Originally posted as COLLECTIVE BARGAINING 101 by Jeff McKeil (Canadian Association of University Teachers) in 2016

2025 Additions by Aiden Farrant

Edited by Sophie J. Boardman

Navigating the different stages of the bargaining process can be challenging, especially for precarious workers like those in Local 3912 who may be used to legislation and procedures from other provincial or international districts. This article is to serve as a primer, highlighting key tasks for the Local’s Negotiating Committee, its volunteer support, and the Employer at crucial stages. We hope it will help you, our Members, engage constructively when you come out to support the Local.

What is Collective Bargaining?

Collective bargaining is a process for identifying and resolving conflicts over the terms and conditions of employment. It is a structured conversation about what academic staff really do, and about how their work should be recognized and compensated.

The process by which the Employer and the Union come to an agreement over terms relating to the workplace, and can include but is not limited to:

• pay rates 
• seniority and hiring 
• duties of work
• working conditions and safety concerns
• workspaces and job materials
• benefits and pensions
• academic freedoms
• training opportunities
• relationships between Supervisors and Employees

The Bargaining process is prescribed by the Trade Union Act in Nova Scotia, and has been intentionally designed so that what is finally agreed to through the process of good faith bargaining is what the parties themselves agreed to, based on the particular working environment and employment relationship.

The effectiveness of the Local at ensuring the Employer is compelled to offer ‘concessions’, or agree to what the Negotiating Committee proposes, is proportional to its collective organization, which amplifies Members’ voices. Collective Bargaining is fundamentally a power relationship in which each side’s relative power is leveraged at the table to achieve their goals.

How does Collective Bargaining work?

The process generally follows these steps:

• Preparation:

In this stage, the Local and the Employer appoint their respective Negotiating Committees. In the Local’s case, this happens at a Unit Meeting (either special or regular annual) where one or two members at large are elected to committee seats, along with the Unit Vice-President. The Local’s President and National Servicing Representative are also included on Negotiating Committees, the latter serving as Chief Negotiator.

The Negotiating Committees then solicit feedback from the Membership about what key bargaining issues are. To ensure and enhance the Union’s collective strength, Negotiating Committees work hard to fairly represent the interests of all its membership and ensure that improved working conditions are being sought for all. Employers will often pit working classifications against each other (for example, Part-Time Faculty against Teaching Assistants), therefore Negotiating Committees must strive to identify unifying issues that can unite these classifications for more effective negotiations.

Member feedback is then crafted into a proposed Collective Agreement (also called “proposals” when described as specific articles of a proposed Collective Agreement). Depending on bargaining timelines, these proposals may be presented to the membership for approval. Often member feedback is received relatively recently before proposals are crafted, so Negotiating Committees proceed directly to exchanging them with the Employer.

• At the Table:

Once proposals are drafted, it is time for the Negotiating Committee to meet its counterparts from the Employer and exchange proposed Collective Agreements. However, each team must first come to an agreement on ground rules they will use when bargaining (e.g., meeting location, cost sharing, identification of each chief spokesperson, etc.). Occasionally, one side will refuse to provide meeting dates or reply to correspondence in a timely manner. In these situations, a request to the Labour Board generally compels the belligerent side to cooperate.

Once procedure is established, each side now takes a turn making an opening statement outlining overall goals and their respective written proposals, which can include supporting verbal explanations and documentation. Generally, financial proposals (those relating to wages, pensions, and benefits) are held for last, as they often cause the most disagreement between the Union and Employers. The Negotiating Committees move through proposals systematically, looking for areas of agreement and compromise. The Negotiating Committees might withdraw from the bargaining table for brief breaks, called “caucuses”, to discuss where compromises can be made without the other team hearing. 

• Conciliation:

If the Employer and the Union cannot reach an agreement that the Union believes its members will support, such as when the Union is asked to give up a proposal deemed non-negotiable by its Membership, then the negotiations are at an impasse. In this case, both parties can agree to move into conciliation, where a neutral third party called a “Conciliator” is appointed by the Labour Board. 

The Conciliator meets with both parties and reviews the outstanding proposals before drafting a report. The report contains suggestions for updated proposals that the Conciliator deems fair for both parties. However, the Conciliator’s report may still not support proposals deemed non-negotiable by the membership, prompting further action.

