Members of both the staff association and the management
group will receive copies of the new collective agreement this
week.

Printed copies of the Collective Agreement Between McMaster
University (the Employer) And The McMaster University Staff
Association (the Association) are being distributed in the mail.

The document contains the complete text of the agreement,
which runs until June 15, 2003, as well as an alphabetical index
of frequently referenced topics for easier use.

MUSA president Barry Diacon says any member who does not
receive a copy should contact the MUSA office to arrange for one.

TMG members who do not receive copies should contact Carol
Nelson in HR Services.

Preparing the collective agreement for printing was one of
several tasks of the Implementation Committee established to
oversee transitional issues related to getting the agreement up
and running. The committee members are Ron Lodewyks and
Kerry Jay from MUSA and Judy Forbes and Murray Lapp from HR
Services.

The committee has met weekly since Aug. 30, 2001. Its mandate
is to consider the applicability of layoff provisions for people
given notice between the start of mediation/arbitration and the
date of the award, the applicability of the collective agreement to
job postings in effect up to the date of the award and the
phasing-in of the provisions of the collective agreement.

“The University and MUSA are working hard to ensure that the
collective agreement is brought to life in a way that is fair and that
establishes a strong base for their future relationship,” says
Murray Lapp, director of employee/labour relations.

Transitional issues the committee has addressed thus far
include:

• creation of the first seniority list;
• determining the application of the retroactivity of the financial
  aspects of the award;
• dealing with individual cases of people laid off in the last
  months prior to the award; and
• establishing the rights of employees on the former “priority
  hire” list.

The Implementation Committee's mandate has been extended
until Feb. 15, at which point it will have completed its work.

A Joint Working Group on Job Evaluation has been established.
The terms of reference of this group are set out in a letter of
understanding that is included at the end of the collective
agreement.

Lapp says the last stage of implementing the interim award
made by George Adams in July 2001 was to move employees to
the appropriate Step in their pay grade on the new Salary Grid.
The movement to the grid became effective Dec. 16, 2001.

Employees and their supervisors will be receiving information this week advising them of their specific placement on the grid.