Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

The employer has tabled a proposal to eliminate your current sick leave and family-related leave entitlements. Canada Post is seeking to replace them with a new, corporate short-term disability program. This would represent a large concession and the loss of substantial benefits that we fought hard for in previous rounds of negotiations.

The employer says its program will benefit employees, but at the bargaining table — when your union asked Canada Post how much they would save through this program — the employer was too embarrassed to give us an answer. Clearly, this plan was designed to benefit Canada Post’s bottom line at your expense.

This document will lay out exactly what leave entitlements the employer proposes to roll back. The main differences between the current plan and the employer’s proposed plan are as follows:

• Currently, you are entitled to 20 annual days of paid sick and/or family-related leave, of which 15 days can be rolled over if unused.
  • The new plan would reduce this to seven “personal days.” These days would not roll over, but would be paid out if unused.
• Currently, if you have banked sick leave, you have 100% income protection when on short or longer term sick leave.
  • The proposed plan would provide only a 70% income replacement for extended sick leave and you would be required to apply for Employment Insurance (EI). However, there are some cases where accumulated sick leave could be used as a supplementary top-up.
  • However, note that there would be no more accumulation of sick leave. Currently, after 13 weeks of extended sick leave, you would be put on long-term disability.
  • The new plan would extend this period to 30 weeks.
  • And, if you have no sick leave banked, you would only receive 70% income replacement.

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MONTREAL — Canada Post employees demonstrated in Montreal on Monday in a show of protest against their employer’s latest contract offer. The workers are members of the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE) — a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

“The employer’s last offer is an insult. We have no choice but to take a strike vote and to move our members towards strike action,” says Richard Des Lauriers, UPCE National President. Des Lauriers was speaking at the demonstration in front of Canada Post’s Montreal plant.

The protest comes in response to a “take it or leave it” offer tabled by Canada Post on August 21. Des Lauriers characterizes the employer’s behaviour as “completely unacceptable” and warned that his members will not be bullied into accepting concessions.

“We are determined to get the best possible deal for our members,” says Des Lauriers, reminding the members that they can count on support from the labour movement and from their fellow workers at Canada Post.

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We’re back at the table but where are our agreements?

Negotiations have resumed with Treasury Board for our PA, SV, FB and EB units. Our TC team will be in mediation from October 8 to 10. Our Parks Canada team started mediation on September 29 and our CFIA team is back at the bargaining table this week. We’re back at the table but we’re still not close to settlements.

What’s the election got to do with it?

This federal election is critical for PSAC members and for the future of federal public services. What will happen to individual Canadians and to our communities if governments continue to cut budgets and programs, contract out, privatize or eliminate the services we deliver?

It’s also critical because PSAC members in the federal public sector are not just electing a government, we’re electing our employer.

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Strike Vote Meeting of the PSAC Lower Mainland Commissionaires DCL 20501

• October 2, 2008 - 7:00 PM – 9:00PM
• Canadian Airways Lodge 764, 7980 River Road, Richmond BC
• Agenda: Strike Vote, Current update

For more info please call Garry Fraser at (604) 430 5631

Our union is ready to get back to the bargaining table to fight for a fair contract that includes wage parity and an end to contracting out.

The bargaining-session dates for each TB unit are as follows:

• FB – four days September 30 to October 3
• SV – four days September 30 to October 3
• EB – four days October 6 to 9
• PA – four days October 6 to 9
• TC – three days of mediation from October 8 to 10.

Future dates are to be determined by each team.

The bargaining team members for all units appreciate the support expressed by our members during the summer months with various information pickets and mobilizations in different regions across the country. We ask for your continued support. Visit this web site regularly for future updates on negotiations.

The bargaining team would like to welcome two new additions to the team and send our thanks to two members who are departing the team.

Brea Lewis, elected bargaining representative for Alberta has left the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for a new position with the Canadian Border Services Agency. It was a tough decision for Brea, but the new position allows her to relocate her family to her home community as well as advance her career.

Mike Vanson, as alternate bargaining delegate, will replace Brea on the bargaining team. Mike was recently re-elected as the Regional Vice President for Northern Alberta and the North West Territories. Mike resides in Lacombe, Alberta and works as an Animal Health Inspector with the Red Deer District office of CFIA.

