“Many hours of hard work have been done by teams on both sides to secure this collective agreement.” The Yukon Teachers` Association bargaining committee convened its first meeting on December 6, 2017 to negotiate a new collective agreement. A year later, just before the hour, the YTA government and the Yukon government tentatively agreed to amend and renew the collective agreement. The four teams representing the leadership team are on their way this week to visit each municipality and highway camp, explain the agreement and gather votes from union members. The three-year collective agreement, which came into force on July 15, is the culmination of nine months of negotiations, Geick said. The collective agreement covers everything from the posted work bonus to maternity leave and parental leave. About 4,000 members of the Yukon Workers` Union will vote this week on whether to accept a new three-year collective agreement. You can ask Geick (but he won`t answer, I tried) how much actually vote on this contract, I guess about 5% of the members can vote during the small window of time, given the lack of information and the requirement to be in the city. Why not send a ballot to each member and send it back? Personally, I would rather get out of the union and keep my 2k in annual fees than let these guys “collectively negotiate” on my behalf. Each contract over the past 20 years has pushed members backwards economically. I am not in favour of this proposed treaty. The only thing I notice in our Union is that we are a genuine democratic organisation. This commitment to democracy is evident from the moment workers decide to organize and join the European UNION; The majority of workers must sign cards to obtain union certification from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.

From that point on, decisions such as what goes into their collective agreement, whether they accept or reject this collective agreement, are in the hands of the workers. A new collective agreement signed by the territory`s government and its union includes a first for Canada, says the president of the Yukon Employees Union (YEU). The agreement, which expires on December 31, 2021, applies to approximately 4,100 workers represented by the YEU and the Public Service Alliance of Canada. It provides an annual salary increase (5.25 percent, total, over the duration of the agreement, or $16.5 million) and higher work and weekend bonuses.