Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

PSAC participated in a historic first step toward long-awaited classification reform in the federal public service last fall. In November, PSAC and Treasury Board negotiated a collective agreement that includes a commitment by the employer to engage in a process of meaningful consultation with the union on occupational group structure, beginning with the Program and Administrative Services (PA) bargaining unit.

This group includes almost 70,000 employees responsible for program administration, information services, communications, secretarial services, office equipment, administrative services, welfare programs, clerical functions and data processing.

As we all know, this commitment to reform from the employer is years overdue. Classification standards in the federal government are over 40 years old and do not reflect the important services we deliver to Canadians on a daily basis.

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The SV agreement has been signed. The provisions in the new collective agreement are now in effect, and the employer has 150 days to implement the new rates of pay and issue cheques for retroactive pay reflecting the wage increases going back to August 5, 2007.

The four-year collective agreement, which expires on August 4, 2011, finally gets rid of regional rates of pay and will begin a national pay grid on August 5, 2009, for the GL, GS and HS groups. The agreement provides for across-the-board annual wage increases of 2.3 per cent for the first year from 2007 to 2008 and 1.5 per cent for each of the remaining three years. It includes a new annex on apprenticeships that outlines a commitment to train to the highest possible standards and provides for salary protection while members are in an apprenticeship program. The agreement also strengthens the Workforce Adjustment provisions and requires the government to review the use of contractors and consultants in order to avoid layoffs.

The SV Bargaining Team returned to Ottawa for another session with the employer. We conveyed to the employer that the team had had a busy summer meeting with members across the country and consistently heard expressions of utter disgust with the employer’s wage offer. We told the employer that the members reiterated the need to get rid of the zones and are asking: �Where is the rest of the market adjustment to bring the SV Group to wage parity?�

We said that members also raised concerns about contracting out and how this affects our job security, especially in light of the government’s privatization and deregulation of public services like Aviation Inspection, Food Inspection and Grain Inspection. Ironically, this is the same government that says that it is maintaining quality public services.

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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.

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)

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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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.

In June we distributed a list of summer suggestions (pdf) on how you can support your bargaining team and challenged people to check off as many support actions by Labour Day. Well, Labour Day is just three weeks away so take a peek and see (pdf), you probably have done more than you think!

You can check off three of the things today by:

• signing up for the Regional TB bargaining e-info bulletin
• writing to your Member of Parliament regarding the value of public services and the public servants who provide them
• helping get the word out about bargaining and Think Public! at some upcoming summer events by leafleting and gathering public support. Please contact one of our two summer students who are looking for volunteers to help them out until August 30. Ria can be contacted in the Vancouver RO or at rknishikawara@gmail.com and Jade can be contacted at jade.kennedy101@gmail.com or the Victoria RO.

We’ll be back to the bargaining table soon. Make sure your views are heard before then!

Treasury Board has recently attempted to shift the blame onto the PSAC for canceling what were only tentative bargaining dates in June. If anyone’s responsible for bargaining not taking place in June, it’s Treasury Board.

PSAC has already been at the bargaining table for a year. What we’ve heard most from Treasury Board is NO, NO and more NO.

• NO to the elimination of regional pay zones
• NO to pay adjustments to bring our members’ salaries in line with the private and public sectors
• NO to important demands such as job security for CBSA members affected by the arming initiative.

At the same time, it has taken a year for Treasury Board to put any pressure on departments to submit their proposals for essential services. Treasury Board knows very well that Essential Services Agreements must be signed before members can take legal strike action. The longer they drag this process out, the more they think it will weaken the union’s ability to negotiate fair settlements for our members.

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Treasury Board has recently attempted to shift the blame onto the PSAC for cancelling what were only tentative bargaining dates in June. If anyone’s responsible for bargaining not taking place in June, it’s Treasury Board.

• Send an email to your MP: let them know Public Services make a difference!

PSAC has already been at the bargaining table for a year. What we’ve heard most from Treasury Board is NO, NO and more NO.