Debbie Forsythe, elected bargaining representative for the Atlantic was recently elected as the First National Vice President for the Agriculture Union. This is a full time position of the Component, therefore Debbie has resigned her bargaining position to devote her time and efforts to her new position, that will require relocation to Ottawa.

Gary Paynter as alternate bargaining delegate, will replace Debbie on the bargaining team. Gary is the current President of Local 90004, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and also the Alternate RVP for Western Atlantic and non-Treasury Board Director, Maritimes, PSAC. Gary works as a Plant Programs Inspector in Charlottetown.

A heartfelt thank you to both Brea and Debbie for their hard work with the team to date, and a warm welcome to Mike and Gary, as new additions to the team.

Negotiations will continue with a Bargaining team caucus on September 29 and negotiations with the employer to resume September 30 to October 2 inclusive. The Bargaining team looks forward to your signs and messages of support for the next session. These messages we affix to the wall behind us so that our employer can see them, read the comments, and know that we are there for our members who want a fair and just contract for all.

In solidarity, CFIA Bargaining team

After of full day of negotiations, with the aid of a Federal Conciliator, the Corp. refused to recognize the need for a wage package that reflects the type of work performed by our members. The bargaining team worked very hard to present a package of proposals to the Corp that addressed the wishes of the members and addressed many of the Corps concerns.

At the end of the day the Corp chose to walk away from the table. It is clear to the team that the Corp does not recognize the nature of the work performed by the members and is unwilling to take steps to provide adequate remuneration.

We will be holding an information meeting in the immediate future with the time and location to be announced. Watch the website for that update.

Bargaining Fair Wages

Currently members receive an automatic economic increase on October 31 and an incremental raise on June 3 until the top of the scale is reached.

The employer is proposing:

• A very small economic increase (between 1% and 2%, depending on classification). This means that the employer views the work of an A1 as less valuable than that of an A5 or A T2
• Your June increment will no longer be automatic - rather, it will be based on your performance appraisal

In 2009, the expected wage increase for the average Canadian worker is 3.5% except in Alberta where the expected increase is 4.8%

Canada Post wants to replace a portion of the anticipated increase with an increase to the Individual Performance Incentive (IPI). However, the IPI is not cumulative and — since your base wage rate would increase more slowly — the amount of the IPI would therefore accumulate much more slowly. In other words, this means a lot less money for you in the future.

This also has serious implications for your pension! The IPI is not pensionable. This would mean that the value of your pension would not increase very much. Over time, your base wage rate and your pension would rise very slowly. This proposal puts your retirement earnings in serious jeopardy.

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On Friday Sept 12 the bargaining team met with employer with the aid of a Federal Government appointed conciliator. The team spent the day working with the aid of the conciliator, the result of which was a global offer from the employer.

We will be reviewing the offer this week and responding to the employer with a counter offer at the next round of conciliation scheduled for Friday, September 19th.

Treasury Board: Employer wants 35,000 positions to be deemed essential

Treasury Board departments have submitted proposals for about 35,000 positions that they believe should be deemed essential in the event of a strike. Your union is in the process of reviewing all of these proposals to ensure that your RIGHT to strike, as well as the safety and security of the public, is protected.

The approximate numbers of ESA proposals from the employer per bargaining unit are as follows:

• PA: 22,000
• SV: 3,900
• FB: 8,869

While recognizing the need to ensure the safety and security of Canadians, your union is committed to defending your right to strike and will fight to maintain the strength of one of your most important bargaining leverages. The Essential Services Agreements (ESA) in this round of negotiations are of particular importance. Under the new rules of the Public Service Labour Relations Act (PSLRA), we have one chance to negotiate ESAs that will stay in place for future rounds of negotiations, so we need to get it right in this round.

During the election period, the union will continue its negotiation of ESAs, including bringing disputes to the Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB) if needed. There is no legal restriction on either the employer, the union or the PSLRB that prevents this important work from continuing during a federal election.

Parks Canada: Hearings before the Board

The Parks ESA hearings took place in mid-August at the PSLRB in front of a three-person panel.

Your union argued before the Board that this is not merely a factual case about specific essential service positions but required a legal interpretation of the new legislation and relevant case law to determine whether the recreational services offered by Parks fit the definition of an essential service under the PSLRA. The Board recognized that this was an important precedent-setting legal case.

