PUBLIC SECTOR RATIFICATION VOTE INFO
Dear sister/brother,
We are nearing the ratification vote for the public sector tentative agreements that were reached before Christmas.
Your bargaining team, consisting of democratically elected rank and file members from your bargaining unit, is recommending acceptance of the agreement.
WHO IS THE VOTE FOR?
The tentative agreements apply to the following NAPE bargaining units: Air Services, CNA Faculty, CNA Support Staff, Correctional Officers, General Service, Group Homes, Health Professionals, Hospital Support Staff, Laboratory X-Ray, Marine Services, Maintenance and Operational Services (MOS), Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC), School Boards, Student Assistants, Ushers, and WorkplaceNL.
ONLINE / PHONE VOTE
As you may be aware, we are moving to a phone/online vote process for this vote.
We are working with Intelivote Systems Inc. to conduct your vote safely and securely. This Canadian company conducts votes for many of our sister unions and is a leader in the field. The ratification vote process will be monitored by an independent third-party – Deloitte Canada (the same auditing firm that oversees our elections of President and Secretary-Treasurer).
NAPE will never know how you voted – the electronic and phone ballot is encrypted and secure and guarantees your ballot is secret.
VOTING PACKAGES
Voting packages (voter info, voting instructions, your voting PIN, etc…) are being mailed out today to those members for whom we have no email address on file.
For those members that we do have an email for, the same package will go out electronically on Monday, January 20. They will go to your personal email first and to your work email address if the personal email we have on file does not work. The email will come from voterinfo@intelivote.com
Email allows us to be more environmentally friendly, it makes it easier to follow links to vote, it allows us to send reminders to vote in a timely manner, and it means that members can be added (if addresses are wrong or a member starts after the mail out, etc…)
NOTE: If you do not receive a voting package by end of the business day on Wednesday, January 22, please contact our Membership Department toll-free at 1-800-563-4442 or via email at membership@nape.ca
VOTING
Voting will open at 9 am (NST) on Monday, January 27 and close at 9 pm (NST) on Wednesday, January 29.
WHEN AND WHERE CAN I GET INFO ABOUT THE AGREEMENT?
There will be detailed information about the agreements posted on the NAPE website (explanatory video, FAQS, the agreements, etc…) as well as a phone bank staffed by bargaining team members and staff negotiators for 12 hours a day during the voting window (9 am on January 27 until 9 pm on January 29). The links and numbers are included in your voting package.
We believe this will allow a greater number of members to vote on the agreement in a more efficient and effective manner (especially during the winter months). It also means members can vote from anywhere (so long as they have access to a phone or the internet).
This process will allow for an approximately 84-hour voting window. Members can view the details on Monday, reflect on them, talk to others in their workplaces and their families, consult with members of the local executive or shop stewards, and/or call the phone line for more info with their questions before casting their vote. This is significantly more time than is allotted at in-person meetings.
Also, under the in-person ratification vote process – if you could not attend, you could not vote, which caused significant concerns from members.
This is a different situation in that it is a contract extension – so there is very little change to consider and explain (the entire package amounts to one page).
What has been made public is that:
- there is a salary increase,
- it is a two-year extension,
- there are changes for new hires in terms of other post-retirement benefits (group insurance)
- the rest of the agreement stays the same.
