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.

“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.

Over 400 term workers will immediately see a change in their status as a result of a change in the Agency’s term employment policy. Effective November 1, 2007 term workers who have accumulated five years of service, without a break of 30 days or more anytime during the accumulation of this service, will automatically become indeterminate.

Part-time workers will now enjoy enhanced benefits including improved overtime provisions. Overall, there are also improvements to personal and bereavement leaves and some improvement in vacation leave.

PSAC served notice to bargain and exchanged bargaining demands with the CRA at the beginning of July. The union was able to reach a tentative agreement by conducting intensive negotiations over a total period of just under 20 days.

PSAC represents 26,000 workers at CRA. The new agreement, which will expire on October 31, 2010, is being signed on December 3.

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)

“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.”

During this round of bargaining, the parties were negotiating the conversion 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.

The union was also successful in negotiating changes to the Agency’s policy on term workers. Effective November 1, 2007 term workers who have accumulated five years of service, without a break of 30 days or more anytime during the accumulation of this service, will automatically become indeterminate. This will have an immediate impact on over 400 workers.

The tentative agreement also provides enhanced benefits for part-time workers including improved overtime provisions, as well as overall gains in personal and bereavement leaves and some improvement in vacation leave.

According to Betty Bannon, national president of the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) component of the PSAC, the union wanted to set a new standard for bargaining. “From the beginning, our goal has been to avoid having a long gap between the expiry of one agreement and the conclusion of a new one and this time we’ve done it.”

The union will be conducting a ratification vote among the 26,000 PSAC members at the Agency during the month of November. If ratified, the new agreement will expire on October 31, 2010.

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

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

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.

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.