FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          November 10, 2000

Ottawa - "After 15 days of bargaining, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) will be conducting a strike vote among its members at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA)," declared PSAC National President Nycole Turmel.

"Both parties had agreed to set aside three weeks for serious bargaining with the goal of reaching an early settlement," said Turmel. "Our negotiating team expected intense negotiations. However, while some progress was made, the Agency’s team came to the table without a serious mandate to bargain on key issues. They walked away from talks late Thursday without putting forward substantive offers on these issues."

"The talks have broken down over a number of major issues," said Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) National President Betty Bannon. "The parties have not been able to agree on job security protection. The present employment guarantee, which was put in place when the Agency was created, runs out on October 31, 2001. So far, the employer hasn’t shown any willingness to amend its Workforce Adjustment Directive to provide satisfactory protection for our members."

"We’re also fighting for job security for our term members," according to Serge Charette, Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise national president. "At this time, at least one-quarter of our CCRA members - 7,600 employees - are term employees. Many have worked repeatedly over the years. We want the abuse of term employees to stop and have proposed that term employees become permanent after they have worked for a certain period of time - a proposal the employer has rejected."

Other issues in dispute include economic increases. The CCRA’s wage offer is considerably less than has been agreed to with other unionized workers at the Agency.

In addition, PSAC members who are classified as general services and general labour and trades workers at the Agency have their wage rates determined on the basis of their geographic location. There are 338 employees in this situation, barely 1% of the PSAC bargaining unit at CCRA. While all other employees are paid the same rate of pay for their classification, regardless of where they work, the employer continues to discriminate against this group of employees by refusing to eliminate the regional rates of pay.

The PSAC represents 30,000 employees at the CCRA. The collective agreement expired October 31, 2000.

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For more information:

Betty Bannon, Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) national president, (613) 235-6704
Serge Charette, Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise (CEUDA) national president,
(613) 723-8008, ext. 304

59-101100