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Welcome to the PSAC e-mail news for the period of July 14 to August 1, 2003.
National Bargaining Conference: Treasury BoardThe demands are ready...let bargaining beginThe National Bargaining Conference for PSAC's Treasury Board members has kicked off the upcoming round of negotiations for Tables 1, 2, 3 and 5. The Conference, held from July 6 to 10, was co-chaired by the union's Regional Executive Vice-Presidents responsible for collective bargaining, Robyn Benson (Prairies) and Gerry Halabecki (Ontario). The 66 conference participants, who were elected at the regional bargaining conferences, spent long days reviewing the bargaining demands from the regional conferences and starting to develop a negotiating strategy. In her opening address to the conference, National President Nycole Turmel warned that there will be challenges in the negotiations to come. Treasury Board has already started talking about "maintaining fiscal responsibility and managing taxpayers' money prudently" and the necessity of taking into account "increasing economic uncertainty." "We have a message for the President of the Treasury Board," said Turmel. "Compensation within the federal public sector should not be tied to short term economic shocks such as SARS and Mad Cow disease. It should be based on the work that people do, on productivity, on the cost of living and, in some cases, on recruitment and retention. By these measures, federal public sector workers have a lot of catching up to do." She concluded that "our ultimate success depends on a membership that is willing and able to demonstrate support for its bargaining position day in and day out in the workplace." Conference delegates spent some time divided into workshops on the economy, mobilization strategies and effective media communications. Regional caucuses discussed organizing strategies and started planning for the work that needs to be done to ensure an aware and organized membership. Delegates from each Table then spent several days reviewing and finalizing their respective bargaining demands and electing the members and alternate members of their negotiating team. On the final day, the team members and their alternates met to prioritize the demands and discuss a strategic approach to negotiating each one. The Table negotiating team members and alternates also selected a member to sit on the PSAC National Strategy Coordinating Committee for Treasury Board groups. The Committee is responsible for developing an overall strategy to ensure that members are informed and mobilized. In the event of a strike, the Committee will also recommend an overall strike strategy. PSAC plans to exchange demands with Treasury Board in early August. Detailed information about the demands will be available once they have been exchanged. Bargaining is scheduled to begin in September. For more up-to-date information on Treasury Board negotiations, visit the the PSAC Web site. USGE, PSAC rejoice as RCMP opts for COE Option 1The Union of Solicitor General Employees and PSAC give kudos to the RCMP for making the right choice in opting for Option 1 on the Category of Employees project late in June. Option 1 will see Civilian Members (CMs) folded into applicable public service categories, and there will be no job losses. RCMP management said they chose Option 1 over three alternatives because it: * is best aligned with current federal public service reforms; * provides superior integration with other federal partners such as Justice, Solicitor-General and CSIS; * permits employee mobility within the broad federal public service; and * offers better pension portability for civilian employees. The USGE and PSAC had made these same arguments during its fight against Option 3, the option recommended by Deloitte & Touche, the consultants hired by the RCMP to advise on the COE process. Option 3 called for lumping the 3,500 employees in the PSE group with the 1,600 employees in the CM group, creating a new category of civilian employees under the RCMP Act. This would have resulted in employees in the PSE category losing their benefits guaranteed in their collective agreement, their ability to move to positions in other federal public service departments and their union representation and protection.