• NO to the elimination of regional pay zones
• NO to pay adjustments to bring our members’ salaries in line with the private and public sectors
• NO to important demands such as job security for CBSA members affected by the arming initiative.

At the same time, it has taken a year for Treasury Board to put any pressure on departments to submit their proposals for essential services. Treasury Board knows very well that Essential Services Agreements must be signed before members can take legal strike action. The longer they drag this process out, the more they think it will weaken the union’s ability to negotiate fair settlements for our members.

Don’t be fooled by pious words from Treasury Board about how they’re committed to the bargaining process and to a settlement.

• During the last year, Treasury Board could have treated our demands seriously at the table. All they’ve done so far is withdraw most of their demands for take-aways. It has taken us a year to get back to square one.
• Treasury Board could have put a serious wage offer on the table, dealing with all our pay problems, not just 1.5% and 1.2%.
• Treasury Board could have proposed a shorter agreement instead of trying to lock our members into a four-year agreement.

It’s time to show Treasury Board who’s really to blame for the fact that we’re fast approaching the one-year anniversary date of our members being without a new agreement.

June 19 is your opportunity to join with your co-workers to tell the employer that you deserve to be treated with respect. Stay tuned to the website for actions planned near you, or sign up for the TB regional bargaining update email list.

Our bargaining team members aren’t the only people who were angered by Treasury Board’s wage offer of 1.5% and 1.2%.

As your National President, I’m disgusted that the employer would show so little respect for the work that our members perform every day for Canadians across the country, in all walks of life.

Our members provide quality public services. All we expect is a fair increase that protects our purchasing power and provides fair compensation.

It’s not that the government couldn’t do better. The Treasury Board offer is a far cry from the settlement our Union negotiated just last fall with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Not only do our Treasury Board members have to put up with a dinosaur of a classification system that doesn’t recognize the work they do, and outdated notions like regional rates of pay, they’re now being offered increases that don’t even match the increases in the cost of living.

Your bargaining team members and your elected officers are speaking out against the government’s wage offer. But we need you to speak out too.

We’re coming up to the one-year anniversary of the expiry date of most of our agreements with Treasury Board.

One year later and we still don’t have a new collective agreement – just a miserable wage offer.

I urge all of you to participate in activities being planned for June 19. Look for information from your Local/Branch and from the PSAC regional office in your area.

We need to send a loud and strong message to this government that we expect and demand better. You’re worth it!

In solidarity, John Gordon, National President

OTTAWA – After a year of bargaining, negotiating teams for the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) are less than impressed with the Harper government’s wage offer tabled this week. The government has offered increases of 1.5%, 1.5%, 1.2% and 1.2% in a four year agreement retroactive to 2007.

“The government’s proposal is an insult and a joke,” says Patty Ducharme, PSAC’s national executive vice-president. “The wage offer is below current inflation and well below projected inflation rates. It doesn’t even allow our members to stand still.”

Gas prices alone have risen by over 25% over the past year and are projected to rise by another 15 to 20% before the summer is over. “A wage offer that reduces our members’ real income also has a ripple effect on sectors such as manufacturing and tourism that are already being hard hit by the high Canadian dollar and rising gas prices.”

“How does the government think it can recruit and retain workers with this kind of offer,” says Ducharme. “Wages may be moderating in the face of an economic downturn but both public and private sector wage settlements were much higher in 2007 than the 1.5% being offered by the Harper government.”

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• Sign up for regional TB bargaining updates by email
• Contact your Area/Hub Strike Coordinator here.

Your PA negotiating team finished its work on our pay proposal and spent two days, April 23 and 24, with the Treasury Board team.

Our proposal has three significant elements:

1. Adjusting our salaries to keep them in line with other federal public sector employers

We’re proposing what are known as “market adjustments” so that salary rates in the PA unit are in line with comparable jobs in the federal public sector – particularly the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Effective June 21, 2007, before applying an economic increase, we’re proposing that job rates (the maximum rate) for each classification, except WPs, be increased to the job rates for comparable positions at CRA when they were converted to their new classifications on November 1, 2007. To ensure that none of our members are left behind, we’ve also asked for increases to job rates for the small number of classifications and levels that can’t be compared to CRA. These market adjustments, if implemented, would result in increases to all pay rates.

