PA bargaining: Treasury Board ignores key wage, equity issues

Negotiations at the PA table are nearing the breaking point after Treasury Board presented their comprehensive offer on April 28 rife with concessions and which fails to respond to most of the PA team’s key demands.

The employer refused to budge on the unacceptable wage offer they presented at the Common Issues table in March, with economic increases averaging 1.75% per year that fall well below inflation. Treasury Board also completely ignored the PA team’s key demand for wage parity with members at the Canada Revenue Agency.

Mental health and equity overlooked

The bargaining team was dismayed by Treasury Board’s silence on proposals related to mental health and equity. The employer did not respond to the team’s proposal for leave to support employee mental health and was completely silent about our proposal for an allowance to recognize employees who use Indigenous languages in the workplace. 
 
Treasury Board continues to reject PSAC’s proposals for mandatory training to address systemic racism, harassment, and discrimination for all federal public service workers and managers at the Common Issues table. This has left the team with no evidence that the government recognizes the need to dismantle systemic racism and address discrimination in the federal public service.  

Our bargaining team is very concerned about the lack of progress towards a fair deal for PA members.

Upcoming national event, stay updated

Other Treasury Board groups including SV, TC, and EB have bargaining dates set for May, which will give a clearer picture of how Treasury Board negotiations will shape up going forward. 
 
As Treasury Board bargaining reaches a critical point, we encourage you to register for our May 17 national panel to discuss the latest bargaining news, why strong mobilization is more important than ever, and how other PSAC members have taken job action to win important victories during the pandemic. 

You can also stay informed and engaged during this round of negotiations using our bargaining toolkit.

Please be sure to keep your contact information up to date via the member portal to receive all the latest updates as we negotiate your next contract.

Greetings,

May is Asian Heritage Month and the PSAC Toronto Racially Visible Committee would like to encourage all PSAC Members to join us in acknowledging this month.  

We will be holding a virtual event on May 11, 2022 at 6 PM, with guest speakers: Chris Ramsaroop from the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance (ACLA) and Kripa Sekhar from the South Asian Women Centre. Please RSVP here. 

Sadly, we have seen a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes throughout the pandemic. It is all our responsibilities to combat hate. PSAC has released a number of resources for members to access to take action and help end systemic racism. You can access those resources here. 

In Solidarity,

The PSAC Toronto Racially Visible Committee

The application process for the 2022 PSAC Scholarship Program is now open.

The program consists of 19 scholarships, including:

• Fourteen scholarships for dependent children of PSAC members who will be attending full-time studies at a recognized post-secondary institution in the fall of 2022;
• Three scholarships for PSAC members who will be attending university, college, or a recognized institute of higher learning on a full-time basis during the 2022–23 academic year;
• Two scholarships for PSAC members who will be studying on a part-time basis during the 2022–2023 academic year.

Deadline: June 24, 2022, at 11:55 p.m. EDT

Application details:

• PSAC Scholarship Program guidelines (PDF)
• Online application form

PSAC scholarships are awarded based on the merit of a 750–850-word essay, YouTube video, infographic, song, or other creative submission answering the current scholarship question about systemic inequities exposed by the pandemic.

Applicants must either be a PSAC member in good standing or the dependent child of a PSAC member in good standing as of March 31, 2022.

View the list of 2021 scholarship recipients.

We look forward to receiving your application!

The CEIU Ontario Front End/Outreach Committee is excited to invite you to our virtual region wide meeting on May 18, 2022, 7:00-8:30 PM using the ZOOM platform. Where, how and when? Please see the attachment for further details to RSVP.

Your Front End/Outreach committee

Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has exclusive access to the Columbia Sportswear Employee Store from May 13th – June 5th only! The bulleted information below is a helpful guide to share with your team. 

WHAT THE EMPLOYEE STORE HAS TO OFFER:    

·        The latest product from our family of brands (Columbia Sportswear, SOREL, Mountain Hardwear, and prAna)   

·        Items are marked up to 50% off regular retail pricing

WHAT TO BRING TO ACCESS THE STORE:  

·        The attached invite (printed or shown on mobile phone) 

·        Organization ID (membership card, business card, badge, pay-stub, signature of work email, uniform, etc.) 

·        Personal photo ID 

·        This invite is valid for you + 4 guests (you must be present) 

· This invite grants store access only (offer not valid online)

COVID RESPONSE:

We want you to know that the safety of our employees and shoppers is our number one priority. Below are some of the precautions we are taking to ensure safety while in our store:

• Face covering requirements in alignment with Provincial Guidelines
• Plexiglass dividers at check-in desk and registers
• Hand sanitizer stations 

Find store location and hours here or on the invite.

Please note the store will be closed on Monday May 23^rd in observance of Victoria Day.

Hello CEIU Ontario members – Today is the start of the election to vote for the Ontario Women’s Representative. The elections run – 9 a.m. (ET) on April 27th, 2022 and will close at 3:00 p.m. (ET) on May 4th, 2022.
If you have any questions regarding this election, please contact the CEIU National Office by email at vote@ceiu-seic.ca

Email us at localceiu581@gmail.com if you would like to feature any other candidate.

