Canadian Labour Reporter

Power imbalance harmful to bargaining: Lawyer Finding a balance But reaching an agreement that is acceptable to both parties is far more important than any imme- diate potential gains, according to John Hyde, partner at Toronto's Levitt & Grosman. "If, as an employer, you're sav- ing money by virtue of (labour action), is it a long-term solution? No, it's not a long-term solution because there's no certainty. Em- ployers, particularly in the public sector, prefer to have the certainty of a longer-term agreement. We don't know where things are going to go." No employer wants to enter ne- gotiations in a weak position, he said, but an imbalance of power does not necessarily lead to a more favourable agreement. Labour action — be it a strike or lockout — is a powerful tool dur- ing the negotiating process. If that tool becomes ineffectual, it could lead to an imbalance of power in the bargaining process that cre- ates more problems than it solves, said Hyde. "A balance of power is critical to get a good deal and a fair deal. And that's what it's really about, in the end, getting that fair deal that ev- eryone can live with," he said. "It's absolutely essential to have a strong balance of power there and I think that without that, you don't get the kind of deals that the parties can live with over the long term." A deal without balance leads to the same problems cropping up year after year, in collective agree- ment after collective agreement, said Hyde. "We don't know what kind of labour unrest is going to be cre- ated over the long-term. There's always going to be a risk that you will make initial gains and those gains will come back to haunt you later on," he said. "There are plen- ty of cases where the employer has got an exceptional deal but three years down the road when you get back to square one, it can be a challenge." The bottom line is a bitter strike does no good for either par- ty, said Hyde. "That bitterness lingers after." But strike-related savings are not the objective, said Campbell, and Halifax Water hopes to work with CUPE to redefine the pen- sion plan and get employees back to their regular schedules. Talks broke off in April Contract talks between the par- ties broke off in April and both sides remain at a standstill con- cerning issues of wages, premi- ums, overtime, seniority and the employees' indexed defined ben- efit pension plan. In addition to CUPE members, the pension plan covers non-union and manage- ment employees. "In a nutshell, the pension plan is not sustainable in its current form," said Campbell. "We're looking at redesigning the pension plan that will hope- fully still remain an indexed de- fined benefit pension plan, but in a form that's more supportable by our customers." The employer's latest offer for the pension plan included an an- nual accrual rate of 1.75 per cent per year of service (down from the current two per cent) based on the average salary over the best seven years (up from the current best five years). The offer also included guaran- teed annual indexing of up to one per cent, down from the current two per cent. The proposed agreement — a five-year deal — also included wage increases of 1.5 per cent for the first three years and 2.25 per cent for the final two years. However, the union said the employer is asking for too much. "We went to work looking at what they were saying, that it's an unsustainable pension," said Heather Corkum, president of CUPE Local 1431. "We don't believe it's unsus- tainable." The union did concede chang- es need to be made moving for- ward. It made major concessions, agreeing to cut the indexation and increase the number of years used to calculate employee's average salary, she said. In exchange, CUPE requested any future surplus be used to top up those pension benefits being sacrificed. The request was denied, she said, and the labour action was launched when it became clear the parties were no closer to com- ing to an agreement for the pen- sion plan. "Halifax Water needs to get a more realistic mandate," Corkum said. "We have been bargaining with ourselves for 15 months. We need Halifax Water to come to the bargaining table and start bar- gaining with us." 7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER news < from pg. 1 Halifax Water is maintaining its water, storm water and waste water facilities with non-union and management staff during the strike. Photo: SF Photo (Shutterstock)

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