In the case of WP positions, and two groups of PM-4 positions with enforcement responsibilities, we’re proposing adjustments based on the results of an Enforcement Study conducted for the Union by compensation consultants Morneau Sobeco. For WPs, we’re proposing to increase all job rates, which would result in an increase to all WP pay rates. For PM-4 wildlife officers and fishery officers with enforcement duties, we’re proposing an annual allowance, on top of the market adjustment for PM-4s, outlined above.

2. Changes to our system of increments

Right now there are differences in the number of increments for each of the groups in the PA bargaining unit. In order to even this out, we’re proposing that there be a job rate (the maximum rate) and two increments for most levels in each classification. The period between increments would in most cases be 52 weeks and the difference between most levels in each classification would be 4%.
Deep discounts shouldn’t apply to your job

We’re proposing this change to stop the employer’s practice of discounting your job. We understand that some members see the increments as a way for the employer to recognize their years of service. But think again. The actual value of each classification is the maximum rate. Increments are calculated downwards from that rate. In other words, every year that you are not at your maximum rate, the employer is devaluing your work, not recognizing it. We want to reduce the number of years the employer can take advantage and pay you less than your job is worth. Fewer increments mean more years at the maximum rate of pay.

3. A fair economic increase

After applying market adjustments and fixing up the increment system, we’re proposing economic increases of

• 4.5% – effective June 21, 2007
• 4.5% – effective June 21, 2008
• 4.5% – effective June 21, 2009

The full details of our pay proposal will be posted on the PSAC web site soon.

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The factors that go into developing a pay demand

Our Union considers a number of factors when putting together a pay demand.

1. We examine what other workers are being paid who are doing comparable work and we make direct comparisons with PSAC members working for other federal employers.

We use union research, sometimes supplemented by compensation studies, to see what workers are being paid for comparable jobs both in the public and private sectors. With this data, we can propose what are known as “market adjustment” increases. These increases are designed to keep the federal government competitive as an employer. In an economy with low rates of unemployment and an aging workforce, that’s important. Our negotiating teams for each Treasury Board unit are determining what “market adjustment” increases are needed for their members. Look for more information on proposed adjustments in upcoming bulletins from the negotiating teams.

1. We calculate what we need to give our members some real economic improvement that reflects the continued strength of the Canadian economy and protects against inflation.
2. We consider what kinds of increases other workers are negotiating.

Our demand for 2007-2008-2009

For this round of negotiations, we’re proposing:

• an economic increase of 4.5%,
• in each year of a three-year collective agreement,
• retroactive to the first day of the new three-year agreement (the date in 2007 will vary by bargaining unit),
• that applies to all members covered by the agreement.

This proposal has already been tabled with Treasury Board for the PA and FB units and will be soon for the SV unit.

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Is that light at the end of the tunnel?

Your PA bargaining team may be a year older since the PSAC served notice to bargain in March 2007 but we’re energized by the fact that we’re finally seeing some movement from the employer. During our bargaining sessions from March 4 to 6, it was clear that the employer’s team had come to the table with the intention of making some progress. Treasury Board started to back off and withdraw some of their demands for serious concessions.

We’re encouraged by this approach. But we’re also ready to do what it takes to get the rest of the employer’s concessions off the table and start moving ahead with improvements to our agreement.

During this latest session, we spent time bringing the employer up to date on the good work of PSAC’s Social Justice Fund as background to our demand for an employer contribution to the Fund. Team members Megan Adam and Geoff Ryan, together with one of the Fund’s Officers Louise Casselman, talked about how the Fund’s projects are helping workers in Canada and internationally.

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If you want to keep up to date on what activities are going on for TB bargaining in the B.C. region and nationally please sign up for our regional list-serve here.

