The labour dispute between Westlock County and its unionized employees looks like it will be resolved without the need for a formal public hearing.
Following a resolution conference Nov. 20 at the Alberta Labour Relations Board office in Edmonton, reeve Bud Massey said the two parties were able to come to an agreement.
“It’s not finally resolved yet, there’s some documentation that has to be done, but it does appear that the matter will be resolved,” he said.
The resolution conference was moderated by a member of the LRB, and comes after some preliminary unmoderated discussions between the county and CUPE failed to yield any significant results.
The union filed a complaint with the LRB in response to a controversial severance package offered to all county employees in late September. CUPE alleges the offer breached the employees’ collective agreement.
Massey would not get into any detail, saying the meeting was held behind closed doors and he was cautioned not to say anything publicly what was discussed.
He would, however, say this is a very positive step.
“I think it’s good news for everyone,” he said.
CUPE spokesperson Lou Arab confirmed the resolution conference produced an agreement-in-principle and said while the union would not shy away from the confrontational public hearing process if required, it’s good outcome that they were able to come to an agreement.
“A settlement between parties is always better than having somebody else dictate how it’s going to be,” he said.
The next steps in the process will be having the lawyers that represent the two parties draft an agreement, and once it is deemed satisfactory and both parties sign, that will be the end.
“It appears that there will be additional communication between the lawyers and the vice-chair of the relations board,” Massey said. “The details have been worked out by the parties by and large.”
He said moving forward, the positive outcome of all this is the county now has a better understanding of the role of the union, and said he doesn’t expect a situation like this to arise again.
“There’s a new awareness of the requirement to have the union involved in discussions,” he said.