I have included the link from the National Website, it will be a quick, fun event! Please help make it a success!

https://psacunion.ca/register-now-national-bargaining-update-and-day

PSAC members from across the country will be coming together for a virtual Day of Action on April 14. Join us for a Treasury Board bargaining update from PSAC National President Chris Aylward and National Vice-President Sharon DeSousa. Then, take action by flooding the lines of federal Members of Parliament with voicemails telling them that we deserve a fair contract, now. 

Over 165,000 members are in bargaining with the federal government this year. This round of bargaining is vital because we need fair wages, good working conditions and inclusive workplaces to reflect the changes we’ve seen to the rising cost of living, remote and hybrid work and the urgent calls for action on equity in the workplace.

Day of Action: Flood the Lines
Thursday, April 14
7 p.m. (EDT)
The virtual call-in action to federal MPs will be facilitated by Alex Silas, Regional Executive Vice-President for the National Capital Region.

Hello everyone,

Your National Vice Presidents and the Ontario Regional Council (ORC) would like to invite members to attend another live ZOOM event taking place this Wednesday, March 30th at 7:00pm.

Earlier in 2021 we started these sessions as a way to connect with Ontario CEIU members, specifically newer members who may not be aware of our union and its work. So far we have had over 350 members participate over the past few months- a great start! 

Next week’s session will cover 3 hot topics- Return to Occupancy, PSAC Bargaining update and the very recent 699 Policy Grievance win!

This will be followed by an open question/answer session moderated by ORC members. The session is open to the entire membership and we encourage you to take a few minutes and log on.

Here is the ZOOM link- the room will be open at 6:30pm and the meeting starts at 7:00pm.

Topic: ORC open zoom chat

Time: Mar 30, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://ceiu-seic-ca.zoom.us/j/87486189586?pwd=Y0NvUEtGR1htRkVXRTBjSS9IVk12dz09

Meeting ID: 874 8618 9586

Passcode: 138836

One tap mobile

+16132093054,,87486189586#,,,,*138836# Canada

+16473744685,,87486189586#,,,,*138836# Canada

Dial by your location

+1 613 209 3054 Canada

+1 647 374 4685 Canada

+1 647 558 0588 Canada

+1 778 907 2071 Canada

+1 438 809 7799 Canada

+1 587 328 1099 Canada

Meeting ID: 874 8618 9586

Passcode: 138836

Find your local number: https://ceiu-seic-ca.zoom.us/u/keyD5slSCT

Thank you,

CEIU | Ontario Regional Council

March 24, 2022

In a major victory for federal public service workers hardest hit by the pandemic, an arbitration board ruled that Treasury Board cannot force employees to exhaust all their other leave before accessing 699 leave for COVID-19-related reasons.

This decision means that PSAC members who filed individual grievances related to 699 leave — where members were forced to use other available leave like sick leave, vacation leave or family leave before accessing 699 leave — can now request the leave be reimbursed to their leave banks.

Treasury Board’s heavy hand during the pandemic

The 699 leave provision is for “other leave with pay” and members can request it through their manager when they are unable to report to work for reasons beyond their control. This is different from sick leave and vacation time.

PSAC members relied on 699 leave to grapple with radical work-life changes during the pandemic. Parents were often left with no choice but to apply for 699 leave when schools and daycares were closed or went remote, but the government heavily restricted its use.

The restrictions disproportionately impact marginalized groups who have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, including women, Black, Indigenous and racialized employees, workers with disabilities, high-risk workers and workers with family obligations.

PSAC filed several policy grievances with Treasury Board, CFIA and other agencies for restricting the use of 699 leave. Two of these grievances were then brought before the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.

The Board found the 699 leave policy breached PSAC’s collective agreement by requiring employees to exhaust other leave before 699 leave could be granted. The Board ruled this posed an undue burden on employees and violated members’ collective agreements.

On parental leave specifically, the Board ruled that denial of 699 leave to parents who “chose” not to send their children to school or daycare is not discriminatory or a violation of the collective agreement. Although parents may have a right to choose to keep their children at home” this was a choice and not a right that is protected by human rights legislation, the Board ruled. PSAC is reviewing this aspect of the decision for potential grounds for judicial review given the evidence that parents had little to no choice regarding childcare during the pandemic as well as the state of human rights jurisprudence on the issue of sex and family status discrimination.

Requesting 699 leave

If you need leave related to COVID-19, you should continue to request 699 leave. If your request is denied or you are forced to take other types of leave, reach out immediately to your PSAC regional office or your component labour relations officer to discuss whether you should file an individual or group grievance, including a grievance citing discrimination on the grounds of sex, family status or disability.

Stay up to date about 699 leave and other important issues by updating your contact information and signing up for our latest updates.

Topics: 

• Victories
• COVID-19