The federal government outlined its position on four key areas in its ongoing negotiations with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) in an open letter addressed to Canadians, marking a shift in its bargaining strategy.
Wage increases, control over telework arrangements, a ban on contracting out work and priority for senior staff in the event of downsizing are the four “key” demands remaining, Treasury Board president Mona Fortier wrote.
“This round of negotiating has been a heavy lift for both parties,” she said in the letter.
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the government department that is nominally the employer of bureaucrats, updated or reiterated details on its bargaining position in each of the four areas in the letter.
On CBC’s Power and Politics Monday, PSAC president Chris Aylward confirmed the accuracy of the information in the letter and said he takes it as a “good signal.”
“I actually applaud the minister for putting this letter out,” he said. “It’s the first time that [Fortier’s] actually put our priority issues on the table.”
Key demands
In the letter, the Treasury Board reiterated its offer of a 9 per cent wage increase over three years, a total the board says would provide the average employee an extra $6,250 per year and aligns with the recommendations of the third-party Public Interest Commission.
The government also agreed to a signing bonus for every member, according to the letter, but the value of the bonus was not stated.
Federal government draws red line on telework in negotiations with PSAC
On the issue of telework in negotiations with PSAC, Treasury Board President Mona Fortier says it’s the right of management to continue to evaluate how to best deliver services, and will not be part of a collective agreement.
PSAC was previously asking for a 4.5 per cent wage increase each year for 2021, 2022 and 2023. But Aylward said Monday the union has moved down from that 13.5 per cent overall increase. Aylward did not clarify the new demand.
On telework, the Treasury Board said in the open letter it proposed to jointly review the existing telework directive with the union.
Speaking on CBC’s Power and Politics Monday, Fortier repeated the government’s stance that decisions around telework are the right of management.
“It is a red line,” Fortier said. “We have found creative ways to, of course, engage with employees — and I believe that, because it’s so important that we have the flexibility for managers to see how we are going to best deliver services.”
Aylward nonetheless said he is confident an agreement on telework could be reached.
“We’re not trying to negate managerial rights here,” he said.
PSAC president says feds haven’t addressed ‘priority issues’ yet
Chris Aylward, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, says key issues still need to be addressed before a deal is reached with the federal government.
Fortier wrote in the letter that the Treasury Board intends to reduce the practice of contracting out work, but said reducing the practice to zero would “severely compromise” the government’s ability to deliver services.
Aylward said the union is not calling for an absolute ban but does want the practice to be reduced, saying work is more cost-effective and transparent when jobs are completed within the public service.
The government also proposed that the Public Service Commission, a government agency that helps develop hiring policies for the federal public service, prioritize merit over seniority in the event of future downsizing.
Most of 570 demands have been met
When negotiations began, PSAC came to the table with about 570 demands, according to the Treasury Board.
Aylward confirmed that number Monday and said most of those demands had been addressed. He said the four issues outlined in the open letter are the main sticking points that stand in the way of a deal.
The national strike for more than 155,000 federal public servants under PSAC began on April 19 at 12:01 a.m. and has entered its second workweek.
Two groups covered by the union remain on strike: one includes approximately 120,000 employees who fall under the Treasury Board, making up several government departments and agencies, and the other is a smaller tax group of more than 35,000 workers at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
