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UPDATED – Tentative agreement reached for PA table

A tentative agreement between PSAC and Treasury Board has been reached for the PA table, covering over 68,000 federal public service workers. The deal includes significant breakthroughs on “common issues,” such as sick leave and workforce adjustment, the details of which were hammered out by the common issues committee earlier this week.

“I am proud of our negotiating teams for standing strong during these two long, difficult years at the table. A deal for our largest group, as well as agreements on key common issues, is a significant victory,” said Robyn Benson, PSAC National President. “I am equally proud of our members for their strength and solidarity. It is because of them that our teams were able to prevent the concessions on sick leave that the employer had been pushing for.”

Common issues need to be implemented at all tables

The issues agreed to between the employer and the common issues committee, composed of members from all five Treasury Board tables, will need to be accepted by each specific table. PA is the first table to formally accept the work of the common issues committee, which covers sick leave and the workforce adjustment appendix.

Sick leave

  • The sick leave articles of our collective agreements will remain unchanged.
  • The parties have negotiated a Memorandum of Agreement to establish a Task Force to develop recommendations on measures to improve employee wellness and reintegration of employees.
  • Any future enhancements to the regime would need to be negotiated and agreed to by both parties.
  • PSAC’s four principles are included in the MOA: sick leave provisions will be contained in the collective agreement, provide for wage replacement, protect and grandfather sick leave banks, and will not be administered by a third-party provider. Any enhanced sick leave regime shall contain, at minimum, these four principles.

Workforce adjustment appendix

  • What we achieved represents the most significant improvements in workforce adjustment since it was first signed as an appendix into PSAC collective agreements in 1998.
  • Changes will reduce involuntary layoffs by allowing volunteers to come forward to leave the public service during times of workforce adjustment.
  • Employees will now have up to fifteen months to find an alternation match.
  • More union involvement, ensuring employees have the right to union representation during the process.
  • Limits to contracting out.
  • Improvements to the monetary provisions, including the education allowance and transition support measures.

Monetary gains

The agreement with the PA table contains significant improvements to monetary compensation for members. This includes a wage increase and allowances for certain occupations, such as compensation advisors and employees of Correctional Service of Canada. The total compensation for all PA members amounts to a minimum increase of five and a half percent over the four years of the collective agreement, plus a $650 signing bonus.

The wage increase is 1.25 per cent for each year, plus a point five percent (0.5%) market adjustment for 2016.

Helping workers meet family demands

It has been agreed that a committee will be established to look at childcare needs. Better family leave, including provisions for extended family, have also been negotiated.

Other notable gains

The PA team has achieved improvements to working conditions for members working in call centres.

This agreement has language recognizing gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination.

The Memorandum of Understanding that established the task force on Mental Health in the workplace is also contained in this agreement. The mandate of the task force includes identifying ways to reduce and eliminate the stigma associated with mental health issues, improving communication on mental health challenges in the workplace, and implementing the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace.  The MOU was agreed to earlier in the bargaining process, in 2015, and the task force has already been hard at work ever since.

Attachments:

PDF icon 20161217_barg_pa_ca_summary_table_bi.pdf

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International Migrants Day 

     

By Shirley Torres

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed December 18 as International Migrant’s day in December 4, 2000. We dedicate the day to all the workers in the world who left their countries due to several reasons but mainly due to economic reasons. These workers were willing to relocate to any part of the world where they could earn better wages in order to provide for their loved ones.  They unselfishly accepted the fact that they were going to be separated and live far away from their families in hopes for a better and a brighter future. But, would there really be a better and a brighter future ahead?

They are the migrant workers. They encounter a lot of hardship, sacrifices and  challenges. Most often, they find themselves in a country that they know very little or nothing about at all. They end up immersed in a culture totally different from theirs and it takes a lot of time and effort and before they are able to adjust. A language barrier leading to misunderstanding and miscommunication often exists and can create tension and stress right away.

Migrant workers are quite vulnerable as they do not know local employment laws that protect their rights as workers. Some employers take advantage of this leading to lower wage rates, limited access to health care benefit or services and exploitation as well as physical, sexual or emotional abuse.

In Canada, migrant workers work primarily in the service sector. While they are able to live and work legally in Canada, limited funding is available for them to access services (such as free English classes and settlement support) that would enable them to integrate more successfully in the community.

This topic about migrants is dear to my heart because I come from a developing country where, due to poverty, many leave their homes, their families and their loved ones behind to be in any part of the world that offers  better means and resources to support them.  It is too sad that instead of achieving what they were aiming for, some of their hardships and sacrifices ended in tragedy because they were exploited and taken advantage of.

