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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                            May 23, 2002

OTTAWA - Several days of intensive negotiations have averted a summer strike at national parks across the country as a result of the tentative agreement the Public Service Alliance of Canada has reached with the Parks Canada Agency.

"The negotiation of this first collective agreement with Parks Canada is an important victory for the members of this bargaining unit," says PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President (Atlantic) Tony White. "The Agency had been demanding rollbacks which would have cost our members an average of $1,200. Our members rallied behind the negotiating team and gave us a very strong strike mandate. That mandate allowed us not only to turn back all of the Agency’s rollbacks but to achieve some significant breakthroughs for our members."

According to PSAC National Component President Ed Cashman, "we have obtained some significant improvements for term employees including a unique vacation leave provision. Any service a term employee has in consecutive years will be credited as a full year of service for the purpose of calculating vacation leave entitlement. Term employees will also now have be able to earn salary increments."

"In another breakthrough, for the first time in 30 years canal workers will be able to earn overtime on the same basis as other employees when working during the off-season and will receive call-back pay on the same basis as other employees," says PSAC Union of Canadian Transportation Employees President Mike Wing.

Highlights of the tentative agreement include the following.

- All classifications will achieve economic increases totaling 8.7% over the life of the agreement, including pay harmonization for a number of groups matching rates negotiated at Treasury Board.

- Regional rates of pay zones for General Labour and Trades (GL) and General Services (GS) employees reduced from seven to two effective August 5, 2000. One zone will include Alberta, B.C. and the North and the second zone will cover all provinces east of Alberta. GL and GS members are also eligible to receive a lump-sum of up to $1,000, minus any benefits as a result of the reduction in zones.

- Improvements in vacation leave, family-related responsibility leave and leave without pay to care for immediate family to match Treasury Board conditions including one new day of personal leave and one day of volunteer leave. Employees who work less than five months will receive the one day of personal leave.

- A commitment from the Agency to market their surplus employees elsewhere in the federal public service if it cannot provide a guarantee of a reasonable job offer.

"We acknowledge and thank the many community representatives, tourism associations and local businesses who expressed their support over the last few months," says White. We’re committed to the future of our national parks and historic sites and this new agreement will allow us to continue to do provide the necessary support and service."

The tentative agreement has an expiry date of August 4, 2003 and covers approximately 5,000 Parks Canada employees including park wardens, gate attendants, historical researchers, administrative support staff, trades people, maintenance workers and canal operators.

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For information:

Tony White, regional executive vice-president, PSAC, (902) 445-0925
Ed Cashman, president, PSAC National Component, (613) 560-4301
Mike Wing, president, PSAC UCTE, (613) 238-4003

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