Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society continued June 4^th, 20^th, and 24^th, and July 8^th and 17^th. Your union and employer have so far spent 14 days in bargaining. Progress has continued to be slow.

The parties have signed off on a total of 10 non-monetary proposals, which is only two more than when we last updated you, and two minor monetary proposals.

The Employer responded to the Union's monetary proposals by saying it has no money to pay for them. Except for minor improvements in a small number of areas, the Employer has rejected and said "no" to all the main union monetary proposals, including:

- paying overtime rates when working overtime on a paid holiday,

- increasing the amount of annual vacation,

- paying for renewal of courses, certificates, and licenses that are a condition of employment,

- providing a voluntary matching registered retirement savings plan,

- improving health and welfare benefits,

- expanding shift premiums, e.g., for night and weekend work, to all employee and increasing them, and

- increasing the amount of sick leave.

The Union has requested and is awaiting further disclosure of employer financial information to be able to assess the Employer's inability-to-pay argument. Once we have assessed the Employer's finances, we will be in a better position to determine how hard and how far to push for monetary gains.

The Employer continues to reject and say "no" to many union non-monetary proposals, including those:

- protecting employees' jobs against contracting out and from being performed by volunteers,

- establishing layoff and recall provisions for when jobs are eliminated,

- providing for education leave, general leave, and union leave,

- giving employees credit for seniority in the first stage of job selection processes (the Employer will only agree to it being a tiebreaker),

- allowing laid-off regular employees to accept casual work without losing their right of recall, and

- allowing for union meetings at the worksite.

We are frustrated at how long negotiations are taking but remain committed to securing the good contract terms you expect and deserve.

The parties are working to schedule future bargaining dates for after the union staff negotiator returns from vacation in September. In the meantime, the Employer has agreed to a voluntary extension of the statutory freeze period, in which it cannot change terms and conditions of employment, until the end of November. The Union will seek further voluntary extensions to the freeze period if a collective agreement is not reached by then. Separately, your bargaining committee and union staff plan to meet to discuss ways to pressure the Employer towards agreement on a good contract.

Thank you for your ongoing patience and support throughout this lengthy process. We will provide another update in September. In the meantime, please speak with a worksite member of your bargaining committee if you have any questions or concerns.

In solidarity,

Pinky Rose Mateo, Bargaining Committee Chair
Yumiko Turco, Bargaining Committee Member
Satomi Yoneda, Bargaining Committee Member
Ryan Stewart, Staff Representative, Negotiations Department

Download PDF of bulletin here
Download PDF of bulletin translated to Japanese here

UWU/MoveUP