Council threatens to cancel Bridge insurance
Council threatens to cancel Bridge insurance
Council threatens to cancel Bridge insurance
What’s Fair, and what’s not?
Richard Tardif
The Eastern Door
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake may cut off the Mohawk Bridge Consortium from Mohawk Self Insurance if the issues surrounding the fair wage agreement are not resolved soon.
In a letter dated February 26 signed by Kahnawake's Grand Chief Michael Delisle and addressed to Wayne Rice, Chairperson of the Mohawk Bridge Consortium, it was explained that steps are being taken to the point of suspending MBC from accessing MSI, stating further that the MCK “views this a breach of your contract with the JCCBI and is contrary to the Tripartite Agreement signed by the MCK on behalf of the community of Kahnawake”.
“We have taken these steps because the fair wage agreement hasn’t been signed,” said MCK Chief Rhonda Kirby.
“The MBC is disputing the rates we have in the fair wage agreement for the boatmen and the flagmen and this has become a somewhat contentious issue for the last several months.”
The MCK wants the MBC to pay $34.82 to each position, according to the MCK Fair Wage Agreement. This rate includes a base salary and benefits to be paid.
The going rate, according to the MBC, is a flat rate of $20 an hour for a flagman and $26 for a boatman, which according to the Consortium is 32 percent above the national sampled average of $15.15 an hour.
According to Kirby, the MBC has said they refused to sign because they feel the rates for those positions are too high. “We have yet to receive a definitive rate from the MBC concerning what they want,” she added.
The Council did receive another package from the Consortium on February 5. Included in the package was a list of rates used across the industry for both positions.
“The MBC has never said which one of those rates they want to use, but they don't want to use the rates that are reflected in the fair wage agreement," said Kirby.
“We have based the rates on the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and there is no classification for boatmen or flagmen, so in the CBA it talks about when a position is not defined it comes under a labourer’s rate. We used the rate for these positions. We want to pay the men a fair wage and at the same time not be unfair to the employer,” she said.
Last week Kirby received some new information.
“When the MBC put in their rate on contract A it was at $20 an hour including benefits. All along we thought they were paying the base rate plus benefits, but they are not abiding by the fair wage agreement,” Kirby said.
“The rates changed from 2006 and now we are in 2010. Did no one ever look at the fair wage agreement all these years? Why is this an issue? It’s very disappointing to learn about this,” she said.
The MBC employs two boatmen along with two spares, and over the summer during peak operations, up to five flagmen can be employed.
“No where in Quebec and Canada is a boatman or a flagman paid what the MCK wants,” said Rice. “We are using a fair market value rate and it is more than the outside rate.”
Rice also said when it comes to benefits on the employee’s behalf, the MBC pays the benefits, including unemployment, MSI and the Quebec Parental Insurance Program.
The MBC and the MCK have met on two occasions with very little progress, according to Rice, who says that the Consortium was only sent the fair wage agreement by MCK Chief Kenneth McComber in August of 2009, despite having sent a letter to him on April 28, 2009 asking for a meeting.
The MBC has also asked through different letters to meet the MCK concerning safety, environmental and any other concerns as well as to discuss the fair wage agreement.
The latest letter sent by the MBC was on February 15, 2010 addressed to Chief Rhonda Kirby, signed by Wayne Rice, stating, “...until the MBC and MCK come to a mutual agreement regarding this, the flagmen and boatmen rates will remain outstanding”.
A meeting was held between the MBC and the President of the Jacques Cartier Champlain Bridge Incorporation Glen Carlin on March 3.
On the agenda, among other topics, was the fair wage agreement. The MCK originally agreed to the meeting but decided not to attend. Kirby told THE EASTERN DOOR that Glen Carlin had already been notified of their intentions.
In the meantime, it is possible that all work on the Mercier Bridge project could stop if insurance coverage is suspended. “We won’t allow the men to work without insurance so we’ll have to stop the work,” said Rice.
