Treasury Board Bargaining
Message to TC Members from your Bargaining Team
October 4, 2010
The Public Service Alliance of Canada was invited by Treasury Board to participate in exploratory talks to see whether agreements could be reached well in advance of the expiration of current collective agreements. The TC bargaining team accepted the invitation and met with the employer for the first time on September 22, 2010. The bargaining team clearly indicated to the employer that these talks were an opportunity to address long standing pay disparities, captive time and pre-retirement leave.
From the outset, Treasury Board indicated that the loss of all future severance accrual for purposes of retirement and resignation must be part of any final settlement. In addition, at the TC table, the employer continued to seek additional concessions, such as changes to the statement of duties language which would prevent members from grieving job descriptions and classification.
Unfortunately, over the two weeks of bargaining, the employer did not signal a willingness to seriously address any of the long standing issues of the TC group. The team felt that significant gains for all members of the bargaining unit had to be achieved in order to reach a tentative agreement given the concessions on the table.
Treasury Board has stubbornly refused to acknowledge any real pay problems with the TC group, including recruiting and retention issues, and would not propose anything substantive to address the key issues presented by the union.
This, despite the fact a pay study from the last round of bargaining found wage gaps averaging 5%, when comparing the TC group to other jobs in the public and private sectors.
As a result, we did not reach an agreement. TC members deserve better. The contract expires in June, 2011. The union will proceed with the regular bargaining process when it serves notice to bargain in February 2011. We are determined to get the concerns of TC members addressed in the upcoming formal round of bargaining.
Date Modified : 2010/10/04
