Union Update

September 13 - October 29, 2004

Acrobat format 

In this issue:

• Questions on negotiations

• Membership Votes: Process, Access to Information

• Bargaining Process and Strike Strategy
  
• Implementing the Results of the Membership Votes
  
• The Vote No Campaign for Table 1 and Table 3

Questions on negotiations  

We have received a huge number of questions and comments about negotiations and the votes that will be held among the membership. As a result, we have decided to develop and publish a series of Answers to commonly asked questions.  

The information presented in this issue of the Union Update may not answer all of your questions. That's why we encourage all PSAC members to attend upcoming meetings to have specific questions addressed and to vote on the tentative agreement or employer's final offer. More information about these meetings will be available through PSAC Regional Offices
within the next few weeks.  

The Qs&As fall into four categories:      

•        Membership Votes: Process,   Access to Information

•       Bargaining Process and Strike Strategy

•       Implementing the Results of the Membership Votes

•       The Vote No Campaign for Table 1 and Table 3

Membership Votes: Process, Access to Information

Which members are voting on a tentative agreement, and which ones are voting on the employer's final offer?     What's the difference?

Members at Parks Canada, the CRA, the CFIA and Treasury Board Tables 2 and 5 are voting on tentative agreements.     That's because the negotiating teams for these groups reached tentative agreements with the employer, and are recommending the agreements to the membership.        

Members at Tables 1 and 3 are voting on the employer's final offer.     That's because their negotiating teams unanimously recommended that the members reject the employer's final offer.     This final offer is not a tentative agreement.    

Who is eligible to vote on the tentative agreement or the employer's last offer?    

In order to vote, you must be a member in good standing of the PSAC, and a member of the bargaining unit for which the vote is being held.  

Persons in the bargaining unit who have not signed a PSAC membership card can do so at the meetings where the votes are held.

When will membership votes on tentative agreements and the employer's last offer be scheduled?    

Membership votes for Parks will be held November 19 – December 15, 2004. Membership votes for CRA will be held November 19 – December 8, 2004 .    

Membership votes for Treasury Board Tables 1, 2, 3, 5, and CFIA will be held December 6 – 17, 2004 , and resume January 3 - 26, 2005 .

We know that PSAC members want the opportunity to vote on their tentative agreements or the employer's final offer as soon as possible. And we assure you that we are scheduling meetings as soon as we possibly can. However the process to prepare for and conduct membership votes for seven separate bargaining units is extremely labour intensive.

To ensure that PSAC members are fully informed of the details of the tentative agreement or employer's final offer, ratification and information kits are being produced. This time, we have seven kits to write, translate, format, provide in alternate formats where required, print and distribute to Locals and Branches.

Staff at the PSAC Regional Offices will be consulting with Locals/Branches to coordinate meeting logistics within the time frames provided above. These meetings will provide members with an opportunity to discuss the details of the tentative agreements or employer's final offers and to have their specific questions or concerns addressed by bargaining team members, Regional Executive Vice-Presidents and or Component Presidents. Specific meeting dates will be available through PSAC Regional Offices.

Organizing membership votes poses many challenges for our Union, given our members are spread from coast to coast to coast, in large urban centres to isolated posts. As well, we have members who work outside of Canada, members who are shift workers, members who are on ships, members who are seasonal workers and no longer employed in the workplace, all of whom must be provided with information on the details of the tentative agreement or employer's final offer and be provided an opportunity to vote.        

What information will we receive before the vote?    

Bargaining unit-specific information bulletins, which include summaries of the key issues, are available on the website.     Once the detailed voting kits are produced, these will also be posted on the website as follows:    

Parks Ratification Kit - November 5, 2004

CRA Ratification Kit - November 5, 2004

CFIA Ratification Kit - November 19, 2004

Tables 2 and 5 Ratification Kits - November 19, 2004  

Tables 1 and 3 Information Kits -   November 19, 2004    

The information will also be available at the meetings called for a membership vote on the tentative agreement or the employer's final offer.

What is the process for voting?     Where will the voting take place?    

The voting processes are covered by the PSAC Constitution and Regulation 15.         The voting will take place at the scheduled meetings in your area.     The PSAC Regional Offices will work with Locals and Branches to set up the membership meetings where the votes will be conducted.     The Regional Offices will advise members of the time and location for all the meetings within their regions.  

Bargaining Process and Strike Strategy

Why are all the tentative agreements and employer's final offers for four years, instead of three years?    

The employer's improved wage mandate to 2.5%, 2.25%, 2.4% and 2.5% at all bargaining tables was based on the acceptance of a four-year term.     The employer made it clear that both the economic increases and the length of the agreements/final offers were fixed and not open to discussion with the teams.    

Prior to negotiations resuming on October 8th , the employer's wage offers were somewhere in the range of 2.25% 1.75% and 1.75% offered by the CRA and Treasury Board, and 2.5%, 2% and 2% offered by Parks.

Why is the employer's final offer for Table 1 and 3 being put out to the membership for a vote if it is being rejected by the negotiating team?

