PSAC BARGAINING CONFERENCE
OTTAWA – FEBRUARY 13 – 16, 2014
Robyn Benson, National President, opened the conference with the message that in this round of
bargaining there would be no concession bargaining.
A presentation was done on the Bill C-4 amendments to the collective bargaining process. NOTE: The
new law has not yet been interpreted by the courts. The highlights of the changes are:
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The employer must provide notice to the Union of essential service designations prior to
December 12, 2014. Consultation periods follow.
As a collective agreement was in force and no notice to bargain had been filed on or before
December 12, 2013 the former Act applies. Notice to bargain must be given within 4 months
before June 20, 2014. Bargaining must commence within 20 days unless otherwise agreed.
Handout listing the collective bargaining process can be found at the end of this document.
Next, a presentation was done on the Canadian Labour Code changes. This affects 1.2 million
employees in federally regulated sites. There is a reduced definition of danger and what constitutes
dangerous work. There is a new definition of imminent or serious threat to the worker’s health. The
changes remove all references to Health and Safety Officers. It is now the responsibility of the Minister
or someone the Minister deems qualified. The work refusal process has also changed. If the employer
disagrees, the Minister can step in. If it is the Minister’s opinion that the work refusal is trivial, vexatious
or bad faith, the Minister can refuse to investigate. There are no appeal rights.
Next followed a presentation on sick leave. The federal budget contained two references to sick leave.
On page 251 there is mention of managing compensation costs. On page 252 there is a mention that
the government will implement a disability and sick leave management system. This system is to be in
place by July 2016. The contractor process will commence in 2014 for short and long term sick leave.
For Treasury Board employees there will now be workplace wellness and productivity management.
This raises a question of generational fairness with an aging workforce. Banked sick leave is seen as a
deficit. This is contrary to the Parliamentary Budget Officer report on sick leave which can be found at
the following link: http://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/files/files/Sick%20Leave%20EN.pdf.
The Union of Postal Communication Employees (UPCE) now has both short term and long term sick
leave. The sick leave is managed by Great West Life/Morneau Chapelle. They receive 70% of their pay if
they are totally disabled/following doctor’s orders. Medical information is sent to Great West Life. If
their claim is rejected, then they can appeal at the first level. If rejected again, they can appeal at the
second level. There is also a third level of appeal. Representation is available at all levels.
Jeannie Baldwin, REVP Atlantic gave a presentation on Work Force Adjustment. In April 2012 there wree
207 official WFA notices. There were a total of 22,769 affected PSAC members. The PSAC won an
alternation policy grievance. WFA remains a strong issue in collective bargaining.
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The top 10 bargaining priorities were identified by the PA delegates. They are not to be released to the
membership until after bargaining commences. Therefore, I will not identify the priorities in this report.
I can report on the CEIU bargaining demands for the PA table.
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43% were in relation to leave
1% on employment security (this includes the WFA provisions)
1% on pensions and benefits
3% on Health and Safety
7% on hours of work
7% on no discrimination
0% on classification and job descriptions
9% on working conditions
The number one priority in bargaining will be to retain all our sick leave provisions and this was a
sentiment echoed by Sister Robyn Benson.
A noon time rally was held in Tunneys Pasture at the Statistics Canada office where the SSO members
are currently in the bargaining process. Five buses of delegates gathered at the location and showed
tremendous support for our fellow PSAC members.
On the third day of the conference there were mobilization workshops. First there were member
mobilization workshops which identified challenges and barriers to member mobilization. The issues
identified in the workshops were recorded for PSAC mobilization exercises.
In the afternoon, a regional mobilization workshop was chaired by Sister Marianne Hladun of the Prairie
Region Council. Prairies delegates were asked what the Region council could do to support those
activities. Some key mobilization strategies were:
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Membership meetings
How do we inform and engage our members?
Education initiatives
Working with our allies
Building public support
How do we know if a membership meeting has been successful?
The last day of the conference opened with a panel entitled: Our Bargaining Power. Paul Moist, CUPE
National President mentioned that he represented 629,00 members who had passed a motion in
complete support of the PSAC.
Hassan Yussuf, Secretary/Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress confirmed the CLC’s support of the
PSAC as well.
Debi Daviau, National President PIPS advised that PIPS had signed a solidarity statement with PSAC.
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Sam Hammond, National President of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario spoke about their
struggle and their strike involving the Dalton McGinty government. As a result of their actions, the
government lost power and some of their repressive labour laws were repealed.
Sister Robyn Benson advised that 17 unions have signed a solidarity pact with the PSAC. She also
indicated that all 1,000 bargaining demands would be delivered to Treasury Board once bargaining
commenced.
Dominic Lavoie next presented information on electronic voting. As a result of a 2012 PSAC resolution
on electronic voting, there will be an electronic voting pilot with CFIA members. A tentative agreement
was reached February 6, 2014. There will be electronic votes and electronic town hall meetings rather
than the traditional town hall meetings. The Collective Bargaining Committee of the National Board of
Directors will conduct an analysis of the pilot initiative and trigger a review of Regulation 15 and its
administrative guidelines.
Elections were held for the 9 bargaining committee members and 3 alternate members. The Alliance
Executive Committee has the right to up to 2 delegates should equity and geographic representation not
be present at the bargaining table.
Bargaining team members are:
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Geoff Ryan
Nathalie Paulin (CEIU)
Kelly Bush
Stephane Allard
Louise Blouin
Tracy Cochrane
Toufic El Daher
Kate Hart
Alternates:
1. Sargy Chima (CEIU)
2. Tony Nicholas (CEIU)
3. Yvon Barriere
Note: Elections were lengthy and I had to leave after the 8th member was elected due to flight schedule.
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