November 16, 2007

PSAC Bargaining Units with Treasury Board (PA, SV, TC, EB, FB)

The PSAC bargaining team for the EB Group met with the Employer from November 6 to 9, 2007

The Employer did not respond favourably to our proposals to improve bereavement leave.  We are asking for leave of five working days when there is a death in the immediate family, and we are trying to improve the discretionary leave for bereavement-related travel to five days from three.  We are also proposing to increase bereavement leave provisions dealing with extended family members and to add co-workers and close friends to the list.

Moreover, we are seeking to have the Employer recognize the special leave requirements for those who have traditional bereavement responsibilities in aboriginal communities.

We are disappointed to report that the Employer also turned down our proposal to include gender identity and expression, as well as political activity, in the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination, despite a passionate presentation in which we invited Treasury Board to join us in making a powerful statement opposing discrimination of all kinds in the workplace. This demand as well as our bereavement leave proposals remain on the table.

The team presented a convincing argument on the need to increase class preparation time for teachers employed by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, and to allocate in the school year specific non-contact days so that teachers have adequate time to deal with the increasing number of administrative tasks they are asked to perform.

Finally, we succeeded in persuading the Employer to withdraw its demand to remove ‘grand jury’ from the list of court proceedings for which members are granted leave. The rationale for the Employer’s proposal was that grand juries exist in the United States, not Canada. We responded that we have a number of members who work at the Canadian Embassy in Washington as well as at several consular offices throughout the U. S.

Carryover of annual leave from one year to the next and notice conditions for personal leave were also discussed.

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