There is also have a link dedicated to TB bargaining on our regional website – look for !
This week: TB-Area Coordinators are distributing an info flyer on current negotiations. Please help get these flyers out to your members, Union boards, lunch rooms. Help spread the word, support your bargaining teams!

In Solidarity, Monica Urrutia, TB-RSC for BC Mainland

Your SV Team was in Ottawa from January 29 to February 1, 2008, to meet with the Employer.Our efforts this week focused on pay zones and the apprenticeship issue. On Article 44, Maternity-Related Reassignment or Leave, the SV group experiences unique work issues around finding alternate work for pregnant and nursing members in workplaces that are hazardous or where the nature of the work poses a health threat to the members.

Ongoing discussions continued on allowances that included height pay, transportation of dangerous goods, NERT and dirty work. Talks centred on broadening the scope of allowances, as well as the method of their payment.

There were meaningful discussions on the apprenticeship issue, with movement on the Employer’s part to entertain this issue.

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All of the PSAC negotiating teams for our Treasury Board units met with the employer in bargaining sessions in May and June. During those sessions, the five teams tabled our bargaining demands reflecting the improvements we are trying to achieve. However, Treasury Board also has come to the bargaining table with their demands, many of which require an immense amount of interpretation.

For instance, the Employer wishes to discuss a new approach to pay. Since our initial discussions at the bargaining table focus on non-monetary demands, it will be some time down the road before the employer’s position on any monetary issue is known.

Treasury Board wants:

• the elimination of additional sick leave for shift workers,
• the elimination of the right to have a complete and current job description,
• the elimination of vacation advance payments

The employer is also asking for:

• a reduction in the amount of vacation leave members can carry over,
• a reduction in the amount of overtime part time workers can claim,
• reductions to call back and reporting pay entitlements,
• a reduction in the number of situations where double time for overtime work would apply,
• a reduction in the notice period for changes to shift schedule from 7 days to 48 hours.

The employer also wants to increase and/or adjust core working hours for some groups and have indicated they intend to table demands on severance pay and Work Force Adjustment.

Although some Employer demands are unclear at this point, many are perfectly clear. Your bargaining teams are committed to saying NO to any demand calling for a roll-back in current terms and conditions of employment.

The negotiating teams are back at the bargaining table in October. Check back for regular bargaining updates.

The negotiating teams for all five PSAC Treasury Board bargaining units were in negotiations this month. In addition to bargaining, the teams held a joint meeting on June 9 to share information. Here’s what happened at each bargaining table.

Our Program and Administrative Services (PA) negotiating team met with Treasury Board from June 5th to 7th/8th. They made a presentation to the employer on language training and will be tabling language on this issue during the next set of meetings. A number of articles currently in the collective agreement were signed off as renewed. These were articles for which neither side had any demands. Every member of the team had the opportunity to speak to one or more of our demands at the table and to engage with the employer on issues specific to this bargaining unit.

Our Operational Services (SV) team also met with Treasury Board on June 5th to 7th. The Union responded to and asked a number of questions of clarification on several items, and the parties traded preliminary thoughts on outstanding classification and apprenticeship issues. The parties also signed off on 19 renewable articles on which no demands had been made by either side, and which are not impacted by any new proposals, and a handful of editorial changes required as a result of the Public Service Modernization Act (PSMA).

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The PSAC negotiating teams for all five Treasury Board bargaining units were in Ottawa during the week of May 14 for their first face-to-face meetings with the employer teams. The purpose of these meetings was to formally introduce the members of both teams and review the demands exchanged electronically last month. The chief negotiator for each team read through the demands and entertained preliminary questions to clarify the intent of each demand.

During the week, all five PSAC teams took time to meet and exchange information and share their perspectives on the initial negotiating sessions.

On May 14, members of the teams joined in a demonstration in support of the elimination of regional rates of pay. They joined thousands of other members who participated in similar activities across the country.

• More about the No Zones campaign.

The Technical Services unit negotiating team greatly appreciated the support of the Transportation Safety Board members of PSAC’s Union of Canadian Transportation Employees component who sent them a balloon-o-gram that really lifted their spirits. Thank you!

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