Hello members of Unifor Local 2000,
I am emailing you today to inform you that a tentative Merger agreement between Unifor Local 2000 and Unifor Local 827M has been reached. The Executive Boards from both locals has unanimously voted in favour of the agreement.
The membership of Unifor Local 827M voted in favour of the merger agreement on October 17th, 2021. It is now our membership’s turn to vote on the agreement.
Our 23rd Annual Congress, held on Saturday, October 30, 2021 on Zoom, voted unanimously in favour of the merger agreement.
As a result, the Executive Board and 23rd Annual Congress are recommending that the membership approve the merger document.
What happens now?
As per our Constitution:
ARTICLE XIV – MISCELLANEOUS
5. Any merger between this Local and another Local Union shall require a two-thirds majority vote of the delegates at the Annual Congress and must then be approved by a majority of the membership through a referendum ballot.
What is the next step?
The next step is for the membership of Unifor Local 2000 to now vote on the agreement through referendum ballot as per the Constitution.
What does this merger mean?
This merger, if approved by our membership, would see the members of Unifor Local 827M join our local and become Unifor Local 2000 members, once the Unifor National Executive Board approves the final merger as voted on by the members of both locals.
Information about the merger with Unifor Local 827M
Earlier this year, the President of Unifor Local 827M, Kathy Brookes, approached us to discuss a possible merger between the locals. This led to many conversations and meetings, and the creation of a merger agreement document. Both Executive Boards of Unifor Local 2000 and 827M reviewed the merger document and voted to accept the proposed merger and to present to our respective memberships. For us, that meant first going to Congress for approval and now to our membership in a referendum. We will be conducting the vote electronically.
If approved, Unifor Local 827M would merge into our local and a new Broadcast Council would be created for them to participate fully within Local 2000. Before that would happen, the merger needs to be approved by the Unifor National Executive Board.
Background
Unifor Local 827M represents workers in Broadcast, including television and radio stations, mainly in the community of Terrace, but also a couple of members in Prince Rupert, currently owned by Bell Media. They have 25 members. The members produce local news and commercials for clients in their community. They represent journalists, reception, technological and ad traffic staff. Their Unifor National Representative is Mario Santos. Currently, and the merger document proposes to keep this the same for at least three years and perhaps beyond, dues are remitted directly to the National Union. National dues and per capita payments to the Media Council’s Travel Fund, Arbitration Fund, Bargaining Fund and Media Action Plan (MAP) are deducted and the remainder sent to the Local. They are also members of the Independent Broadcast Locals Council, which includes broadcast locals in northern BC, including Prince George. They just recently ratified a new collective agreement, which included better leave language.
Employer Profile
– Bell Media Group
– Run out of Toronto but good relations with local management.
– Three managers locally and sales staff are non-union.
– Bargaining and higher grievances are discussed with the Toronto leadership.
– Policies and direction set from Toronto.
The merger agreement
Please take the time to review the merger document. You can download a PDF of the full agreement here.
Please continue to monitor your email as we will be sending out a notice of referendum shortly with some more details on how that will work with the Simply Voting system. Members will also be looking at a constitutional change as well, so there will be two questions on the referendum.
In the meantime, if you have any questions about the merger in general or the merger document, please do not hesitate to email me at [email protected].
Thank you. Take care and stay safe.
In solidarity,
Brian Gibson
President
(Note: This was emailed to Local 2000 members)
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