The meeting began with an introduction and welcome by a Board member. The TK began their explanation with a celebration of the constructive and transparent manner in which negotiations had been conducted with the Directorate over the previous nine months.
The TK then gave some historical context, without which the demand for a CBA cannot be fully understood. We voiced our concern that a Works Agreement (WA) conducted purely with the Betriebsrat (BR) would not protect employees against the type of top down decision making that has caused such regular dissent over the years, and has resulted in the exploitation of staff through ever declining reward and ever increasing tension primarily in matters related to salary and working hours.
The TK argued the fact that it was staff members who constituted “The Union” at BIS – not some nebulous force emanating from Ver.di HQ. The union was not formally represented at negotiations at the request of the Directorate, to facilitate the forward movement of discussions. The school TK members along with an invited observer from the BR conducted the negotiations on behalf of the union. We reached agreement and then were told the Board would not sign that agreement. We regard this as a breach of trust and good faith established early on in the negotiations.
The TK then gave some historical context, without which the demand for a CBA cannot be fully understood. We voiced our concern that a Works Agreement (WA) conducted purely with the Betriebsrat (BR) would not protect employees against the type of top down decision making that has caused such regular dissent over the years, and has resulted in the exploitation of staff through ever declining reward and ever increasing tension primarily in matters related to salary and working hours.
The TK argued the fact that it was staff members who constituted “The Union” at BIS – not some nebulous force emanating from Ver.di HQ. The union was not formally represented at negotiations at the request of the Directorate, to facilitate the forward movement of discussions. The school TK members along with an invited observer from the BR conducted the negotiations on behalf of the union. We reached agreement and then were told the Board would not sign that agreement. We regard this as a breach of trust and good faith established early on in the negotiations.