We have forwarded the CEC’s latest communication, and the actual statement from the Treasury Board, to our legal team for review. Neither was ever presented to us before being made public, and this is the first we’ve seen it. The faculty bargaining team, and to our knowledge, OPSEU/SEFPO, were not consulted by the Treasury Board (TB) prior to this communication being issued.
It is important to note that the TB does NOT say that our proposals are illegal; it says that, based on the information they were provided by CEC CEO Graham Lloyd with no context, that the proposals COULD potentially violate Bill 124 IF his representation of them were accurate. That is very different than our proposals being illegal on their face. Please note as well that the TB suggests that the CEC get independent legal advice–the TB communication is NOT a legal decision; this is an opinion based on information solely supplied by the CEC and not OPSEU/SEFPO, and information which has not been shared with us or our members.
According to our understanding of the law, the TB only decides the legality of Collective Agreements or settlements, not individual proposals tabled in the course of bargaining. Further, they require input from both sides before issuing a decision. This is a heavy-handed CEC tactic designed to confuse and obfuscate. It is deliberately timed to demoralize our members. Frankly, it is gross and an overreach. It misrepresents the content from the TB, and is in keeping with the CEC’s aggressive but not entirely truthful communications.
Sincerely,
JP HornickChair, CAAT-A Bargaining Team