Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Bargaining with CRA starts soon and we’re ready!

Our negotiating team has been getting fully prepared for the first bargaining session with the Canada Revenue Agency.

The nine members of our negotiating team, which includes the PSAC negotiator and PSAC research officer, met August 24 and 25 to review our demands and establish priorities based on input from our members. The team also considered current bargaining trends in today’s difficult economic climate and worked out their bargaining strategy for this round.

The union and employer teams are scheduled to meet from September 20 to October 1 in a concentrated effort to achieve an early settlement before the agreement expires on October 31. An additional nine days in October have also been set aside to continue this process.

Our Locals have also been gearing for this round of bargaining. We need them to be prepared and ready because our team depends on the support of all of our members.

We’re committed to keeping you informed – once bargaining begins, we’ll be issuing regular bulletins to keep you up to date.

For bargaining news visit the PSAC national website and sign up for email updates at www.ute-sei.org. No CRA e-mail addresses please.

But PSAC commits to fighting federal wage legislation that would affect any of our members and threaten free collective bargaining

On January 27, the Harper government renewed its intention to introduce legislation to control the wage increases of federal public sector workers. This legislation � as alluded to in the federal budget — would cover the federal public administration, establishing wage increases of 2.3 per cent for 2007, and 1.5 per cent for 2008, 2009 and 2010. While the definition of �federal public administration’ has yet to be clarified, what is clear is that the federal government wants to clamp down on any spending which it can control.
PSAC can confirm that the recently ratified Treasury Board agreements for the PA, SV, FB and EB groups would not be subject to the legislation.

That’s because the economic increases contained in these agreements match those outlined in the federal budget: 2.3%, 1.5%, 1.5% and 1.5%. These agreements, as well as the many others negotiated in November 2008, all contain the government-mandated economic increases. More information on these negotiations can be found at the national website.

What we are concerned about is the possibility of wage roll-backs for any of our members who negotiated higher wage rates than the ones stipulated as �mandatory� in the federal budget. The November 27, 2008 Economic and Fiscal Update strongly indicated that negotiated collective agreements with a higher wage increase in 2009 and 2010 would be rolled back.

The January 27th budget is somewhat less clear. But the government’s recent announcement that it would roll back scheduled wage increases for the RCMP, combined with statements made in November by Treasury Board President Vic Toews, strongly suggest that the proposed legislation will roll back wage increases contained in previously signed collective agreements.

Any such action would violate a 2007 Supreme Court of Canada decision that found free collective bargaining to be encompassed and protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
PSAC will challenge any legislation that rolls back any of our agreements and we are working hard to find out which bargaining units will be impacted.

We will keep you up to date on this issue as more information becomes available. Members are encouraged to email their MP and the Prime Minister and tell them not to roll back fairly negotiated wage increases. Not only is this unfair � it violates Canadian law.

OTTAWA – A strong majority of Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members have voted in favour of accepting a tentative agreement with the Canada Revenue Agency. The settlement had been negotiated before the expiry date of the old agreement, a remarkable achievement in the federal public sector.

“While we achieved an agreement in record time, we did not sacrifice important demands in the process,” says PSAC national president John Gordon. “Significant gains were made in wages, job security for term workers and improved benefits for part-time workers.”

According to Betty Bannon, national president of the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) Component of the PSAC, members have been impressed with the speed of the negotiations. “We achieved a goal the union set when the Agency was first formed, to eventually be able to negotiate a new agreement before the old one had expired.”

This agreement sees the conversion of former classifications in the bargaining unit to a new Agency classification standard. While the amounts will vary by individual, the average increase as a result of the conversion is 1.67%. After the salaries are converted to the new standard effective November 1, the workers will also receive an economic increase of 2.5%. Further wage increases during the life of the contract are 2.5% effective November 1, 2008 and 2.5% effective November 1, 2009.

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Here are the CRA ratification vote dates & locations

Dates and locations for other cities will be posted as they become available.

Details of the tentative agreement can be found in these documents:

• PSAC ratification kit (PDF, revised Oct. 29)
• Article 18 – Grievance Procedure (HTML/PDF)
• CRA Term Employment Policy (HTML/PDF)
• PSAC news release (HTML/PDF)

OTTAWA – The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has achieved an historic milestone in its bargaining history. The union has negotiated a tentative agreement with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) before the expiry date of the current contract.

“Negotiating a new contract before the old one has expired is virtually unheard of in the federal public sector,” says PSAC National President John Gordon. “In this case, both negotiating teams were focused on reaching a new agreement and we have achieved this in record time.”

• CRA Bargaining update, ratification kit & other details available here.

