What Is Conciliation And How Does It Work?
Posted March 26, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TTC workers left the bargaining table Monday and are threatening to walk off the job early next week if no deal is struck with the transit commission.
But between now and 12:01am Tuesday, when employees can legally strike, an important step must occur, and that’s conciliation.
So what exactly happens at conciliation? Well the whole process starts when one of the two bargaining parties, in this case the Toronto Transit Commission, contacts the provincial Ministry of Labour for help in resolving the outstanding issues and hopefully hammering out a collective agreement.
In this case the main sticking point appears to be how transit employees are compensated when they’re injured or assaulted on the job. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 argues workers should receive their full wages – currently they apparently stand to lose up to a quarter of their pay if they’re off due to injury.
Before a strike or lock-out can happen, both sides must at least attempt conciliation using the provincial government’s services. However just because the third party is involved doesn’t mean a deal is forthcoming. If the appointed conciliation officer can’t help reach a deal, they inform the labour ministry.
At that point the ministry generally issues a “no board” notice, which essentially means the government feels there’s no point in putting a conciliation board on the case.
After a “no board” is issued, the Ministry will offer to bring in another third party, this time a mediator. The mediator also talks to both sides and tries to help in striking a contract. Mediation is generally only used if both sides agree to it.
The TTC and transit union are looking to come up with a three-year deal. The union has said that it’s willing to continue talking past the strike deadline if there’s a sense progress is being made.
More than a million people rely on the TTC’s subways, streetcars and buses on weekdays.