Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been the argument over the last five or six months that the pay equity issue is not on the bargaining table and, in fact, not a collective bargaining issue. There was some dispute particularly with myself if in fact that was true.
We have asked our justice and legal people if, in fact, the pay equity issue, if it is not a collective bargaining issue, can it be a sidebar issue, that we can take direct to our employees indicating to them on an individual basis what the impact will be if we can reach an agreement on a pay equity proposal that we have on the table; outlining on an individual basis to each employee, what the retroactive pay would be, what the result would be on their ongoing pay cheques if you want, and ask them whether they agree or disagree with this proposal.
Our proposed choice of action is that we would go with the UNW, our partners in this bargaining process, and ask them as agents for the staff to take this out. Our lead negotiator has written to the UNW president about this issue and I am hopeful that we can get it resolved to the collective bargaining proposal on the table, and come to an agreement as to how we can provide our employees with the information on an individual basis of what pay equity, retroactivity, and ongoing means to them. Thank you.