The union served notice to bargain and exchanged bargaining demands with the CRA at the beginning of July. Intense negotiations took place over a two-week period in September and resumed in mid-October.

“Our negotiating team is making a unanimous recommendation of acceptance to our members,” says Gordon. “The speed of these negotiations did not affect our ability to achieve important gains.”

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Details of the tentative agreement between PSAC and the Canada Revenue Agency are now available.

Arrangements are being made for meetings to conduct a vote on the tentative agreement between the PSAC and the Canada Revenue Agency. More information will follow at a later date.

Details of the tentative agreement can be found in these documents:

• PSAC ratification kit
• Article 18 – Grievance Procedure
• CRA Term Employment Policy
• PSAC news release

On Thursday, all the sub-committees reported back to the bargaining teams. With the exception of the ACS-SP classification conversion sub-committee, the sub-committees have concluded their work. The ACS-SP sub-committee will complete its work on Friday and report to the teams.

Your team has now received responses from the employer on all outstanding issues. We’re continuing to work hard to achieve a settlement.

We’re getting there with your help

Your bargaining team can’t say thank you enough to our members who have been organizing the plantgating, wearing stickers and coming up with other great ideas to show their support. Members have even been braving sub zero temperatures in some locations to distribute stickers and daily bulletins.

There isn’t space to acknowledge everyone but here are some of the activities that have been taking place this week. In Trois Rivières, in addition to wearing “Deliver the Deal” stickers, 98% of the Local members wore blue jeans and red shirts and sweaters on October 15 to show their support for their team. One of our Locals in Toronto delivered balloons decorated with the “Deliver the Deal” stickers to their Director. In Sudbury, the Local distributed PSAC kit folders with the sticker and asked members to use them in the workplace and at meetings to show

On Wednesday, the sub-committee dealing with issues affecting term workers reported back to a face-to-face meeting of the union and Agency negotiating teams.

The ACS-SP classification conversion and the Workforce Adjustment (WFA) sub-committees are still meeting and are now expected to conclude their work and to report to the full teams on Thursday.

Progress continues to be made towards achieving a fair settlement and a new collective agreement.

The second day back at the table with CRA was devoted completely to essential sub-committee work. It was the first day since your bargaining team started this round of negotiations with the Agency that we have not had face-to-face sessions involving the complete teams on both sides.

At this critical stage in our bargaining, all the decisions your team will be making are important ones and we are taking the time we need to make the right decisions for our members.

Your team will be meeting with the employer’s team on Wednesday afternoon. At that time, all the sub-committees will be reporting back to the main table.

Watch for more bulletins coming out this week.

Your bargaining team was back at the table on Monday October 15 – the first day in the two weeks of negotiations with CRA that are scheduled until October 26. We met with the employer and received some responses on several outstanding issues.

We have three sub-committees that are currently meeting as part of the bargaining process: the ACS-SP classification conversion sub-committee, the Workforce Adjustment (WFA) sub-committee and a sub-committee that is discussing issues affecting term workers at the Agency. We expect reports from all three sub-committees early this week. Once your team has the reports, we will move to deal with other remaining issues.

Once again, we will be continuing to issue bulletins during these next two weeks of negotiations.

Another thank you to our members

Your team thanks all of the members who are in the workplace showing their support by wearing our “Deliver the Deal!” stickers that were distributed on Monday. Your message to our employer is helping us get a fair settlement at the table.

Your bargaining team spent Friday wrapping up the progress that has been made in the last two weeks of negotiations. We are at a critical stage and there are still several important issues on the table that will need to be resolved if we are to reach a settlement.

The employer is continuing to demonstrate a commitment to the process and has agreed to an additional week of negotiations in October. We will be returning to the table in two weeks, starting on October 15. Negotiations are scheduled to continue until October 26.

Your team remains cautiously optimistic that we can achieve a tentative agreement before October 31.

Our ability to achieve a fair settlement continues to depend on your strong support. Stay tuned for information from your Local about how you can show your support for your team and for a fair settlement.

On Thursday your team continued to have productive face-to-face negotiations with the Agency.

We are still on track to reach a tentative agreement before the October 31 expiry date of our current contract.

Another day at the table and we are continuing to make progress. Your bargaining team has countered the employer’s offer on almost all of the outstanding issues. We are waiting to hear back from the Agency team on a number of issues.

We continue to be optimistic that we can negotiate a tentative agreement before October 31, the expiry date of our current contract.

The employer has now responded to all of the union proposals on the table and continues to show a willingness to discuss improvements on issues our members have indicated are important to them.