Today, I pay tribute to the millions of migrants in the world for their courage, sacrifices and of course their valuable contribution to their community, their society, their countries and the world.

I would like to pay tribute and remember in a special way a wife, a mother a daughter – a migrant worker. I dedicate this day to her. Please allow me to share her story.

Flor Contemplacion was a 42 year old Filipina housekeeper convicted by a Singaporean court of killing another Filipina housekeeper and the three year old Singaporean son of her employer on May 4th, 1991. After she confessed to the murders, it was later claimed that she made the confession under duress.

She was executed by hanging in March, 1995.

Click here to read her heartbreaking story.

It has been twenty one years since this tragedy and there are still other similar stories to tell. Let us all work together to ensure the protection of migrants’ rights and dignity by putting an end to the discrimination against them. Let us also raise awareness of their valuable contributions.

Shirley Torres is the UNE’s Regional Human Rights Representative for the British Columbia and Yukon region.

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Call for Nominations – Alberta, NWT and Nunavut Position of Assistant Vice-President

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are requesting nominations to fill the vacant position of Second Assistant VicePresident –Alberta, NWT and Nunavut which will become vacant next month. Please share this message among members of your Local.

Any member in good standing in the Alberta, NWT and Nunavut region can put his or her name forward for consideration.

In order to nominate a candidate or second a nomination, you must have been an accredited delegate from the AB, NWT and Nunavut Region at our last convention and continue to be a member in good standing. The same applies to voting privileges.

A list of accredited delegates and nomination form is attached for your information.

Delegates’ contact information will be provided to candidates upon request.

The form can be returned by mail, fax or email to the attention of Ateau Zola no later than 4 p.m. eastern daylight time on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

900-150 Isabella Street
Ottawa, ON K1S 1V7
Fax: 613-560-4208
Email: ateau.zola@une-sen.org
Subject line: Nomination for Second Assistant Vice-President – AB, NWT and Nunavut.

Those who submit their names for nomination can send us a short biography (one page or less). This will be shared with voting delegates.

In Solidarity,
Doug Marshall,
National President

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Call for Nominations – Outside Canada Position of Second Assistant Vice-President

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are requesting nominations to fill the vacant position of Assistant Vice-President – Outside Canada. Please share this message among members of your Local.

Any member in good standing in the Outside Canada region can put his or her name forward for consideration.

In order to nominate a candidate or second a nomination, you must have been an accredited delegate from the Outside Canada Region at our last convention and continue to be a member in good standing. The same applies to voting privileges.

Please click here for the list of accredited delegates and nomination form.

Delegates’ contact information will be provided to candidates upon request.

The form can be returned by mail, fax or email to the attention of Ateau Zola no later than 4 p.m. eastern daylight time on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

900-150 Isabella Street
Ottawa, ON K1S 1V7
Fax: 613-560-4208
Email: ateau.zola@une-sen.org
Subject line: Nomination for Second Assistant Vice-President – Outside Canada region.

Those who submit their names for nomination can send us a short biography (one page or less). This will be shared with voting delegates.

In Solidarity,

Doug Marshall,
National President

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National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

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PSAC works to end violence against women

On this National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, PSAC renews our commitment to eliminate all forms of violence against women.

December 6 marks the anniversary of the Montréal Massacre, where 14 young women were killed at École Polytechnique on December 6, 1989.

PSAC is calling on the Government of Canada to establish a national action plan to end violence against women. Our union is also developing a domestic violence education training program, after members voted to make this happen at the 2015 Triennial National Convention.

Workplace accommodation needed

In December 2015, PSAC brought women together at a forum on domestic violence and the workplace where participants discussed:

•    Workplace accommodations and collective agreement language to help women experiencing domestic violence.
•    The potential for legal action and law reform.
•    The need to develop policies and programs to help end violence against women.

PSAC is also working to ensure that the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls remains a priority on the federal government agenda.

“The safety and dignity of all women and girls is a priority for our union,” said Robyn Benson, PSAC National President. “We are committed to ending violence against women. And until we get there, we will continue our work for increased support for survivors and better understanding of the impact of domestic violence on work and the workplace.”

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Online action calls on Minister Morneau to abandon Bill C-27

billc27

Bill C-27, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, is an attack on the retirement security of Canadians.

This bill will allow employers in the federal private sector and Crown Corporations to shift from good, defined benefit plans that provide secure and predictable pension benefits, into the much less secure form of target benefits. If passed, this bill would open the door to a disturbing trend of shifting all the risk of pension plans onto workers and retirees.

In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that defined benefit pension plans that workers and retirees have already paid into should not be retroactively changed into target benefit plans. Yet, this is exactly what Bill C-27 will do.

