Nipissing and Parry Sound, Ont., CAS lockout ends

Workers off job for four months

The Nipissing and Parry Sound Children’s Aid Society (CAS) executive director signed a return-to-work protocol April 21 and agreed to enter into binding arbitration.

The society made this move in the face of solidarity among the workers it locked out four months ago, said the union.

For the past month, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) called for a takeover of the agency by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services in light of CAS negotiators’ unwillingness to commit to an arbitrated settlement of the dispute, according to the union.

CUPE, provincial mediators, and the provincial government were all in agreement about the need to resolve outstanding issues and reach a new collective agreement through binding arbitration, said CUPE.

“Throughout the four months of this lockout, CUPE members have always had two goals in their sights: reaching a fair collective agreement for unionized workers at Nipissing and Parry Sound CAS and restoring high-quality child protection services in the region,” said Fred Hahn, CUPE Ontario president .

The terms that Nipissing and Parry Sound CAS had attached to lifting the lockout eliminated recognition of the union, the grievance procedure, and workers’ recourse to arbitration, among other conditions, said the union. 

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