From the President

Local 592 Wage Delegates met all day yesterday (Monday April 2nd) to go over the companies response to our proposal. They did hi-lite some items or issues that could have been worked on to come to some sort of agreement but they also threw up some major road blocks that put us in a very awkward position that we could not entertain. From the start of this process we expected to be treated no differently than Local 76 in order to obtain a similar outcome for our members of Local 592. That expectation was quickly dashed when we were informed by our management group as well as Mr. Buchhorn that whatever we have to offer will not have the value required to take this to the board for approval. They also stated that they already have 80% of the value of anything we may have to offer just by their right to manage the business. It became crystal clear at that point that they would be going after substantially more than they asked of Local 76. The ironic part is that they never made that statement to Local 76 and decided to treat their members with dignity and again give the boots to us bad boys in Alberni. A very big part of their demand was that we drop and/or accept their position on most if not all of the outstanding grievances, arbitrations and appeals. Although they did state that they were not asking us to give up our right to grieve but rather just drop the current grievances and arbitrations. They also stated that any understandings that we may come to would be part of the next contract and we would not negtiate those items in 2008. I don't believe any of these demands were made of Local 76 and again it just showed us what they think of us here in Alberni.

The Wage Delegates honestly tried to start some sort of working relationship with this management in an attempt to work together to come up with an agreement that would be acceptable to both parties and to provide a dignified way for people to leave. Unfortunately the concept of working together will not give them any value and we will continue down the road of a relationship by confrontation and intimidation.

Although we are waiting for one last document for clarification, I really don't see it changing the current situation.

The Wage Delegates are contemplating holding 2 Special Meetings to provide the membership a full understanding of what happened during these discussions. We appreciate your patience and understanding over the last few months but we make no appologies for the outcome. I believe we went as far as we could go and did just what we were mandated to do.

Pete Rayburn
President CEP Local 592