87,000 PSAC members
have new collective agreements

Notes from the PSAC Press Conference November 6^th, 2001 
(read the press release)

Nycole Turmel and John Gordon

Thank you for coming to our press conference .

The overwhelming majority of our 87,000 members employed directly by the government of Canada were on strike for a minimum of five days in August and September of this year. Our members were out in record numbers on picket lines and in the streets in every community across the country.

Throughout the strike, the Government improved its offers at all four negotiating tables as a direct result of the strike activity and workplace actions of PSAC members.

Our strike was suspended within one hour of the attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11^th, and many of our members put down their picket signs and immediately returned to work. Others returned to work the next day.

Informal discussions that had started on September 10^th resumed formally on September 11^th, and resulted in the package that I presented to the negotiating teams, and that they ultimately presented to the membership for a vote. I am convinced this was the right decision and that it was time for a membership vote.

Despite the inadequacy of the general economic increase, the overwhelming majority of our members have ratified new collective agreements that will be in place until the summer of 2003.

64,000 of our 87,000 Treasury Board members voted. This is the largest voter turnout that we have ever achieved for these bargaining groups. This clearly indicates that our members are informed and understand the importance of collective bargaining and union involvement.

In every region, a majority of PSAC members voted yes to collective agreements that put 114 million dollars more in their pockets than the government had been prepared to offer before September 10^th.

• 80% of our members at Table 1 – the Programme and Administrative Services Group voted in favour of the new collective agreement;
• 83% of our members at Table 2 – the Operational Services Group – voted in favour;
• 79% of our members at Table 3 – the Technical Services Groups – voted in favour;
• 87% of our members at Table 5 – the Education and Library Science Group – voted in favour

The agreements provide our members with stability in an unstable world.

The agreements also provide the government and the people of Canada with stability in an unstable world.

Members in all four groups will receive economic increases of 3.2%, 2.8% and 2.5% in each year respectively of the three-year agreements. Other wage and benefit adjustments include:

• an average additional increase of 1.7% as a result of the harmonization of rates of pay for Table 1 members in the Administrative Services (AS), Programme Administration (PM) and Information Services (IS) groups;
• two additional salary increments for members in the Welfare Programmes Group (Table 1);
• a reduction to three pay zones for Operational Services Group (Table 2) members still receiving regional rates of pay, retroactive to the first day of the agreement;
• a signing bonus of up to $1000 for Table 2 members depending on how they are affected by the reduction in regional pay zones;
• new captive time provisions affecting members who travel;
• a special allowance of $2,000 paid to fisheries officers this year and next which has been made pensionable; and
• an improved Lay Day factor so that Ships’ Crews members no longer have to use vacation leave in order to earn a full year’s pay.

While these agreements are a good start, more needs to be done to improve morale and working conditions in the federal workplace.

The agreements provide two opportunities for the PSAC and Treasury Board to do just that. We are committed to improving the employment security and working conditions of term employees through a joint study that will document their situation and result in concrete recommendations for change.

We also plan to implement the 7 million dollar joint training program as quickly as possible to ensure that our members get training in areas such as labour-management relations, employment equity, the Universal Classification Standard, human rights and collective agreement interpretation.

Our members demonstrated their commitment to the people of Canada on September 11^th when they returned to work. Under the collective agreements, they will have an opportunity to dedicate one day per year to volunteer in their communities. This is a significant benefit for our members and a 14 million dollar contribution to communities, organizations and families across the country.