Your union takes the position that recreational services, such as maintaining and operating camp grounds or interpreting natural and historic sites to visitors, are not essential services and may be suspended during a strike without jeopardizing the safety and security of the public.

We are awaiting the Board’s ruling on this issue before we can finalize the Essential Services Agreement.

Conciliation proceedings are set to begin September 12, 2008, in Vancouver.

Mainland Commissionaires met with their bargaining team & PSAC staff on September 10th

Negotiations between the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the British Columbia Corps of Commissionaires will resume on September 12, 2008, with the assistance of a Conciliation Officer. The Union had filed a notice of dispute on August 21, 2008, following the cancellation of bargaining dates by the employer. The employer had also previously imposed an arbitrary deadline of September 30th to reach an agreement with the Union.

Members of this bargaining unit perform work on behalf of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) at Library Square and the Vancouver International Airport. These negotiations are for a first collective agreement for this unit.

Last weekend the TB-BC Regional Strike Coordinating Committee met with Local/Branch Presidents from across the province to understand where we are in the negotiations process with Treasury Board. We heard from some of the Member Negotiators from BC. We held workshops to improve our mobilization skills, connect our “Think Public” campaign to collective bargaining, and strengthen our communication structure from the work site level onwards. Most importantly we generated ideas and plans for actions in the future.

Your Region is getting ready for action!

Find out more from your Local/Branch President on how you can help support your bargaining team and/or send a message to your Area Strike Coordinator to find out what is coming up in your area.

Several handouts were distributed to the participants, they are available for download here

• 10 things you need to know about a strike under the PSLRA (pdf)
  
• Collective Bargaining under the PSLRA (pdf)
• Collective Bargaining under the PSLRA (ppt)
• BC Regional Strike Structure (pdf)

Your bargaining team returned to Ottawa this week prepared to resume negotiations with Canada Post with the assistance of a conciliator.

Despite the fact that Canada Post had well over a week to consider the union’s response to its all-or-nothing offer, there was absolutely no movement on the part of the Canada Post’s bargaining team.

Canada Post’s original offer — as communicated to you by your bargaining team on September 2, 2008 — still stands.

That offer was unacceptable then and it is unacceptable now.

Your team remains ready to negotiate, but we are not prepared to bargain away your current entitlements — nor is the team prepared to accept the financial offer tabled by Canada Post.

Your team is now looking to you for your help to send a message to Canada Post.

Over the coming six weeks, team members will be attending local meetings and they will be available to answer any questions that you may have.

Details about these meetings will be posted at your workplace in the near future.

Ottawa—Canada Post Corporation has taken an unreasonable approach to bargaining during the late stages of negotiations and employees will take a strike vote over the coming weeks to protect their rights.

The negotiations started in the spring of 2008, and the union says the employer is refusing to address the workers’ demands.

Richard Des Lauriers, national president of Union of Postal Communications employees (UPCE), a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) noted “we are disappointed with CPC’s stance regarding negotiations. We have always been prepared to reach a fair agreement with Canada Post, one that ensures a strong and vibrant public postal service.”

The main issues at the bargaining table continue to be: protections against unreasonable measurements and surveillance of individual employees, workload-management issues, a fair benefits package, fair wages and bargaining unit protection. Canada Post has previously negotiated similar settlements with other unions.

The PSAC bargaining team tabled a thoughtful and comprehensive offer of settlement last week, but Canada Post remains reluctant to commit to any proposal of substance.

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Dear member,

We are committed to bargaining fairly and getting you the best deal that we can possibly achieve. To that end, the union tabled a comprehensive offer to settle on August 21, 2008. The employer then responded to us on August 27, 2008.

In tabling their response, CPC took an all or nothing approach. In fact they wrote: “no single item or group of items may be considered separately from the rest.” In other words, a package deal, take it or leave it.

Your team was clear - this offer is unacceptable. Despite our best efforts to take a reasonable approach to bargaining, it is further evidence that our proposals were not being taken seriously and, more importantly, that there was no recognition or respect shown for the contributions that you have made over the years.

The team has taken it as far as we could – so now it’s up to you.

Visit the national website for a detailed summary of the most recent offers tabled by your union and by the employer. The table reflects the parties’ positions as of August 29, 2008 and is organized by theme.

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What happens to our negotiations if a federal election is called?

PSAC currently has two weeks of negotiations scheduled for our PA, EB, SV and FB bargaining units; one week in September, one in October. The TC group is in the process of establishing dates for mediation this fall.

