Following up on their meeting in December 2021, the Parks Canada team met to prioritize their outstanding issues, including constraining the employer’s right to demand medical certificates, and parity between park wardens and other enforcement officers in the federal public sector.
With seasonal and term employees making up almost half of Parks Canada’s workforce, job security and precarious work remain areas of serious concern, alongside harassment and discrimination, acting pay, Indigenous language allowances, vacation leave, parental leave, workplace accommodation and equity.
The team will meet one more time to finalize their proposals before entering a new round of bargaining March 1, 2022.
Show your support and solidarity for your bargaining team by downloading our electronic bargaining materials. Use your group’s video background during your virtual work meetings, update your profile photo with the social media frame, and print a poster for your work area.
To ensure that you receive all the latest updates about Parks Canada bargaining as we negotiate your next contract, verify that your contact information is up to date via the member portal.
The Parks Canada bargaining team met to prioritize the bargaining issues that will drive the next round of bargaining with the employer November 29 to December 1.
Alongside growing concerns about job security and precarious work, the team discussed the importance of getting Parks Canada representation on the National Joint Council and the Joint Learning Program.
Many crucial issues, like harassment and discrimination, acting pay, Indigenous language allowances, vacation leave, parental leave, workplace accommodation and equity were also addressed.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Parks Canada members redoubled their efforts to ensure that the public had safe access to the country’s national parks, canals, marine areas and national historic sites. The pandemic required unprecedented restrictions on indoor gatherings, making nature and protected places even more important for physical and mental health. Despite the crucial role that members have had throughout this pandemic, seasonal and term employees make up almost half of Parks Canada’s workforce.
The team is set to meet again in January to finalize the package of proposals they will present to the employer in early 2022.
Please be sure to keep your contact information up to date through our member login to receive all the latest updates about Parks Canada bargaining.
Passion and commitment were on the agenda at the Parks Canada Agency’s National Virtual Bargaining Conference, held from May 31 to June 2. Delegates from the Union of National Employees (UNE) and the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE) came out of the conference more united than ever after electing their bargaining team and setting priorities for the new round of talks starting this summer.
Meet the Parks Canada Agency bargaining team:
Nicolas Angers
Alisha Campbell
Angela Decker
Birch Howard
Kassandra McKinnon
Omar Murray
Daniel Toutant
Jaison Van Tine
Alternates
Réginald Bernatchez
André Miller
Denis St-Onge
The bargaining team will be supported by the following PSAC staff:
John Eustace, negotiator
Djimy Theodore, researcher
Parks Canada Agency members proudly work to offer Canadians the best outdoor experience. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected their work, but they stepped up to guarantee safe access to green spaces across the country. Their essential work in these uncertain times ensured that everyone could keep connecting with Canada’s rich natural and cultural heritage.
At the bargaining conference, members outlined the impact of the pandemic on their work and proposed solutions to improve their working conditions, all of which must be addressed with the agency.
Here is an overview of the key issues discussed at the conference:
Job security
In an agency where seasonal and student jobs are common, achieving job security is a top priority. Under the current system, precarious employment creates a lot of stress and is detrimental to mental health.
PSAC is committed to opposing all forms of precarious employment and ensure that all members have access to indeterminate employment.
Fair wages
We must secure wage increases that reflect the rising cost of living as well as our members’ skills, professionalism and dedication.
Many members have also experienced a widening wage gap compared to their private-sector counterparts. We need wage adjustments that keep up with the wages of those doing similar work both within and outside the federal public service.
Remote work
We believe that provisions governing remote work will be most effective if negotiated into collective agreements.
We must also ensure that remote work is free from remote surveillance and unreasonable performance expectations, that employers cover associated expenses and that concerns relating to accommodations, ergonomics and health and safety are addressed.
Contracting out and privatization
Contracting out and privatization of public services increase costs and risk to taxpayers, reduce the quality of services, erode the internal capacity of the public service, create precarious work, and undermine initiatives that address pay equity and systemic racism.
We must tackle the alarming increase in contracting out of government work, including through temporary staffing agencies.
Work-life balance
We must also expand leave provisions (e.g. 699 leave, family-responsibilities leave and sick leave) to improve work-life balance, which is especially critical for women, caregivers and those with disabilities.