• Job Action:

Although not formally a component of bargaining, labour stoppages and other forms of organized striking give increased leverage to Negotiating Committees helping them ensure favourable tentative Collective Agreements for their members. Once conciliation has been attempted, a Unit can call on its membership to deliver a Strike Mandate by holding a Strike Vote. According to the Trade Union Act, those who will be affected by a strike are eligible to cast a ballot in a Strike Vote. CUPE 3912 has interpreted this in the past and present to mean those who have active contracts at the time of the strike vote. More than half of those with current contracts have to vote YES to support a strike for the Local to achieve a Strike Mandate. If a member chooses not to vote, this is counted as a NO vote. . 

If the vote is successful, showing that the Membership is ready to support the Negotiating Committee with job action, then final bargaining attempts can occur. In these final sessions, the Negotiating Committee can flaunt the strike mandate and promise the Employer a major headache if a strike is called.

If these final sessions aren’t fruitful, then the Local can call a strike, provided certain timelines in the Trade Union Act are respected. During a strike, the Negotiating Committee continues to meet with the Employer. Once both a satisfactory tentative Collective Agreement, as well as a Return To Work Agreement (which covers issues of lost wages during the strike, outstanding work, and other conditions relating to restarting regular duties), the strike can be called off. 

• Ratification:

Once both the Negotiating Committee and the Employer are satisfied with a tentative Collective Agreement, it is brought to the membership for approval in a process known as “ratification”. Here, if a majority of those who vote (not those eligible to vote like in the Strike Vote) support the tentative Collective Agreement, it is ratified. If the ratification vote fails, then the Negotiating Committee returns to the table. Along with job action (i.e. striking), presenting a tentative Collective Agreement to the membership and having it be voted down resoundingly is a strategy that Negotiating Committees can use to coerce more favourable outcomes from the Employer.

How can the Membership support bargaining efforts?

Throughout the bargaining process, Members’ voices are given opportunities to be heard. In fact, what drives negotiations are the needs and wants of the Membership, as the Negotiating Committee is only empowered to ask for what the Membership wants when crafting proposals, and can only commit to staying at the table so long as they have Membership support (through having a mobilized membership, having a strike mandate, having ratification vote fail strategically, etc.). 

So what is the Union actually asking of Members? Well, during the preparation phase, the Negotiating Committee needs to hear any and all perspectives on the workplace. That means answering surveys, attending town halls, corresponding with your VP and Steward, and letting the Union know where they can advocate for improvement in your working conditions. Often in Local 3912’s case, specific improvements are already covered by the previous Collective Agreement, which is simply not being followed. In that case the VP and/or Steward can help solve issues with a formal grievance, but that’s another article.

While the Negotiating Committee is at the table, it still needs Members’ attention. The Committee will periodically update the membership with what compromises it might have to make, and ask the membership to narrow in on what its non-negotiables will be (i.e. what the Membership will go on strike to ensure it gains). New proposals can’t be added at this time, that’s a sign of bargaining in bad faith, but member testimonials can help ensure the Employer understands the need for specific proposals. 

The time for major support from members comes during Job Action. Participation in a strike vote is a must to ensure a Strike Mandate is gained. Once it is, escalation to work stoppages and refusal to be “replacement workers” (formerly known as “scabs”) who continue to perform their workplace duties is crucial to ensuring the Employer understands the importance of its unionized workers. Here, participating however you can in picketing, mobilization and outreach, or simply refusing to work until the Employer agrees to negotiate constructively and agree to the Union’s proposals is essential to ensuring a Collective Agreement with improved protections for all members.

We need your support to ensure that the exploitation of precarious workers ceases. Your Local advocates hard for fair wages, job security, reasonable duties, and a safe environment. With your help, we can ensure that this vision becomes a reality. Please contact your VP and/or Steward for how you can help with your Unit’s current bargaining stage and direction. 

If you have more questions about Strike votes and Striking, head to these FAQ pages on our website: 

• Strike Vote FAQ
• Strike FAQ

CUPE NS Convention 2025 Report
Submitted by Lauren McKenzie
July 4, 2025 

CUPE NS is a political branch of the union and advocates for sectors and workers in our province. There are more than 22,000 members of CUPE NS from long term care, hospitals, municipalities, schools, airlines, post secondary and more. In March, 2025, Nan McFadgen, president of CUPE NS announced her retirement and I was immediately concerned about the fate of CUPE members in NS as Nan was such an incredible force and leader. In April, 2025, CUPE 3912 member Christine Saulnier informed me that she planned to run for the position and I felt an incredible sense of relief and optimism about the future of CUPE in our province. 