Send a letter to Minister

PSAC has always stood for retirement security and opposed any move to eliminate defined benefit (DB) pension plans. We urge our members to send a letter to Finance Minister Bill Morneau to tell him and the Liberal government to abandon Bill C-27.

Source: www.psacunion.com

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Update on Treasury Board bargaining: Dates with mediator

 tbbargupdate

The Common Issues committee and PA bargaining team will resume negotiations with Treasury Board, with the assistance of a mediator, the week of December 12.

PSAC and the Employer returned to extended negotiations from November 1-9, after the Liberal government promised to bring a new mandate to the table.

At the end of that bargaining session, PSAC proposed continuing discussions with the assistance of a mediator. The government has since agreed to this.

More information will be provided once it becomes available.

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PSAC Scholarships advance education opportunities

scholarships

Each year, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Union of National Employees (UNE) award various scholarships. Below is a list of this year’s PSAC winners. The UNE wishes to convey its congratulations to all winners for your accomplishments, and good luck with your studies. For more information on UNE scholarships and bursaries, please visit http://en.une-sen.org/what_we_do/hea.php.

PSAC 2016 Scholarship Winners:

National Awards

Charles-Antoine Barbeau-Meunier – $4,000 AGR-PSAC

Charles-Antoine resides in Sherbrooke, Quebec and is the son of Gisèle Barbeau from Union of National Employees, Local 10021.

Maxime Robinson – $4,000 Coughlin-PSAC

Maxime is from Gatineau, Quebec and his father, Paul Robinson, is a member of the Union of National Employees, Local 70130.

Julia Gaspar – $3,000 AGR-PSAC

Julia is from Dartmouth, Nova-Scotia and her mother, Helen Gaspar, is a member of the Union of National Employees, Local 80178.

Samantha Breckenridge – $3,000 Coughlin-PSAC

Samantha resides in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and her mother, Michelle Gola, is a member of Union of National Employees, Local 40195.

Members’ Awards

Patrick Thomson – $2,000 PSAC Members’

Patrick lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Union of National Employees, Local 40107.

Maude Éloïse Saulnier – $1,000 National Capital Region

Maude Éloïse is from Gatineau, Québec. She is the daughter of David Cardinal, member of the Union of National Employees, Local 70027.

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Invisible Disabilities

dec3disabilities

By June Dale

“What’s it like to live with invisible disabilities?”
“You look tired, didn’t you get enough sleep last night?”
“Haven’t you finished reading that yet? Come on, keep up! I haven’t got all day.”
“You can’t open the jar, here, give it to me.”

Some days are better than others. I can move about freely and with a minimum amount of pain, while others face anxiety or depression.

Standing for what I would consider a long period of time causes my leg to become numb, then painful, then the swelling begins. How I would love to go to an outdoor concert and stand with the crowd to enjoy the music. Spending time in big crowds causes some individuals an increase in anxiety. They would love to go to that party on Saturday night. Instead they will spend another Saturday night at home. People look at me as though everything is fine, when in fact I am in physical pain.

Then, of course, there is the medication. Too many for my liking, but that is what I need sometimes to get through the day. If I forget to take them at the right time, the repercussions are interesting. My face starts to hurt. My vision becomes blurry. My thought processes become foggy. I always have a dosage ready, stored in my bag or my desk drawer.

Some people “look” like the rest of the population. No one would ever know that the individual has a disability because it it’s invisible. The individual may have a hard time reading or performing simple calculations and tasks for daily living. Tasks such as typing or writing a document could be a painful and exhausting experience. It may be that the individual is straining to hear the conversation around them, or the voices are so loud it hurts to listen to others.

In this day and age of adaptive technology, many can function in a world where the majority can do daily tasks. However, some places do not have this technology and those who experience invisible disabilities struggle in their own way, day-to-day.

I once read a story about spoons. It is called the Spoon Theory. It resonated with me.
Today is a good day for me. My wish is that you have a good day as well.

June Dale is the Union of National Employees Human Rights Representative for the National Capital Region – Treasury Board.

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Alert: Collection agency calls on Phoenix payments not legitimate

phoenixcollection

PSAC members have told us that they are getting phone calls from third parties identifying themselves as collection agencies. The caller says they are collecting Phoenix payments on behalf of the government. These calls are not legitimate.

Government not using collection agencies

The government has confirmed they are not using collection agencies to collect payments related to Phoenix.

Contact your department

If you receive a call about monies owing due to Phoenix from a collection agency, contact your department or agency immediately. Do not make any arrangements to pay money to a third party.

Report it

Make sure to also report the call to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.