FOR IMMMEDIATE RELEASE                                              October 24, 2000

"This set of negotiations represents a complete break from the past," declares Nycole Turmel, PSAC National President, and a member of the PSAC CCRA negotiating team. "In its first round of negotiations as an Agency, the employer conducted most of its negotiations in Treasury Board style. Face-to-face negotiation meetings were short, delays between meetings were long, and little or no progress was made until the very end of the process."

"The union and management bargaining teams have committed themselves to three solid weeks of continuous negotiations, something unheard of with Treasury Board," says Betty Bannon, National President of the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), a component of the PSAC. "We’re also starting negotiations before the previous collective agreement has expired - another first."

"We believe this round of bargaining represents a positive break from the past and a different attitude on the part of management," according to Serge Charette, National President of the Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise (CEUDA) component of the PSAC. We hope that attitude persists throughout the bargaining process, and that management has a mandate to negotiate that keeps the faith with its ‘employer of choice’ slogan."

PSAC and Agency representatives exchanged their demands on October 17. Negotiations begin on October 24 and have been scheduled until November 10. The collective agreement with CCRA expires on October 31, 2000.

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For more information call:

Betty Bannon, national president, UTE, (613) 235-6704
Serge Charette, national president, CEUDA (613) 723-8008, ext. 304

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