Hanover School Division would like to take an opportunity to provide an update to the state of bargaining with CLAC.
Bargaining has continued through the use of a conciliator and the Division is pleased to share that progress continues to be made towards a mutually agreed upon collective agreement.
The Division would also like to provide clarification regarding two items.
Hanover School Division's Negotiation Committee wishes to address an issue concerning the November 9, 2023 conciliation / bargaining session between the Division and CLAC. The conciliation / bargaining session originally set for November 9, 2023 was not cancelled by CLAC; rather, the parties agreed to reschedule that meeting date. To date, both parties have attended all agreed upon bargaining sessions and conciliation meetings.
The Division has further received comment that the Division's offer to CLAC, as described in the November 1, 2023 statement on the Division's website, is unclear. While the Division does not accept that the description of an offer presented to CLAC is unclear, the Division can advise that the original offer provided for a 3.3% general wage increase in year one for all steps on the wage scale and, at the same time, the starting wage rate (Step 1) and the top wage rate (Step 5) were enhanced / augmented, amounting to 8.8% and 6.5% total increases on those Steps, respectively. While not published in the Division's online statement, the actual wage rate table (with the express hourly wage rates) was presented to CLAC with the Division's offer at the time it was made.
Hanover School Division's top priority remains the well-being and education of our students. We have taken proactive measures to ensure their needs are met during this period to the best of our ability. The Division wishes to confirm that it has no intention of engaging in a lockout or preventing any employees who wish to work from continuing to work during the strike. The Division respects both the rights of employees to continue to strike as well as the rights of employees to continue to work.
The Division remains committed to ongoing discussions and a mutually agreed and bargained settlement between the parties. We anticipate and look forward to ongoing discussions with CLAC Local 306.
Sincerely,
Brad Unger, Board Chair
Hanover School Division