The ACS-SP sub-committee met again on Tuesday and is having ongoing discussions on the classification conversion. While these discussions take place, negotiations are occurring simultaneously on all the other issues.

Your team remains positive with the progress of negotiations.

We will continue to issue bulletins this week as bargaining continues

After a week at the table with the CRA, your bargaining team is pleased to report that we’re continuing to make progress and that negotiations are moving at an unprecedented pace.

Why are these negotiations different? This time, both parties have come with a real willingness to negotiate. The process is less formal, less structured and as a result, more productive. A significant change from past rounds is that the employer’s team is at the table with the authority to negotiate. Instead of continually checking with their “principals”, the Agency team is ready and able to make some decisions.

The use of joint sub-committees to tackle some of the more detailed and complex issues is also helping move the process forward. The ACS-SP sub-committee has been putting in considerable work on the details of applying a salary schedule to the new SP classification plan. Workforce Adjustment (WFA) issues are also being discussed in a joint sub-committee and many of the union’s concerns already have been addressed.

We have agreement in principle on a number of proposals that may eventually be part of a settlement package. The employer’s team has indicated they are prepared to table a full economic package once the ASC-SP sub-committee has finished its work, which is expected to happen early next week.

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On Thursday, your bargaining team spent more negotiating with the Agency. The employer’s team continues to respond in a positive way.

After an initial face-to-face session scheduled for Friday morning, two sub-committees with representatives from both the union and employer will continue their work. These are the ASC-SP sub-committee on classification conversion and the Workforce Adjustment (WFA) sub-committee. Both of these sub-committees are working hard to complete the work that needs to be done on these two critical issues.

Stay tuned for our next bulletin.

Your bargaining team spent an intensive day at the table on Wednesday. We’re spending most of our time actually negotiating with the Agency team and a lot of work is getting done.

We have finished dealing with all the demands that fall into the housekeeping and procedural categories and are now starting to negotiate the major demands.

The strong support from our members is keeping everyone focused at the bargaining table and is contributing to the positive attitude and productive work to date.

Look for our next update.

After another day of bargaining, your team is pleased to report that the process is going well.

Today, your team tabled a new demand with the employer asking the Agency to provide ergonomic counselling and assessments through an in-house national program. The demand is in response to a CRA decision to shut down an existing ergonomic in-house service being provided by five of our members to offices in some regions.

We’ll be continuing to issue bulletins as the process continues. Remember, you can sign up now on the PSAC web site – www.psac-afpc.com to automatically receive Bargaining INFO bulletins as they are issued or by using the “Subscribe” feature on the UTE website at www.ute-sei.org .

More about those solidarity activities

Everyone was getting in on the act when Locals organized activities across the country in support of our negotiating team earlier this week. Saint John, New Brunswick boasted the youngest activist as 10 ½-month old Boyd Bembridge, wearing a big “I support my bargaining team” sticker, joined his mother and the Local executive who were plantgating on Monday.

Across the country, literally thousands of leaflets and stickers were handed out on September 17 as members showed their support for their negotiating team. Many wore their stickers in the workplace thoughout the day. The Sudbury Local also handed out PSAC’s colourful “Public Services are Cool” fans which members appreciated as something “bright and cheerful” for a Monday morning!

In Rouyn, 85% of the members wore jeans and a red shirt to work to show their solidarity, as did many others in Laval, Montérégie, Sherbrooke and Montreal. Members in a number of locations expressed a wish that we could make history by negotiating a new collective agreement before the old one expires. Your team is working on it!

Bargaining demands have been exchanged, preliminary meetings held and now bargaining is beginning in earnest with CRA.

Your negotiating team spent its first day meeting several times with the Agency negotiating team. The Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) Workforce Adjustment (WFA) committee also met with your team to provide us with a report and information that will be useful in our deliberations.

Your team is at the table expecting to spend the upcoming days in serious negotiations and the employer is giving indications that they are prepared to do the same.

Look for the union updates as negotiations continue.

Many thanks to our members

We started negotiations on a high note knowing our members were supporting us. We send a very big thank you to all the members who participated in Monday’s activities and to our Locals for organizing them. With your support, we’ll achieve a good agreement.

At the request of your negotiating team, UTE National President Betty Bannon met with CRA representatives in order to obtain more bargaining dates.

The union’s aim is to negotiate a new agreement as quickly as possible, preferably before the October 31st expiry date of the current agreement.

CRA has now agreed to add some additional dates to the bargaining calendar. Your team will be meeting with the employer from September 17 to 21 as well as from September 24 to 28. Another session had already been scheduled for October 22 to 26.

Your team will be issuing more information bulletins once bargaining resumes in September.