Statistical Survey Operations 

No. 4 May 24, 2005

Progress being made in negotiations with SSO

Both the Field Interviewer and Regional Office bargaining teams have now completed two sessions of negotiations with the employer.  We have made good progress, and the employer continues to be receptive to discussing issues of concern in the workplace, in addition to responding to our specific demands.  This bulletin outlines the progress we have made to date, and includes additional information which we would like to share with the members.

Please be sure to read the report for each group as there is considerable cross-over in bargaining.

Field Interviewers

In addition to tabling specific demands which include the language that we would like to see changed in the collective agreement, we indicated to the employer that there were several issues which we needed to discuss.  We began the second session of bargaining with these discussions.

After talking about technical difficulties that arise from time to time and which cause our members to lose hours that they would otherwise have expected to work, we tabled a specific demand for a down-time premium.

We also spent quite some time talking about what the employer means when you are asked to indicate your "availability".  What does it mean to be "available" in a quarter, a month, or even a week?  After these discussions, we tabled a letter of understanding which clarifies the meaning of "availability" to ensure that it is applied consistently throughout the workplace.

The employer also outlined its plans to implement the Continuous Learning Directive, something you may remember hearing about in the past.  You should all shortly be receiving a letter from the employer with more information, as talks at the bargaining table have led to some concrete dates for implementation.

Although there is no demand on the day of rest provision, confusion over how the clause is interpreted led to long discussions about the meaning of "required to work".  These discussions are not completed yet, but we will be putting out a bulletin specifically on this issue as soon as the matter has been fully resolved.

We also signed off on all articles that are to be renewed, which are those for which neither party had a demand.  Finally, we tabled specific demands on rates of pay and classification.

The next dates for bargaining for the Field Interviewers unit are: May 24, 25 and 26 and July 5, 6, and 7.

The team hopes to be able to conclude all of the non-monetary issues by the end of the July session.

Regional Office Interviewers

The Regional Office team also began their second session of bargaining by discussing issues for which no specific demands had been tabled.  Discussion of training issues led to the forthcoming letter from the employer on the Continuous Learning Directive, as previously mentioned in the Field Interviewers update. 

After signing off on the articles which will be subject to renewal, the employer presented its position on all of our non-monetary demands.  Very good progress was made over the three days of bargaining, and we should be well placed to move onto monetary issues at the next session.

The next dates for bargaining for the Regional Office Interviewers are: June 21, 22 and 23.

Electronic Data Collection and Job Security

One piece of information that we wanted to share with you concerns electronic data collection.  Many of you have questioned whether or not your work will be affected by electronic data collection (allowing respondents to complete interviews over the internet, thus reducing hours for interviewers).  The short answer is no.

Government On-Line has been giving subsidies to the SSO to develop applications for electronic data collection.  It was thought that many respondents would prefer to have this option, and that it would ultimately increase efficiency and lower costs.  The take-up rate, however, has been very low - from 9% to 30% of the small sub-sample offered this option.  Unless the take-up rate is considerably higher, there is no measurable cost-saving as the programs are very expensive to develop.

In addition, Electronic Data Collection is almost impossible to deploy in household surveys.  To date, there are no applications being developed for social surveys.

The 2001 trial suggested that only 7%-10% of respondents would use electronic reporting for the Census.  At best, the employer is hoping for 20%.  Note that only about 37% of Canadians use e-file for their tax returns, even though electronic filing is clearly to their advantage.

The bottom line is that Electronic Data Collection may "nibble at the edges" of your work, but it is not likely to have any significant impact anytime soon.

Of greater concern is the substitution of taxation data for survey data.  This is what led to the closing of the Montreal Office, and this is the greater threat to your hours of work.  There is very little we can do to prevent companies from using taxation data rather than survey data if this is a cheaper or more effective means of obtaining the information they require.  We can, however, make every attempt to protect your employment through stronger lay-off provisions, something which you can be assured is at the top of your bargaining team's list of priorities.

The next bulletin

We will prepare another bulletin following the next bargaining session, and hope that it continues to reflect what has thus far been a respectful, productive, and encouraging round of bargaining.

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