Canadian Labour Reporter

LABOUR BRIEFS 2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 FORMERLY CLV REPORTS Serving labour relations professionals since 1956 www.labour-reporter.com Published weekly by omson Reuters Canada Ltd. Subscription rate: $595 per year Customer Service Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 Email: carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com Website: www.carswell.com Director, Carswell Media Karen Lorimer Publisher John Hobel (on leave) Acting Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Todd Humber Editor/Supervisor Sarah Dobson | (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor Sabrina Nanji | (416) 649-9348 sabrina.nanji@thomsonreuters.com News Editor Liz Foster | (416) 298-5129 liz.foster@thomsonreuters.com Marketing Co-ordinator Keith Fulford | (416) 649-9585 keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com © 2015 Carswell, a division of omson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. 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Labour Reporter Canadian www.labourreporter.com Photo: Yuya Shino (Reuters) Alberta introduces 2-table bargaining for teachers CALGARY — The Alberta government will have a more prominent seat at the bargaining table when the province negoti- ates with teachers next summer, should a new restructuring plan get the go-ahead in the legisla- ture. On Nov. 26, Alberta's educa- tion minister David Eggen intro- duced Bill 8, otherwise known as the Public Education Collective Bargaining Act, which would create a formal two-table model for negotiating future collective agreements. As well, a new group — the Teachers' Employer Bargaining Association — would be estab- lished and combine government and school board representa- tives in contract talks with the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA). Eggen said the legislation helps to formalize the roles of all stakeholders. "It also retains school boards' autonomy to address local con- ditions that affect their local teachers. This system puts all the affected parties, including gov- ernment, at the bargaining table in a transparent way," he said. Certain issues still need to be hammered out — such as which provisions will be negotiated at the local or provincial level, or- ganizational structure and the level of government involve- ment. While details remain scant, the two-tiered system bears a re- semblance to the new bargaining rubric Ontario introduced for its teachers, which was tested ear- lier this year. Under Alberta's current sys- tem, school boards negotiate di- rectly with the teachers' unions on all terms of the contract, with the government only informally involved. Mark Ramsankar, president of the ATA, said it is important that the government take a more active role in the process, adding that "The association will work with government and school boards to create an effective bar- gaining structure that will meet the needs of teachers, students and the public." Should it pass, Bill 8 would take effect Jan. 1, 2016 — well ahead of the expiry of each of the province's 61 current collec- tive agreements with teachers on Aug. 31. B.C. trucking companies ratify deals with Unifor VANCOUVER — Unifor is fi- nalizing collective agreements with several Port Metro Van- couver trucking companies after employees withdrew services on Nov. 23. Employees launched the la- bour action after being without a contract for 18 months. The drivers previously shut down Port Metro Vancouver for nearly four weeks in March 2014 in protest of wage undercutting and long wait times. Six companies have ratified deals with the union follow- ing days of around-the-clock bargaining. These companies employ about 75 per cent of the truck drivers represented by Unifor. The agreements — which in- clude guarantees of retroactive pay and improvements to com- pensation for transporting cer- tain goods — will last until 2019. The deals also require the companies to contribute to a benefit plan for both owner- operators and company drivers. According to Unifor, shipping companies Port Transport and Harbour Link have so far refused to ratify deals that are consistent with the union's other collective agreements. Drivers at those companies remain on strike. Japan's government plans to up the minimum wage by three per cent, but labour unions say it's not enough. LABOUR LENS

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