We also need to negotiate flexible work options that allow members to shape their workday to match their personal and family responsibilities.
Violence and harassment
Workplace violence and harassment are a health and safety issue that can have severe physical and psychological consequences for members.
We need to build robust mechanisms to tackle these issues, such as mandatory training and support for members.
Languages rights
Our membership at Parks Canada includes many Indigenous members and several parks are located on traditional Indigenous territories.
In recognition of this, it’s necessary to decolonize our collective agreement. We want the agency to formally recognize Indigenous languages and provide an allowance to members who work in their Indigenous language.
Next steps
Over the next few months, the Parks Canada Agency bargaining team will meet to discuss the bargaining issues prioritized at the National Bargaining Conference and work on a final package of bargaining demands that will be exchanged with the employer.
Make sure to keep your contact information up to date via the member portal to receive all the latest updates as we prepare to negotiate your next contract.
The Parks Canada Agency has announced the payment schedule for the implementation of monetary provisions in the recently signed collective agreement.
Signature
Economic increase and adjustments paycheque date
Retro paycheque
$500 lump sum paycheque
Parks Canada Workers
January 14, 2021
April 14, 2021
May 12, 2021
May 26, 2021
This schedule is tentative, and Parks Canada may still make changes. Note that Phoenix damages payments were made on March 3.
Please keep your contact information up to date via the member portal to continue receiving information about the implementation of collective agreements and the Phoenix settlement.
Help us prepare for the next round of bargaining
PSAC is getting ready to negotiate your next collective agreement with Parks Canada. This next round of talks will be all about the future of work in the federal public service and you can help decide what your union bargaining team brings to the table by completing our member survey.
Please take 15 minutes to fill out the Parks Canada survey to make sure we address your workplace concerns at the table. Your input is essential. We need to hear directly from you about what has changed over the last year. And we need to know more about you so that we can make the case for a contract that equitably addresses our members’ diverse needs. The survey will be open until April 9, 2021.
The pandemic has radically changed the way many PSAC members work. We have experienced the challenges of working remotely from home or having to work onsite with new protection measures; the impact of technological changes; the effect of an uncertain economy on job security; and the major inequalities that remain for women, racialized workers, and many other marginalized groups. These are some of the key issues that can be addressed in the next round of bargaining that begins this summer.
This next round of talks will be all about the future of work in the federal public service and you can help decide what your union bargaining team brings to the table by completing our member surveys.
Take 15 minutes to fill out our Parks Canada survey or CFIA survey to make sure we address your workplace concerns at the table. Your input is essential. We need to hear directly from you about what has changed over the last year. And we need to know more about you so that we can make the case for a contract that equitably addresses our members’ diverse needs.
Your participation in the Parks Canada survey or CFIA survey and the broader bargaining process is key to our success in the next round of talks.
Your component union and PSAC will review your proposals and they, along with the survey’s results, will be discussed at a bargaining conference of member delegates from across the country who will decide the bargaining priorities.
The current collective agreements expire on the following dates:
Parks: August 4, 2021 CFIA: December 31, 2021
Please keep your contact information up to date via the member portal to receive more updates as we prepare to negotiate your next contract.
The Parks Canada agreement expires on August 4, 2021. It is time for you to submit bargaining demands, as part of the 2021 round of negotiations for the Parks Canada Agency.
How can I submit Demands?
Locals should schedule a membership meeting to discuss their priorities and proposed bargaining demands.
Once bargaining demands are agreed upon, members are encouraged to submit their bargaining input by completing the PSAC online form.
KEY DATES
Deadline to submit bargaining demands: March 12, 2021
Deadline to submit your application to be a delegate at the virtual National Bargaining Conference: March 26, 2021
Virtual National Bargaining Conference: May 31 to June 2, 2021
The new collective agreement between PSAC and Parks Canada Agency was signed late last week. The deal was ratified by Parks members on November 4. The new collective agreement gives over 6,000 Parks workers a competitive economic increase, greater parity with the core public service, no concessions, and improved working conditions and job security.
Implementation period begins
The formal signing of the agreement means new contract terms are now in effect, with the exception of monetary provisions which are retroactive. Parks Canada has 180 days to implement wage increases, wage adjustments and allowances.
