Quick updates – Page 16

2015/04/072015/04/09

SSO arbitration decisions a significant victory

SSOMoreDetails

Finally, after three-and-a-half years, we received the arbitration awards for interviewers (belonging to the RO and FI classifications) who conduct surveys for Statistics Canada.

There are a number of significant victories in the decisions:

We achieved wage increases totaling 9.6% over the life of the contract, with full retroactivity – significantly more than what management had proposed in negotiations.
We achieved new protections and rights for employees in the context of work assignments.
We got new job security rights.
There are increases in premiums.
There is new language concerning AWW’s, with the parties directed to meet and negotiate further on the issue concerning the union’s proposals.

While we did not achieve everything we asked for, we made real progress in areas that our bargaining teams indicated were critical for this round of bargaining.

We won these because of the hard work and determination of our bargaining teams and the solidarity of PSAC members at SSO.

Since the fall of 2011, PSAC has been engaged in a fight with SSO to improve working conditions for interviewers and SIs at Statistics Canada.

We held months of negotiations with the employer
We organized information pickets at SSO workplaces across the country
We organized a rally held outside Stats Can headquarters in Ottawa.
We filed legal challenges, and had jurisdictional hearings at the Labour Board
We even took both the Labour Board and SSO to Federal Court.
And we got a member of Parliament to question the government about SSO’s refusal to negotiate a fair contract with us.

We should all be proud of the work we did to achieve these victories, despite it being a difficult and lengthy round of bargaining.

The next round will begin shortly, and given the position taken by the government with other PSAC bargaining units, we can also expect it to be tough. Now is the time for members to not only take the time to learn about and understand the rights provisions under our new contracts, but also to prepare for the coming round. We will provide a more detailed list of all the changes in the new collective agreements very soon.

Source: www.psacunion.ca

2015/03/222015/04/09

World Water Day – March 22

WaterDay

Last Friday, water rights were top of the agenda at the human rights committee meeting. Creative juices were flowing as the members around the boardroom table offered their ideas for a campaign aimed at promoting awareness of water as a human right.

During our 2014 convention, delegates voted in favour of a resolution to “fund the continuation of the water rights campaign adopted at the 2013 human rights conference.”

And when it comes to water, there are a ton of worrisome issues; there are countless communities in our own country who don’t have access to clean water, water is increasingly being privatized, major cities are seeing boil advisories…. And that doesn’t even include issues in the developing world.

“There was a lot of interest and discussion around the table,” said Geoff Ryan, national vice-president for human rights. “People felt very passionate about the issue; it’s a topic that’s very important to us.”

And for some, the issue hit particularly close to home. Jacqueline Nanali, who is a regional human rights representative in Manitoba, shared her experience with the boil advisory that affected all of Winnipeg, late last January.

“Everyone was running to the stores to pick up bottled water,” said Nanali. “Some chiefs, from nearby First Nations communities came back and said ‘well, this is what happens in our communities; this is how we live.’”

“I think it’s important for us to realize just how important water is. For me, losing basic access to water and having to boil water all day just for a simple glass of water to drink or a cup of tea… or just to brush my teeth; it really opened my eyes.”

The city of Winnipeg issued the boil advisory January 27 when the presence of E. coli was detected in the water supply; it was lifted 48 hours later. For two days, Winnipeggers were forced to boil water each time they needed to drink, cook meals, or make infant formula.

This incident garnered national attention from the media, but there are over a thousand boil advisories across Canada at this very moment. For many communities, what Winnipeg experienced is a daily reality.

After some fruitful discussions, the human rights committee members agreed that more light needs to be shed on how political decisions impact accessible clean water for Canadian communities. They dedicated a great portion of the day towards fleshing out a campaign.

“We’re very much in the beginning stages, but I’m excited to see what this will look like,” said Ryan. “We’re hoping to reach a broad swath of the Canadian public; I think many of the great ideas I heard around the table will help us accomplish just that.”

2015/03/052015/03/05

Parks Canada Bargaining Update

Members of the bargaining team for Parks Canada met with the agency last week, where they exchanged proposals. In an email to its employees, Parks Canada maintained that it is committed to “continue this open and constructive dialogue” with the union.

“We remain confident that, together, we will reach a renewed collective agreement that is fair and equitable to the Parks Canada team members and to Canadian taxpayers.”