It is our intention to proceed with negotiations if an election is called. There are no legal restrictions that would prevent Treasury Board and other Agency employers from bargaining during an election period.

The union also intends to continue its negotiation of Essential Services Agreements, including hearings before the Public Service Labour Relations Board, during the election period, if one is called. There is no legal restriction that prevents the Board from continuing this work during a federal election.

Conducting a strike is prohibited when a federal election takes place. However, if an election is held this fall, this restriction will not affect our negotiations with Treasury Board, Parks Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The government we elect has a direct impact on our negotiations

PSAC members working in the federal public sector aren’t just electing a government, they’re electing their employer.

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With the summer drawing to an end PSAC members in BC were busy keeping bargaining front and centre while enjoying the weather … here are some photos & brief reports.

Throughout the summer members of CEIU Local 20961 are holding payday actions. They plan to continue until a collective agreement is reached.

On August 21, just before the Canada Post bargaining team returned to the table, members of UPCE Local 20101 working at the Main Post Office in Vancouver held a Day of Action barbecue - the day started out with cloudy skies but the blue sky and sun arrived at nooon. Members passed out “Stamp Out Deregulaton” leaflets to the public while members from CUPW, APOC and CUPE all showed their support.

On August 22 a small but spirited group of PSAC Young workers and their supporters came out to Trout Lake Park for some fun and barbeque.

Scroll down or click ‘continue reading’ for more, click on the thumbnails for a larger version, and click the photos to advance the slideshow.

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Your bargaining team, buoyed by membership support from coast to coast tabled a thoughtful and comprehensive offer of settlement with Canada Post this week.

The offer of settlement addresses the key priorities identified by you. They include:

• Monetary proposals to ensure a fair general wage increase
• Improvements in the Cost of Living Clause
• Improvements to the bilingual bonus, travel and meal allowances
• Improvements in medical benefit entitlements - Article 37
• Bargaining Unit Protection – Article 7
• Workload management improvements for those who work in Contact Centres – new language on Preparatory and Wrap Up time
• Pay and benefit entitlements for actual time worked – Article 4 for part-time workers and article 26.08 for all employees who work overtime
• Improvements in grievance language in Article 19
• Stronger anti-harassment language in Article 14
• Adequate funding for child care centres
• Family Related Leave Improvements in a variety of clauses in Article 42
• Protections against unreasonable measurement and surveillance of individual employees – new language
• Improvements in Appendix M dealing with the access to and provision of training for members who have received formal surplus notice

Your team is not prepared to negotiate any concessions and is interested in moving forward towards the goal of workplace fairness. Your team cannot achieve these goals without your help - support your bargaining team actively over the coming weeks! Canada Post is expected to respond to the union’s offer of settlement on Monday, August 25.

Your Bargaining team in front of the wall of member support — left to right: Seth Sazant, Andrew Baranowski, Erna Post, Richard des Lauriers, Hélène Arbique, René Fredeen and Larissa MacFadden.

Over the summer months, your bargaining team has worked hard to make sure that your bargaining proposals have been fairly presented and fully understood by Canada Post. For its part, Canada Post has been reluctant to commit to any proposal of substance, and in fact, applied for conciliation before your team presented detailed financial proposals.

It is clear that Canada Post is not interested in seriously discussing the issues that matter to members. Without a doubt, Canada Post needs to change its approach if it wants to achieve a fair collective agreement that builds true workplace respect by contract expiry. Our contract will expire at the end of the month and, in addition to bargaining a fair wage increase, much work remains to be done.

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Your union is raring to get back to bargaining with Treasury Board with negotiations set to resume in the coming weeks.

The bargaining-session dates for each TB unit are as follows:

• FB – four days September 30 to October 3
• SV – four days September 30 to October 3
• EB – four days October 6 to 9
• PA – four days October 6 to 9
• Future dates to be determined by each team
• TC – The union is still in talks with the employer to establish dates for the TC bargaining unit. The dates will be posted once they are confirmed.

After a year of frustrations at the bargaining table, your union sincerely hopes the employer is now ready to seriously negotiate fair contracts and seriously address the issues of wage parity and contracting out.

Your union is determined to fight for fair wages and for protecting quality public services. We ask for your continued support. Visit this web site regularly for future updates on negotiations.