The RO-RCO Bargaining Team was selected through an open call to members and an interview process. Tough choices had to be made to limit the team to 7 members, as all the candidates had very good profiles and great things they could bring to the team. In the end, 7 members representing the interests of various groups that are part of our community were appointed by the RO-RCO executive to negotiate on behalf of the members.
Here is your bargaining team:
- Simon Drouin (Chair): RO, HHT, Montreal
- Catherine Cheung: RO, AERO, Ottawa
- Ta-Ya Chu: RO, AEP, Ottawa
- Janice Singer: ITA (RCO), IRAP, Ottawa
- Stephan Grosse: RO, ACRD, Montreal
- Laurel O’Connor: BDO (RCO), ACRD, Saskatoon
- Janelle Sauvageau: RO, HHT, Ottawa
Our current collective agreement ended in July 2022, so we’ve been hard at work preparing to go to the table once our employer has a mandate to negotiate.
So far, the bargaining team has met 3 times. The first was on February 8 for a meet and greet and to set the stage and baseline rules of the group. The next meeting was April 7 and 8 in person at the PIPSC office in Ottawa. Our goal was to prepare a survey for our members that would inform our bargaining priorities. The third meeting was also held in Ottawa, where we analyzed the survey results, established bargaining priorities, and received formal bargaining training.
On this note, the response to the survey was above and beyond what we dreamed of and sets a record for member engagement for our group as about 60% of our members filled it out!
I want to thank you all for your enthusiasm and engagement, which showed clearly in the response rate but also with the quantity and quality of comments you all provided. I can confirm that your voice was heard and that we will carry it to the negotiating table!
Our next step will be to formulate and write our proposals and demands to the employer. This work will be facilitated by the high-quality survey data so again let me thank you all for your participation! After this, we’ll be ready to go to the table as soon as the NRC is available and has a mandate to negotiate.
Please feel free to contact any bargaining team members for questions, concerns and suggestions. We are here to represent you and your opinion matters!