  The employer made it clear that the offer they put forward at Tables 1 and 3 was their final offer.     They also made it clear that they would engage in a “proactive communications strategy” on the contents of these offers if the Union did not meet their deadlines.

Tables 1 and 3 were forced by the employer to address rollbacks.     Although the teams did not believe the final offer was fair and equitable, they ultimately decided to put the employer's final offer out to a membership vote with a unanimous recommendation that this offer be rejected by the members.     The members will now have an opportunity to decide on whether or not to reject the employer's final offer.

Why did you suspend the general strike on October 15th?    

The decision to take down the picket lines on October 15 was a very difficult one to make.     We could have remained on a general strike and cost more than 90,000 members an additional day's pay, allowing the government to save millions of dollars.     Knowing that the employer had no intention of increasing their offer, we made the decision to call off the general strike at Tables 1 and 3, and to continue with some strategic strike action while the employer prepared its final offer and presented it to the PSAC negotiating teams.

Management told us that vacation leave, union leave and annual eave will not be approved until after the new collective agreements are ratified. We will need a medical note for all doctor's visits as well.     Can they do this?

Yes, until the contracts are settled, management can continue to operate in a no contract mode.     In the short term, if you have any serious concerns with this, please contact your union representative. These issues are grievable.  

Implementing the Results of the Membership Votes

What happens if we reject the tentative agreement or the employer's final offer?    

If the tentative agreement or the employer's offer is rejected, the bargaining unit will remain in a legal strike position.     We will attempt to get the employer back to the bargaining table, and will decide what strike action to take.

There is always the risk that the employer will refuse to return to the bargaining table, and legislate an end to strike action and impose terms and conditions of employment.

What happens if the tentative agreements or the employer's final offers are accepted?

If the members vote to accept the tentative agreement or the employer's final offers, then our members are no longer in a legal strike position and we will sign collective agreements for all bargaining groups who voted to accept the tentative agreement or the employer's final offer.

How long does it take the employer to implement the tentative agreements or the final offers?

The new terms and conditions of employment take effect immediately and all newly negotiated terms apply. However, in the case of the Treasury Board units, the employer will have 150 days to fully implement the agreements.   As a result, retroactive pay will not likely be issued until 4-5 months after ratified agreements are signed. The change from 90 days to 150 days is another concession that the employer insisted on at the Treasury Board bargaining tables.

The Vote No Campaign for Table 1 and Table 3

What do we have to gain by voting No?     Will we actually be able to gain more by going on strike again?    

The team members at Tables 1 and 3 are unanimously recommending that the membership vote “no” in order to send a clear message to the employer that they cannot implement rollbacks on our members' backs.     Team members firmly believe that our Table 1 and Table 3 members deserve better working conditions than what the employer has put on the table as a final offer.    

If the members of Table 1 and Table 3 reject the employer's final offer, then they are sending a strong message that they are not prepared to stand by while rollbacks and concessions are being imposed on our members.     They are sending a strong message that an injury to one is an injury to all.     They are sending a strong message of solidarity and support for their bargaining teams. They are sending a strong message that they want another opportunity to push the employer to improve its final offer.

Rejecting the employer's final offer means that members remain in a legal strike position, and strike action resumes.     We would hope that by engaging in strike action after a decision by the membership to reject the employer's final offer, we would be able to return to the table and obtain improvements to the offers on the table.    

Why is the employer's final offer being put to the membership for a vote if it was unanimously rejected by the bargaining team? If the offer at Table 1 and Table 3 was so bad why didn't you keep on negotiating?    

The employer's offer is being sent out for a vote with a recommendation to reject it because the employer made it clear that this was its final offer.     If we wish to gain more then the members need to make a decision based on what the employer has offered and not offered.     To tackle the employer will require a strong commitment on the part of the members.     This is a decision the members need to make.     Are they prepared to accept what the employer tabled or are they ready to continue strike action in an attempt to force the employer to improve its offer?

Our negotiating teams had three choices – reject the offer and continue striking, accept the offer and take it to the members for a vote, reject the offer and recommend a no vote to the members. Our Tables 1 and 3 negotiating teams chose the latter because they believed that they could not get the employer to improve its offer or abandon attempts to secure rollbacks without a strong membership vote rejecting the final offer.

What happens if the employer's last offer is accepted?    

The terms and conditions of the employer's final offer as outlined in the Table specific bulletins and ratification meetings form a new collective agreement.

What type of job actions are we undertaking until the vote is concluded?

Until the results of the membership votes are known, PSAC members at Table 1 and 3 remain in a strike position.     Given that the Table 1 and Table 3 negotiating teams are rejecting the employer's final offer, it is certain that job actions will be undertaken at Table 1 and Table 3.     These job actions may include work to rule and strategic strike action.     Strike action will be taken at the other tables if the employers engage in punitive actions in the workplace.

When will the No Campaign begin and when will we be able to have more information about the pros and cons of voting No.

The main reason for voting No is because the employer's offer is not acceptable at Table 1 and Table 3.     Your negotiating team and the union leadership unanimously recommend the rejection of these two offers.     Further information will be available when the No campaign is fully underway.