The executive first passed a motion to support Christine’s candidacy, then passed a special budget at a general membership meeting so that the local could send a full complement of 12 delegates to campaign for Christine at convention. We did this by handing out buttons and flyers and aiming to connect with CUPE members and locals from across the province to share information about our candidate and to ask them to wear a mutton and to vote for Christine. Over the course of convention we had countless conversations with delegates and made real progress in getting Christine’s name and platform out. 

There were only a few opportunities for Christine to speak to convention – one of those was the officer breakfast and the election forum. Christine spoke passionately about the issues facing workers in Nova Scotia and her knowledge and experience in all of the sectors was undeniable. She presented so well and we heard from many delegates that they felt Christine would be an excellent leader of CUPE NS. Local 3912 also put two resolutions forward for convention and both were successfully voted on and passed at convention. I have included those below. 

Ultimately, Alan Linkletter won the presidency. Alan is a long standing CUPE NS workers from Healthcare and comes from the largest local represented at convention. Alan was the frontrunner in the election, he was VP of CUPE NS and is well known through his work as a member facilitator. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to persuade enough members to vote for our candidate who was less well known in the provincial space. 

However, the convention was a real success. We now have several 3912 members who are on provincial committees and I was elected the alternate VP of central Nova Scotia. We made the biggest showing at convention in the history of the local and are now represented on committees and at the executive level. As our sector continues to face increasing financial and organizational challenges, it is crucial that the voices of our members are included and heard. I am extremely proud of the effort our delegation put forth and the way members of 3912 were represented at the provincial level.

CUPE NS Convention Resolutions – Passed 

Title: Support for CUPE Post-Secondary Education Workers in NS Amidst Postsecondary Education Crisis 

CUPE Nova Scotia WILL 

Commit financial and staff resources to raise public awareness of the value of CUPE Post-Secondary Education Workers in NS work and to support efforts to fight postsecondary education cuts and protect these members’ jobs. 

BECAUSE 

• postsecondary education in Nova Scotia is in crisis, exacerbated by federal policies impacting international students, chronic underfunding by both federal and provincial governments, and increasing threats of political interference from the provincial government; 
• this crisis has led to imminent job losses for CUPE 3912 members, with hundreds of course cuts expected and fewer positions available for precariously employed academic workers. 

Title: Support the Justice for Workers workers-first campaign 

CUPE Nova Scotia WILL 

• Endorse and join the Justice for Workers campaign for emergency measures that put workers and communities first, and that leave no one behind; 
• Communicate this decision to other like-minded community organizations, union locals, or central labour bodies; 
• Campaign for these measures to elected officials; 
• Help with photocopying posters and leaflets to support the campaign; and 
• Select at least one person to attend monthly Justice for Workers NS online organizing meetings. 

BECAUSE 

• Tariffs will result in dramatic job losses, which will not be confined to trade and extraction sectors; 
• Access to Employment Insurance (EI) system has been cut by successive federal governments and today only about 35% of unemployed workers receive regular benefits.
• Investment in public services and infrastructure not only make life more affordable for everyone, it also creates jobs and therefore helps the economy in periods of economic crisis. 
• We need a worker-first agenda that will protect jobs and strengthen our social safety net.

CUPE NS Convention (May 25-May 28, 2025) report

Erica Fischer, CUPE 3912 SMU VP-PT Faculty

After reading all the reports that have been submitted by the other delegates who attended this convention, I feel I don’t have more to add. However, since I’m required to submit a report for attending this event I will write about why I agree our participation at this convention was valuable and why it is important to keep sending as many delegates as possible and not just a few to these events.

A couple of reports mentioned that CUPE 3912 has not been traditionally represented at these conventions. That is not the case. The Local has regularly sent one or two delegates to provincial and national conventions for years except during COVID (from 2020 to 2022.) CUPE, I believe, only cancelled events in 2020, but our Local decided not to send delegates to any event in person in 2021 and 2022 because of the pandemic.)  In 2023,  CUPE 3912 started attending these conventions again when we sent several delegates to the CUPE NS Women’s convention in Truro. Later that year, three or four members (TAs from the Dalhousie bargaining unit) were invited to participate at a panel at the CUPE NS Convention in Sydney, NS to talk about their experience during the DAL strike the previous year. That same year, we sent what we considered a large delegation of 5 delegates to an out-of-province event: the CUPE National Convention in Quebec City. In 2024, since the CUPE NS Convention was held locally, we were also able to send 5 delegates again. As a delegate to these last two conventions (CUPE National 2023 and CUPE NS 2024) and from previous reports submitted by delegates who attended other conventions in previous years, I know that our delegates have participated actively at these events by speaking to resolutions, voting on constitutional amendments, resolutions and motions, and interacting and establishing relationships with members of other Locals as well as with our own delegates with whom we don’t normally interact in person or outside executive meetings. 

