FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 18, 2001
Tentative agreement reached for workers at Canadian Food Inspection Agency
OTTAWA - The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) successfully concluded a tentative agreement today based on the April 9th unanimous Conciliation Board Report.
"During today’s talks attempts were made to secure an additional 4% increment for those CFIA members doing inspection work who were not included in the conciliation board’s recommendation," says Bob Kingston, National Executive Vice-President of the PSAC’s Agriculture Union and member of the negotiating team. "However, the employer informed us that this was an issue they were not prepared to deal with through bargaining," he says.
Kingston adds that this round of bargaining was an opportunity for the CFIA Executive to restore a sense of trust between them and the workers. "Unfortunately, this was not achieved. The challenge will be for the CFIA to find ways to improve the morale in the workplace."
The tentative agreement for the 3,400 PSAC members includes:
an economic increase of 1.25% effective January 1, 2000, to all rates of pay;
a 2.5% increase effective July 1, 2000 and effective July 1, 2001 for an 18-month period an increase of 4% to all rates of pay or an annualized increased rate of 2.66%;
the restructuring of the Engineering and Scientific Support (EG) group with the addition of a new step added to all levels at the top effective June 1, 2001. Members who have been at the maximum of their pay range for 12-months or more would move to the new top step;
reduction in the Acting Pay qualification for all employees from 3 days to 2 days except for members in the General Labour and Trade (GL) and General Services (GS) groups, and EG-2 and EG-3 levels who perform inspection duties, who will receive Acting Pay after one day;
some minor changes in Pay Zones for GL and GS classifications. These changes do not affect members in the Atlantic or Quebec regions;
a $500 lump sum payment to all employees who were on strength on December 31, 1999 and who are on strength as of the date of ratification;
an increase in shift and weekend premiums to $1.60 on date of signing and to $1.75 on January 1, 2002;
other enhancements that will appear in the ratification kit.
The tentative agreement will now be sent to all PSAC members at the CFIA for ratification.
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For information:
Bob Kingston, NVP, PSAC Agriculture Union (613) 560-4306
22-180401