Parks Canada negotiations slow down to a 'mere crawl'

They didn't think that the pace of negotiations with Parks Canada could move any slower but during the November 19 to 23 session, the PSAC team, to their surprise and disappointment, watched the pace move to a crawl. When negotiations commenced on November 19 the team had 11 articles with a proposal to renew the existing language. On November 23, at the end of the session, they still had the 11 articles outstanding, which included health and safety, dental plan, technological change, restriction on outside employment, purpose/scope of the collective agreement, and managerial responsibilities.

On the issue of bargaining proposals that would actually improve our members' working conditions, as opposed to simply holding on to what we have, the Agency refused to deal with them because 'the union's proposals would either infringe on their right to manage or cost money'. Simply put, the employer refuses to deal with any issue until we table our pay position. The normal collective bargaining process is to work through the non-monetary issues as far as possible and then discuss pay and monetary issues.

Our bargaining team invited the employer to present its pay position, or in other words to tell the union what management thinks our members are worth. Our invitation was declined. It would appear the Parks Canada Agency has entered into negotiations without a mandate on monetary issues.

The PSAC team made several minor movements, withdrawing certain proposals and modifying our position on several others. Agreement was reached on a merged maternity/parental leave article that improves the readability of the language while maintaining current entitlements. On the grievance procedure, our team proposed to incorporate Independent Third Party Review into the collective agreement in order to simply clarify the recourse options available to members. The employer refused, arguing that 'the collective agreement should not be an educational tool'!

The employer continues to refuse to match the new Treasury Board language on care and nurturing. They want the whole article to be subject to 'operational requirements' as determined by them. And, in addition, they won't agree to match the TB provision that now extends coverage for professional certification and registration fees to trades workers.

Negotiations were scheduled to resume the week of December 3.

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PSAC activist and community volunteer receives Order of St. John medal

PSAC member Debbie Kelly, in the company of Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, proudly displays the Order of St. John medal she received November 16 in recognition of her volunteer service with St. John's Ambulance in Halifax. Sister Kelly, a long-time union activist and member of PSAC Union of Solicitor General Employees Local 80002 (RCMP) Halifax, has been involved in the Halifax brigade since 1996. In 1997 she received the St. John Priority Vote of Thanks (PVOT) on behalf of the Queen from the Nova Scotia Lieutenant-Governor. At the November 16 ceremony held in Ottawa, Sister Kelly was made a Serving Sister of the Order and a Serving Sister of St. John's. As a volunteer for the Order she uses her vacation leave when called upon for concerts, rallies, hockey games or other such events. Congratulations Debbie on receiving this well-deserved medal.

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Canada Post members give bargaining team a strike mandate

PSAC members who work at Canada Post voted in favour of strike action, if necessary, to obtain a new collective agreement.

The vote results, released November 26, provided the bargaining team with a vote of confidence to continue to pressure Canada Post to address the members' priority issues and reach a fair and equitable agreement.

Conciliation resumed on November 27 with Conciliator Jacques Lessard at which time the PSAC Team continued to push for improvements to the members' terms and conditions of employment, including staffing. During this session, the team received the employer's response to our demands on 'no contracting-out'. To the disappointment of the team, the employer said it was not willing to move on Article 7 - Work in the Bargaining Unit.

As Article 7 was a priority demand, the Team felt it was necessary to request the conciliation officer to 'book out', declaring the parties to be at an impasse. However, Conciliator Lessard would not book out of the process as he felt there had not been a full discussion of the monetary issues.

"We have repeated many times that our members want protection of bargaining unit work, protection against contracting out of their work, and, improvements to their conditions of employment," said Luc Guevremont, president of the PSAC Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE). "In fact, we have seen a dramatic reduction of approximately 200 positions in the last three months. Furthermore, the employer's proposal for a new job evaluation plan would introduce inequity into the treatment of the various groups of workers," added Guevremont.

"At this point in time you have to question the way Canada Post treats it workers. During these current negotiations, Canada Post, by refusing our demands to improve employment security for our members, continues to provide evidence of a discriminatory attitude against this group. We do not feel the employer has the same respect for our members as shown towards other groups at Canada Post. Is this because we represent a membership that is composed of mainly women? I hope Canada Post management is more progressive than this, but, until now they have given us no proof to contradict our impressions," continued Guevremont.

As the Union Update went to press, conciliation talks were continuing in an attempt to reach a fair and equitable collective agreement. For further updates please check out the PSAC Canada Post website.

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PSAC Job Opportunities

Regional Representative - Moncton

Competition No. MC/38/01
Only applications from members residing in the Atlantic Provinces will be accepted.