As explained in the contract ratification kit, in view of this extended implementation timeline, PSAC negotiated a $500 lump sum payment for members into these new contracts. An additional $50 will be added for every subsequent 90-day delay.
Please keep your contact information up to date via the member portal to continue receiving information about implementation of collective agreements and the Phoenix settlement.
Treasury Board has provided PSAC with a letter from CRA setting out its preliminary view that the general damages in the Phoenix settlement agreement are taxable. This letter, which was prepared at Treasury Board’s request and without PSAC’s input, is not a formal tax ruling and PSAC is contesting this conclusion.
PSAC maintains that general damages paid to all employees for “stress, aggravation, and pain and suffering” and for the late implementation of collective agreements are non-taxable, as CRA has acknowledged other specific damages in the settlement should be treated.
We carefully negotiated an agreement that reflects a wide range of impacts suffered by PSAC members, including the significant emotional toll that the implementation of the Phoenix Pay System had on them. The tax treatment of the general damages should reflect the purpose of that compensation. The letter from CRA contains numerous critical factual errors and misapplies the relevant income tax principles on this issue.
We have communicated with both Treasury Board and the CRA about our concerns and will continue to work to resolve these issues. Our goal is to ensure PSAC members receive the full compensation they deserve and that we avoid any time consuming and complex tax disputes for individual members.
The resolution of these issues is of extreme importance to PSAC and we will continue to update members as we work to bring this to a conclusion. We will also update members as soon as we receive a projected timeline from Treasury Board as to when members can expect to receive their payments.
Treasury Board and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) have provided PSAC with a payment schedule for the implementation of monetary provisions now that the PA, EB, TC, SV and PSAC-UTE collective agreements have been signed.
Economic increase and adjustments pay cheque date
Retroactive pay cheque date
$500 lump sum (for late implementation) pay cheque date
$400 lump sum pay cheque date (only for UTE members)
PA
Nov. 25, 2020
Feb. 3, 2021
Apr. 14, 2021
TC
Dec. 23, 2020
Mar. 17, 2021
Apr. 14, 2021
SV
Dec. 23, 2020
Mar. 17, 2021
Apr. 28, 2021
EB
Feb. 17, 2021
Apr. 14, 2021
Apr. 28, 2021
UTE
Dec. 23, 2020
Spring 2021
Spring 2021
Dec. 23, 2020
This schedule is tentative and Treasury Board and CRA may still make changes.
Payment schedules for the Phoenix settlement have still not been finalized by Treasury Board and CRA. Please keep your contact information up to date via the member portal to continue receiving information about the implementation of collective agreements and the Phoenix settlement.
CFIA and Parks Canada units
PSAC is working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Parks Canada to finalize the text and pay grids of the new agreements – ratified in November – and expects to sign both new contracts shortly.
FB bargaining
The Border Services (FB) bargaining unit remains in talks with Treasury Board and the Canada Border Service Agency. Please check PSAC’s website for the latest developments.
PSAC members in the Parks Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) bargaining units have voted in favour of their respective tentative agreements. The two units represent over 10,000 federal public service workers who have gone above and beyond to support Canadians during this pandemic. PSAC has now concluded collective agreements for nearly 130,000 federal public service workers.
The new collective agreement for Parks covers the 2018-2021 period, while the new collective agreement for CFIA members covers the 2019-2021 period. All agreements provide for fair wages, no concessions and improved working conditions.
“I am proud of the elected members of our bargaining teams for their unwavering dedication during this round of talks,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC National President. “Thanks to their hard work and the solidarity shown by thousands of members across the country, we were able to negotiate a fair deal. We’re now in a strong position to build on these improvements in the next round of bargaining.”
Next Steps
In the coming weeks, PSAC will meet with Parks and CFIA representatives to sign the new collective agreements. With the exception of monetary provisions, which are retroactive, new contract terms come into effect on the date of signing.
Both employers have 180 days from the signing of the contracts to implement wage increases, wage adjustments and allowances. As explained in the ratification kits, in view of this extended implementation timeline, PSAC negotiated a $500 lump sum payment into all contracts.
PSAC will update members when contracts are signed. Please keep your contact information up to date via the member portal.
