Bargaining Newsletter #10 :
Concordia works because WE do. 

Conciliation: Bargaining enters a critical stage

In our last newsletter, we mentioned that Concordia refused to provide a monetary counter-offer that responds to our demands until a third-party conciliator could be present. Over the past weeks, they have continued to stonewall progress, and refuse to give ground on key issues like reports for health and safety incidents or protections against excessive discipline and precarity.

As such, the Bargaining Committee has agreed to move entirely into conciliation. This means that all future bargaining sessions will be convened by a third party conciliator appointed by the Quebec Labour Board to speed up negotiations. This conciliator does not have the power to issue binding decisions upon either us or Concordia. They can provide recommendations and make us meet at their office at 35 Port-Royal E (near Sauvé Metro).

So far, the dates for our conciliation sessions are:

—Monday February 10 (all-day)

—Monday February 24 (all-day)

However, changes are always possible. Make sure to check your email often as we update our schedule of sessions. In the meantime, register here to attend conciliation as an observer.

The conciliation process is designed to progress negotiations, and historically it has been fairly effective. However, it isn’t enough on its own to guarantee an agreement we’re happy with: at the end of the day, CREW members like you will make that decision, and the deal we get will depend on the fight we bring.

For more information, and to be part of your union’s democracy, join us this Thursday, January 30th, from 6-9 PM at CSN for our first General Assembly of 2025, where we’ll discuss bargaining in-depth as we move into this new stage.

Let’s win the deal we deserve!