50% Regional Office Secretary - Ottawa

Permanent employment
Competition No. MC/47/01
Only applications from members residing in the National Capital Region will be accepted.

Administrative Assistant/Secretary - Victoria

Term Assignment
Competition No. TMC/44/01

Regional Representative - Victoria

Term Assignment
Competition No. TMC/45/01
Preference in these Victoria competitions will be given to equity group members who self identify as: women, racially visible, Aboriginal, persons with Disabilities, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender. Only applications from members residing in the B.C. region will be accepted.

Regional Office Secretary - Vancouver

Term Assignment
Competition TMC/46/01
Only applications from members residing in the B.C. region will be accepted.

Deadline for applications, giving PSAC membership number, is 3:30 p.m., January 11, 2002. For complete job postings please visit http://www.psac.com/hr-rh/careers-carrieres/ejobs.asp or contact PSAC Human Resources at (513) 560-4200, or via email at careers@psac.com

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Membership mobilization at Nav Canada gets under way

On November 19 and 20 during conciliation meetings with Conciliation Officer Ron Kervin, Nav Canada once again reiterated its position of freezing the current collective agreement until August 31, 2002. And, once again, the PSAC team responded negatively to such an extension.

However, both parties agreed to extend the conciliator's mandate until February 28, 2002, to allow Nav Canada time to provide more information on the impact of the events of September 11 on its operations. Nav Canada had no factual information to provide to the PSAC Team beyond what happened between September 11 and November 19. They rely only on speculation regarding the economic future of the company in this new context. Meetings with the conciliation officer are scheduled for February 18 to 21.

In the meantime, support for your negotiating team is essential if you want Nav Canada to understand that you won't accept a contract that will further widen the gap between Nav Canada members and Treasury Board members. Stickers have been distributed and you are encouraged to wear them to visibly express your support of the bargaining team. In addition, watch and be ready to participate in the job actions that will be organized through your Local. Check out the PSAC Nav Canada Web site for further bargaining updates.

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Bargaining Update

Bargaining to commence with Royal Canadian Mint

Bargaining demands on behalf of PSAC members at the Royal Canadian Mint will be exchanged with the employer on December 11 and 12. Further negotiation sessions will be scheduled for February. The current collective agreement expires on December 31, 2001.

Bargaining notice served for OSFI

Notice to Bargain for the upcoming round of negotiations on behalf of PSAC members at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions was served November 14. The current collective agreement expires on December 31, 2001.

Input call for Office of the Auditor General units

The input call for bargaining proposals for the upcoming round of negotiations for the Audit and Professional and Audit Services Units at the Office of the Auditor General was issued November 14. The deadline for input is December 31, 2001. The current collective agreement expires on March 31, 2002.

Negotiations continue for members at the Senate

Negotiations on behalf of PSAC members in the Operational Group at the Senate of Canada continued November 27 to 29 and resumed again the week of December 3.

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Support for EI workers unanimous at Nova Scotia convention

An emergency resolution demanding that Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) hire sufficient staff to process Employment Insurance (EI) claims in a timely manner was passed unanimously at the October 23-26 Nova Scotia Federation of Labour Convention.

The resolution was a direct result of comments made publicly by the HRDC Manager for Nova Scotia wherein he suggested that EI claimants should wait until at least nine weeks after filing for benefits to call and check on their claims and, if they run out of money, they should go on welfare. He also blamed seasonal layoffs and the recent PSAC work stoppage for these delays. The resolution provided PSAC members attending the convention as delegates, an opportunity to talk about some of the difficulties they face in dealing with their employer as well as their frustrating efforts with the government's collective bargaining process. To support the constant roadblocks they face they passed out "Forced Labour" pins.

Another issue of interest to PSAC members debated during the convention was the government's Anti-Terrorism Bill. Due to the feeling that Bill C-36 is a potential attack on the rights of all Canadians, direction was given to the Canadian Labour Congress to lobby for amendments to the Bill.

The PSAC was represented by Debbie Kelly, General Vice-President representing the PSAC on the Federation Executive, Union of Solicitor General Employees; Ken Hale, General VP representing the PSAC on the Federation Executive, Natural Resources Union; Alice Neely, Union of National Defence Employees; Mark Rogers, Agriculture Union; Dave Shaw, Union of Taxation Employees; Gary Bannister, PSAC regional representative; Nancy MacLean, Assistant to the PSAC REVP, Atlantic. During the elections Sister Kelly and Brother Hale were re-elected to their respective positions on the Federation Executive.

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The new collective agreements for Tables 1, 2, 3 and 5 were signed November 19.

For more information visit the PSAC Treasury Board Web site.