The dispute between Westlock County and the union representing county employees is getting closer to a resolution, with a conference between the parties scheduled for Nov. 20.
Reeve Bud Massey said the meeting was scheduled after some preliminary discussions between administration and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) failed to yield any agreement.
The union filed a complaint with the Alberta Labour Relations Board (LRB) in response to a controversial severance package offered to all county employees in late September. CUPE alleges the offer breaches the employees’ collective agreement.
Massey said no councillors were involved in the discussions because “that’s not our role,” but said administration was reluctant to increase the amount of the severance package as the union was requesting so the matter will no go through the formal board hearing process.
CUPE spokesperson Lou Arab said negotiations have so far been fruitless, so the union is looking forward to proceeding with the resolution conference scheduled for later this month.
“We’ll see where that goes from there,” he said.
“We have had a couple informal meetings with them here and there, and we’ve tried to enter into meetings and set dates but we haven’t had a lot of success.”
Jeremy Schick, a spokesperson for the Alberta Labour Relations Board, said the parties have agreed to that date for a private resolution conference, which then may be followed by a formal hearing that would be open to the public.
“The resolution conference is a private conference between the parties, and either the chair or one of the vice chairs of the board, and it’s an opportunity to see if the board can bring the parties to a mediated settlement of the dispute.”
If not settlement is reached, then the matter would proceed to a formal hearing in front of the board, which would be open to the public. He said typically that would take place two or three weeks after a resolution conference, but it hasn’t been scheduled yet.
“The officer is still working with the parties to determine when the hearing will be,” he said.