Bargaining UpdateGander Airport talks hit snag on wage increaseAs the Gander International Airport employees marked their 100th day on strike on July 15, all outstanding issues, with the exception of monetary issues, have been settled. Earlier in July, the union offered to go to binding arbitration but the Authority turned it down. CEO Gary Vey said on NTV that the board is afraid that an independent arbitrator might give the workers higher wage increases than the airport can afford. The two parties met with a mediator on July 21. Terminable allowances renewed for Technical Services Bargaining Unit (Table 3)The Technical Services terminable allowances provided for in Appendix "N" and Appendix "P" of the Table-3 collective agreement have been renewed until June 30, 2004, or at such time as a renewal collective agreement for the Technical Services bargaining unit is signed, whichever comes first. The renewal is reflected in two separate Memoranda of Understanding signed by The Public Service Alliance of Canada and Treasury Board. Toronto airport management still trying to eliminate sick leave planSome limited progress was made during the last series of bargaining from June 23 to June 29, when the Greater Toronto Airports Authority withdrew some more of the rollbacks it had been demanding from the union's collective agreement. GTAA still, however, has a large number of rollbacks on the table. One of the most offensive of these is the elimination of the current sick leave plan. The PSAC negotiating team has bargained a total of 11 days for a new collective agreement. Bargaining began on May 9, 2003, when the union exchanged proposals with the GTAA. Five more days of bargaining were scheduled in July. The current agreement expires July 31, 2003. Statistical Survey Operations (SSO) group moves closer to a strikeOn the first of three days of scheduled hearings, the Conciliation Board for SSO Regional Office Interviewers asked the parties to provide a brief overview of their outstanding issues and then offered to mediate. In the mediation process it became clear that the parties were not going to agree on wage increases. While the PSAC negotiating team indicated they could move somewhat, they were not prepared to move so far as to agree to the employer's offer. SSO is sticking by its original offer that would provide salary increases ranging from 67 cents to $1.01 over the life of the agreement. The employer's rigid position made a mediated settlement impossible at this time. The PSAC negotiating team decided that there would be little point in making a formal presentation, as did the employer and the hearing ended on the first day. The Conciliation Board is expected to file a report without any recommendations for settlement. ErratumDue to an editing error, the following information was omitted in the French version of the last Update in the article, "Treasury Board ordered to stop discriminatory practice on marriage leave": Similar denials of leave to several other PSAC members remain the subject of outstanding grievances filed with the Public Service Staff Relations Board, as well as human rights complaints. It is hoped that the Treasury Board bulletin will prompt a quick resolution of these cases.
Longest Pay Equity case in history to hit 20-year markCanada's longest-running pay equity case filed under the Canadian Human Rights Act will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The Human Rights Tribunal heard final arguments from the PSAC/Union of Postal Communications Employees and Canada Post over eleven days in May and June, 2003, and concluded on June 27, 2003. The union filed the complaint in 1983; hearings started in February 1992 and ran for more than 400 days. The hefty transcript of the proceedings is more than 46,000 pages. The Tribunal will sit for one more day in August to hear arguments about the relevance, if any, of the Supreme Court decision on institutional impartiality in the Bell case. The Tribunal is expected to take about a year to make its decision.
Women's Committees flourish in Atlantic Region Lobbying of MHAs and MPs has begun, as well as a campaign to raise public awareness. The fight is on. Linda Oldford, Director for Women in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, was enthusiastic about the weekend's events. "It is great to get a group of women together, give them an avenue for discussion and then hear all the great ideas," she said. The retreat again shows the impact that women in the union can make throughout this country. Some of the many positive outcomes included: providing an opportunity to discuss local issues which affect many people; cementing the role of RWCs and ensuring a forum where sisters can share, encourage and learn from each other. The New Brunswick Region has also been busy in the last few months activating and re-activating Regional Women's Committees (RWCs) in the province. In the spring, the region re-activated the Saint John and the Moncton RWCs. These two committees will hold their first meeting in early fall. With the re-establishment of the Campbellton RWC, which will hold its first meeting in the fall, the region will have a total of five RWCs. The goal is to have six active RWCs in the province by the end of 2003, and plans are under way to activate a committee in the Bathurst/Miramichi area. There were previously two active RWCs in Edmundston and Fredericton/Oromocto. To become a member of the RWCs, please contact your nearest regional office. Delegates at the educational retreat for the Newfoundland and Labrador Women's Committees are ready to lobby for MRIs. |
During a two-day educational retreat held in Gros Morne Park, Nfld.,
three Regional Women's Committees (RWCs) set objectives, discussed
issues and put plans of actions in place. One of the concerns of the
committees is a lack of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine
in the western area of the province.