Lily Bachand says the hardest part of bargaining for a contract for support staff at the College of New Caledonia is now behind her union.
But the proof is in the details and that means a new deal for 345 members of CUPE Local 4051 might not get done in time for Christmas.
Late Sunday evening, after three days of bargaining, CNC support staff and the College and Institutes Support Staff Bargaining Association announced they'd worked out a provincial framework agreement with the government's B.C. Post-Secondary Employers' Association.
Until it's been presented to her membership, however, Local 4951 president Bachand won't reveal what's in the monetary framework, but it's believed the new four-year contract offer contains two years of net-zero wage adjustments with two years of modest wage increases similar to what other public sectors unions have received.
In October, UNBC support staff ratified a four-year deal with no wage increases for the first two years followed by two per cent hikes in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
"We said we were not going to settle for less," said Bachand.
"We're not done yet, but the hard part of getting the monetary part of the agreement is done."
The union's last settlement offer was rejected Nov. 8. Since local bargaining ended, Bachand said there are still issues on the table that need to be sorted out
"We dissolved our local table because we submitted a settlement agreement that the college ended up having to reject, so what happens now is we have to pull together our local table and either withdraw or negotiate the items that are left on the table," said Bachand.
"That monetary framework gets put into the collective agreement the bargaining committee takes to the membership for ratification. My membership doesn't know what's still left on the table because we're in the middle of negotiations. They don't even know what we've already signed off on and won't know until I take them in on a Saturday and present the whole package to them."
Bachand is not holding out much hope for a quick end to negotiations because the province's negotiator, Georgina Johnson, still has to settle all of the other college contracts for support staff.
"[A ratification vote] probably won't happen until the new year because I won't call people in from holidays at Christmastime to vote on an agreement," Bachand said. "Realistically, it probably won't be done until the beginning of January."
After 84 per cent of the membership voted in favour of strike action, support staff staged a full-scale walkout Nov. 21 and 22, the first time in 28 years a labour dispute forced a work stoppage at CNC. Faculty instructors refused to cross the picket lines, forcing cancellation of classes and a two-day closure of the six CNC campuses.
CUPE Local 4951 represents about 350 operational staff at CNC's main campus in Prince George and its five regional campuses in Mackenzie, Fort St. James, Vanderhoof, Quesnel and Burns Lake. That includes CNC custodians, cafeteria staff, day care workers, administrative assistants, project planners, admissions and continuing education staff, and employees of the bookstores and print rooms. They have been working without a contract since June 2010.
Bachand said the public support for the union during the labour dispute has been unwavering and overwhelming.
"Our membership is unbelievably appreciative of that," she said.
