LOCAL 15 (NUTRIEN) BARGAINING: GSU committee checks in with company

GSU collective agreements with Nutrien expired Dec. 31, 2019. Your GSU Local 15 bargaining committee members are Brian Cowen, Curtis Cousins, Lynn Shaw, GSU staff rep Steve Torgerson, and GSU staff rep/bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling.

GSU Local 15 (Nutrien) bargaining committee spokesperson checks in with company

Source: Sept. 1 Tuesday Members’ Memo

On Aug. 31, GSU Local 15 bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling reached out to company representatives to check if any dates had come available to resume bargaining before the end of September. Markling hasn’t received a reply yet, but he is hopeful earlier dates may be available for the two sides to meet and work toward an acceptable settlement.

GSU collective agreements with Nutrien expired Dec. 31, 2019. GSU Local 15 bargaining committee members are Brian Cowen, Curtis Cousins, Lynn Shaw, GSU staff rep Steve Torgerson, and GSU staff rep/bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling.

LOCAL 15 / NUTRIEN BARGAINING HISTORY:

Nutrien, Local 15 (Nutrien) bargaining committee to meet Sept. 30, Oct. 1

Source: July 28 Tuesday Members’ Memo

Your GSU bargaining committee will meet with management on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, but the return to the bargaining table isn’t happening as quickly as the union would prefer.

“I expressed our committee’s concern over the delay of nearly three months before we return to bargaining, but accepted the dates and urged the company to consider dates to meet before the end of September,” said GSU bargaining committee spokesperson Dale Markling. “We’re ready to work toward a bargaining settlement and available to meet sooner if company management finds time in their calendar.”

Members will be updated on the result of the meetings.


Members soundly reject company’s final offer

Source: Dale Markling’s July 3, 2020 email to Local 15 members

All ballots received in GSU’s Regina office by 12:00 noon were counted by GSU Local 15 (Nutrien) bargaining committee members Lynn Shaw and Dale Markling. The vote was supervised by GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner and staff representative Steve Torgerson. 

The members have soundly rejected the company’s final offer presented on June 5, 2020. 

“77 percent of the ballots rejected the company’s final offer,” Shaw said. “The members have clearly told us the company’s proposal to eliminate our guarantees on sick leave, our pension plan, and paid leaves is not acceptable.”

“We have heard the members and will take direction from them,” Markling added. “We thank the members for their vote of confidence.”

“I will be serving Nutrien notice that their final offer has been rejected and we wish to get back to the bargaining table to try and find a resolution the members can accept,” Markling said. “The members want a settlement, but they are not prepared to give up the guarantees the collective agreement currently provides.”

After notice is served to Nutrien, it is GSU’s hope the parties can continue to meet and reach a tentative settlement to take to the members for a vote. Failing a negotiated settlement, either party is able to declare an impasse and request conciliation. If the conciliation fails to produce a settlement after the 60-day conciliation period, the parties would be in a legal strike or lock-out position following a two-week cooling off period.

This information was shared with Local 15 (Nutrien) members by email on July 3. If you are a Nutrien member and did not receive our email, you are not in our database. If you would like to be included in GSU emails, send your address to us at gsu@gsu.ca.


Local 15 bargaining committee email to members, Members to vote on “final offer”

Source: GSU bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling’s June 8 email to members

On June 8, 2020 Local 15 bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling emailed members with an update on the most recent bargaining sessions with Nutrien representatives held June 2 and June 5.

At the June 5 bargaining meeting Nutrien representatives presented our GSU committee with a so-called final offer. While the union committee had significant concerns about the content of the offer, they felt it was important to take the offer to members for a vote. 

Details of the offer and information on the voting process are being finalized and will be communicated to Local 15 members soon.


Bargaining set for June 2 and 5

SOURCE: May 29 email from Dale Markling to GSU Local 15 (Nutrien) members

On May 29, GSU bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling sent an email to Local 15 members advising that the union and company had set June 2 and June 5 for resuming bargaining. The two sides will be meeting by video conference.

If you didn’t receive this email, please send an email to gsu@gsu.ca and let us know you would like your current email address added to our database.


May 20 email update from GSU bargaining spokesperson, Dale Markling

Source: GSU web page, May 21, 2020


GSU proposes return to GSU/Nutrien bargaining table

Tuesday Members’ Memo – May 5, 2020

GSU and Nutrien last met for collective agreement renewal bargaining on Feb. 19. While the parties are close to agreement in many respects, there are significant differences in a few key areas. 

The Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions have delayed the bargaining, but GSU bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling has contacted the company about returning to the bargaining table via a video format or in person. 

GSU is waiting for Nutrien’s reply.


Major obstacles remain in Nutrien bargaining

SOURCE: Tuesday Members’ Memo, Feb. 25, 2020

The Nutrien and GSU bargaining committees met in Regina on Feb. 18 and 19 to continue bargaining. The two sides were unable to reach a settlement despite the GSU committee’s best efforts. 

The main obstacles are:

  • company proposals to remove Sick Leave, Short Term Disability, Pension, and Paid Personal Leave days from the collective agreement,
  • union proposal to provide a fair minimum increase in wages to all employees who meet an acceptable level of performance.

If you have questions or comments, contact a member of your GSU bargaining committee.


Major gap between the two sides in Nutrien bargaining

SOURCE: Tuesday Members’ Memo, Feb. 4, 2020

The Nutrien and GSU bargaining committees met in Regina on January 28 and 29. While some progress was made in narrowing the issues, there is still a major gap between the two sides. 

Nutrien has created an obstacle in the bargaining over its insistence on removing collective agreement coverage of significant aspects of employment conditions and benefits and proposing instead that they be dealt with as company policy. 

On wages, the parties are not far apart with respect to percentage increases, but the big difference is whether the aggregate approach should continue versus GSU’s proposals that everyone is eligible for a guaranteed annual increase in addition to performance based movement towards the top of one’s pay range.

Bargaining dates in February are being considered for continuation of bargaining.


Sign-off on some non-monetary proposals

SOURCE: Tuesday Members’ Memo, Jan. 14, 2020

On Jan. 7 and 8, the GSU Local 15 (Nutrien) bargaining committee met with the company representatives for their second set of negotiations. 

GSU bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling reports that the two parties signed off on some non-monetary proposals and the company intends to present their full monetary package to the union committee when they meet again on Jan. 28 and 29.


Nutrien bargaining gets underway with an exchange of proposals

SOURCE: Tuesday Members’ Memo, Dec. 17, 2019

On Dec. 13, GSU’s Local 15 bargaining committee met with company representatives to begin collective agreement renewal bargaining. According to GSU bargaining committee spokesperson Dale Markling, the two sides exchanged proposals and there was good discussion when both sides sought clarification on the other party’s proposals.  

Bargaining is set to resume on Jan. 7, 8 and continue Jan. 28 and 29 in Regina. 

general interest - GSU members

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