What was different this time around was that we sent to this convention our largest delegation ever (12 delegates) well prepared and with a clear goal: supporting and canvassing for Christine Saulnier, one of our members, to be elected to the highest position at the provincial level: President of CUPE NS. In order to be successful, we did a lot of preparation beforehand, especially Christine who started contacting other Locals and attending their meetings to gain their support and get their endorsement a couple of months before the convention. In April and May, a couple of these Locals joined us at some of the meetings we held in preparation for the convention.  These preparation meetings were something new for our Local and I think we should continue having them so delegates know what is expected of them at these events. 

The coalition building that Christine started in March didn’t stop after she received the endorsements of some Locals for her campaign. As it had been mentioned in other reports, during convention all of us continue fostering relationships with other Locals and with those who had already endorsed Christine. All this work before and during convention paid off in building our presence and getting some of us elected to committees and Lauren as an alternate for a regional VP position. In order to keep the momentum our Local has gained and to be able to organize our sector and be included as a sector at the next CUPE NS convention, it is important that we continue growing and strengthening our relationship with these and other Locals regularly and not just in preparation for a convention.

For this convention, we also submitted two resolutions for which our delegates were asked in advance to be prepared to speak to (in the past I think we have just endorsed resolutions the post-secondary national sector or other Locals have submitted and asked for our support.) One of the resolutions we submitted this time was specific to our Local and the other one was to support Justice for Workers, which would ultimately support all kinds of workers. Several of our delegates spoke in favour of these resolutions and of others submitted by other Locals especially those coming from education workers. However, speaking to our own resolution about our sector was an excellent opportunity to make all the attending delegates aware of the precariousness of the working conditions in post-secondary education and more specifically of the issues and precarity members in Local 3912 are facing. More importantly, all of CUPE 3912 delegates who spoke to any of these and other resolutions on the convention floor shared their personal experiences in their workplaces, so everyone attending (delegates, staff, guests, national and provincial officers) heard them. These stories had been shared during one-on-one conversations at this and in past conventions, but now having several delegates stand up and go to the mics to broadcast these stories is what I believe really made our Local visible and present in the mind of the rest of the attendees.

Our large number of delegates was also very visible because on the first day all of us were wearing pink CUPE 3912 t-shirts, as well as buttons supporting Christine, and we all sat together as a bloc. The rest of the days we all continued sitting together, wearing our buttons, and several of us continued wearing CUPE 3912 t-shirts. In the past, some of us had worn these t-shirts, but we haven’t sat as a bloc because it’s not easy finding several places available for more than 2 people to sit together at these events. This time, however, instead of sitting wherever we could find a free spot (there didn’t seem to be enough for all of us), we requested tables and chairs for the whole group to sit together. 

It also gave the Local great visibility the fact that Lauren, our Local’s president, was asked to introduce the National President Mark Hancock as one of the speakers at the convention, and that Samantha Williams, the CUPE 3912 VP for SMU TAs, was awarded the Sean Foley CUPE NS Health and Safety Award. Our Local had nominated Sam for her contributions in fighting for accessibility and safety for all SMU TAs, and the full letter that was submitted as part of her nomination was read on the convention floor by the members of the CUPE NS Health and Safety committee. This was a big surprise that none of us was expecting. Since Sam was not in attendance, Aiden, who was one of the members who nominated her, went to the podium wearing his bright pink CUPE 3912 t-shirt to receive the award on Sam’s behalf and say a few words. 

For all this (and much more), I believe our participation at this event was very successful. We achieved many things we were not even considering we could achieve that started by engaging and mobilizing our own members to attend this convention. The vast majority of the delegates our Local sent had never been to a CUPE Convention (75% to be exact.) I’m happy to have been part of this delegation. It was a great learning experience for everyone, including those of us who had attended other conventions.