FOR IMMEDATE RELEASE                                                  March 20, 2000

Federal technical workers say 'yes'

to new collective agreement

OTTAWA …. The majority of the 8,600 public service technical workers voting on their new one-year collective agreement have voted in favour of the deal that provides for a 2% wage increase, a $750 lump sum payment, improvements in leave, the retention of terminable allowances, an Off-Pay Sub-Plan for Primary Products Inspectors (PI) at the Canadian Grain Commission, and a breakthrough on Captive Time and overtime rates for Sea Lampry Patrol, says Nycole Turmel, national executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

"There are significant breakthroughs in this collective agreement on issues that have been at the bargaining table for some time now," adds Turmel. "With what we have achieved during this round we can continue to build on in future rounds of bargaining."

Turmel says that some of the breakthroughs include:

• the provision for employees to be able to vary the way in which they take bereavement leave which recognizes that there are different cultural and religious practices related to bereavement among federal public service workers;
• the provision for employees to take up to one day with pay for a medical appointment for a dependent family member, up from the previous one-half day;
• a Letter of Understanding dealing with Captive Time for all affected members of the bargaining unit who are away from home for frequent or long periods of overnight stays. The Alliance and Treasury Board have agreed to establish a joint committee, comprised of equal representation, to meet within 30 days of the signing of the collective agreement to review the issue of Captive Time, travel requirements of bargaining unit members and if necessary, ways to alleviate any negative impact. The Committee will report their findings and, if applicable, their recommendations to the parties prior to the commencement of the next round of bargaining.

The Captive Time issue was dealt with in three ways: the study; the addition of one 10-minute station to station telephone call in addition to those provided in the travel directive; and, the provision that Industry Canada employees in the Technical Inspection bargaining unit who work on days of rest when away from their Headquarters area will be compensated at overtime rates.

• overtime rates for those PSAC members on Sea Lampry Patrol;
• four weeks and three days of vacation leave with pay after 17 years of service;
• a continuation of the Terminable Allowances for some 600 Technical Inspectors (TI) and, for 150 Primary Products Inspectors (PIs);
• an Off-Pay Sub-Plan for PI workers at the Canadian Grain Commission. While these are full-time indeterminate employees, they are subjected to temporary layoff. They will now receive a top-up to 70% of their weekly rate of pay. During the two-week waiting period for EI they will receive 35% of their regular weekly rate of pay.

Arrangements are currently under way to sign the new collective agreement which will expire on June 21, 2000.

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For information: Nycole Turmel, PSAC national executive vice-president (613) 560-4310

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