In case you don’t speak Harper, this translates to “scrapping your current sick leave provisions”. The bargaining team categorically rejected that idea. In fact, they are determined to nix any proposals that would erode our rights and benefits under the collective agreement. As reported by the PSAC:

“Your bargaining team also rejected all of the Agency’s concessions and expressed our displeasure with what we feel is an unnecessary and unjustified attack on Seasonal members. For example, the Agency is proposing to extend the time period that disciplinary action stays on a Seasonal member’s record, and to lower the amount of Family Related leave for Seasonal members by pro-rating that entitlement. Your bargaining team believes that leave for family related reasons should remain based on needs of members and their families.”

The bargaining team also told the employer that its policies and the collective agreement ought to be applied consistently across the organization.

The bargaining team will meet with the employer again at the end of May.

2015/02/05

World Record Beaten!

We’re happy to report that, last weekend, Ottawa beat the world record for the most snowpeople built in one hour. Our members who work at Amethyst Women’s Addiction Centre were part of the more than 1,000 people who gathered at Lansdowne Park to build a ton of snowmen and raise money for local mental health initiatives.

At the end of the hour, 1,299 snowpeople were built. It was enough to beat the previous record of 1,279, which was held by Salt Lake City, Utah.

Congratulations to our members at Amethyst!

(Sorry, Utah!)

2015/01/262015/01/26

SSO: Federal Court issues decision

When we last reported on SSO bargaining, our members were awaiting a federal court decision as to whether seniority-based proposals could be dealt with in arbitration. Late last week, PSAC confirmed that the court had ruled in the favour of the employer.

PSAC will be discussing the next steps with its legal counsel.

In the meantime, the PSAC is asking for the arbitration panels to publish their decision concerning all the other disputed issues, including wage increases, assigned work week problems, hours of work issues, and, in the case of field interviewers, the provision of office equipment and protective clothing.

The arbitration panels’ decisions should come within 3 to 5 weeks. For more information, please consult this piece by the PSAC.

We will bring you updates on this story as soon as they are made available to us.

2015/01/06

Meeting of the National Executive

The National Executive will meet from January 20 to 22, 2015. The meeting will be held in the UNE boardroom, in Ottawa.

If your Local wishes to place an item on the agenda, please contact your Regional Vice-President and provide him or her with clear and concise information. He or she will gladly bring your item before the executive.

2014/12/122014/12/12

Former NCC members get their day in court

Our union presented arguments to the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board, earlier this week. This case centres on a number of employees who worked for the National Capital Commission before being transferred to Canadian Heritage in 2013 – a situation that arose when the federal government decided to entrust Canadian Heritage with Winterlude and Canada Day celebrations.

A portion of these members saw their rate of pay decrease when they were moved from a separate employer to the core public service. The union represented its members by filing over 80 related grievances.

Representatives from PSAC and the UNE – along with other components – attended Wednesday’s hearing. National President Doug Marshall, who was in attendance, remarked that the union had been especially well represented by lawyer David Yazbeck, who works for the same law firm that represented our SSO members during their recent federal court hearing.

Although we don’t know when the Board will issue a decision, we will bring you updates on this story as soon as they are available.

2014/12/11

Office closure – Dec 25 to Jan 4

The Union of National Employees will be closed from 4:30 p.m. (EST), Wednesday, December 24, 2014 and will re-open on Monday January 5, 2015.

In case of emergency, please leave a message at 613-741-8954.

2014/10/08

Federal court hears SSOs today

The Federal Court will hear the union’s arguments today. The issue centres on seniority, which the employer, Statistical Survey Operations, contends can’t be dealt with in arbitration.

Bargaining has been at an impasse since October 2012.

“We are all frustrated at the time this has taken, and by SSO’s delay tactics, said the bargaining team in a statement released yesterday. “But we are committed to getting our key issues addressed with SSO – including provisions in our collective agreements that respect our years of service and provide better income stability for employees.”

You can find out more about the current SSO issues in this February article.

We will bring you updates on this story as soon as they are made available to us.

2014/10/012014/10/01

NAC tentative agreement ratified

Earlier this week, our members at the National Arts Centre voted in favour of the tentative agreement put before them.

As we had reported earlier, our members had voted to strike after talks at the bargaining table had broken down over wage increases and job security.

The bargaining team unanimously recommended acceptance of the tentative agreement.

The deal includes wage increases of 1.75% for 2012, 1.5% for 2013, and 2% for 2014. The bargaining team was able to secure improvements on the job security front and better protections for employees facing layoffs.

Once it goes into effect, the collective agreement will expire on December 31, 2014.