Negotiation update: SEU Trades & Powerhouse - Downtown and Macdonald Campus

Since the last update on January 9th, 7 full day meetings in person and 11 half day online meetings took place between SEU Union representatives for Trades and Powerhouse / Macdonald and Downtown campuses and University representatives.

The parties successfully modified their usual negotiation practices to adapt to the context of online negotiations: shorter meetings, paperless exchange of proposals, more structured discussions while still allowing participants to express their views, online breakout rooms before, during and after meetings, electronic signature of documents etc. The desire of the parties to move forward with the negotiations in these times where meetings in person are not possible resulted in positive outcomes for both parties.

The main topics discussed by the Parties were Vacation Scheduling, Accumulated Overtime, the Work of Students During the Academic Year and Work Schedules in the various Units.

The Parties reached agreements on Vacation Scheduling and on the Work of Students; they ratified the texts relative to these two topics. The question of Accumulated Overtime was discussed at length and was set aside for further discussions when the parties discuss the provisions relative to overtime itself. The question of Work Schedules was discussed in the last two meetings, and some elements were the subject of agreements between the parties.

At the next meeting, which is scheduled for July 8th, the Employer will present additional texts on Work Schedule in order to further progress discussions in this matter.

The July 8th meeting will most likely be the last one before we resume our negotiation in early September.

This update is meant to inform the community about ongoing negotiations and has been validated by the Union.