Contract talks between the university and Queen’s employee groups represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) entered a new phase on Wednesday as the university requested a “No Board” report from the Ministry of Labour.
The request signals an end to the conciliation phase of the negotiations, which began in April, and sets the stage for a strike/lock-out deadline. Either side must wait until the 17th day from the date of the “No Board” report before beginning a strike or lock-out.
This is an interesting story. Most interesting for what it does not say.
The negotiating party that asks for a no-board is the one that pushes the parties closer to a lockout or strike. Just as conciliation is not a good thing because it means that one party has decided negotiating is not working out and calling in a conciliator ups the ante, so asking for a no-board is not a good thing and indicates that the party asking for the no-board sees no point in further conciliation and is ready to move closer to that 17th day when the employer can lock out and the employees can strike. Those who truly work towards resolving labour issues through collective bargaining stay at the table and strive to reach a negotiated settlement.