Bargaining update!
The bargaining committee has been hard at work since September working with management to draft our very first Collective Agreement. So far, we have reached agreement in principle on the process that will be used to resolve disputes between the Union and management. The term “agreement in principle” means it will be part of the final collective agreement that we will all get to ratify.

We have also had some preliminary discussions on the topic of performance management and are hoping to further improve the process that is already in place by creating a positive atmosphere for employees to communicate with their managers.

There are several bargaining dates scheduled in December and both sides are hoping to get as much as possible done before the holidays. For more information on bargaining, please get in touch with a member of the Executive or the bargaining committee. Remember: communication works both ways and we can’t address your concerns if we don’t know what they are!

Unfair Labour Practice complaint and 2006 raises
As everyone is already aware, the Guild and AAC reached a settlement on the Unfair Labour Practice complaint filed earlier this year. Members should send all their questions, comments and concerns, either via email or in person, to their union reps so that we can put together an FAQ regarding the raises.

General meeting
We are planning to hold a general membership meeting early in the new year. We’ll be announcing an agenda before the meeting, so that members can forward any questions or comments that they want addressed to the Executive. The time and place for this meeting are to be announced.

A guide to effective activism
Executive Committee members Brent Tennant, Michelle Smith and Joanne Pak attended CMG’s Guide to Effective Activism course on the weekend of November 17. The course covered several important topics including dispute resolution, grievance procedure and communications skills. Members from CBC, S-Vox, APTN and CP/BN also attended the course, which was held in Port Credit.

Stewards’ training course
A stewards’ training course has been tentatively scheduled for January 8, 2007. The course will be brief and will be held twice in order to accommodate different shifts. The times and location of this course are to be announced.

By-election!
Your union needs you to run for the position of Vice President at Large. The position has been vacant since Rob Vansickle left Alliance Atlantis to pursue another employment opportunity at S-Vox. Due to the holiday season, nominations will be held in mid-January. If you have any questions about the position, please ask any member of the Executive.

Guild holiday party
On Friday, December 1 CMG held a holiday party at Club Lucky. Members from all branches attended the event, including quite a few members of the Alliance Atlantis Operations department. We’d like to thank CMG for giving us the opportunity to meet and mingle with members of other branches and hope that this will become an annual tradition!

And on that festive note, the Executive would like to wish all the members of the Alliance Atlantis bargaining unit a safe and happy holiday season!

C. Masaaba Mwambu, President
Michelle Smith, Secretary-Treasurer
Brent Tennant, VP ? MCR, Library, Dub Centre, Quality Control and Presentation
Joanne Pak, VP ? Closed Captioning and Post Production
Ilya Doronin, VP – Engineering