We, as a Negotiating Commitee, deliberated long and hard on whether
to bring this Settlement to our members. We had had a mandate from
the membership not to bring anything back to them unless the four
major issues were dealt with. Three of the four we felt were dealt
with and believed that the last had to be left up to the membership
to decide. We had spent countless hours explaining to the Company
that by not dealing with the seniority issue, we were fearful that
the Settlement would be voted down. We had hit a wall with the Company
and knew we could go no further until it was voted on.
One of the Letters of Understanding is dealing with the
trust/relationship in the NMC's (Calgary and Montreal). By not dealing
with the seniority issue, they have not even begun to understand
the problems in the NMC. Hopefully, they do
now.