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The federal government and its largest union have reached a tentative four-year deal that will boost employees’ pay more than 5.5 per cent and keeps the existing sick leave regime while a task force tries to negotiate a new one.
The deal, reached with the Public Service Alliance of Canada Saturday after a six-day bargaining session with a mediator, would boost paycheques of 68,000 public servants working in program and administrative services throughout government and give them a $650 signing bonus once it is ratified by the rank and file.
The proposed contract will increase base salaries by 1.25 per cent in each year, retroactive to June 2014. The government also agreed to an extra 0.5 per cent “market adjustment” increase for 2016.
But the big breakthrough was on sick leave, the hot-button issue that has stalled bargaining for more than two years. The deal only covers the largest of the five bargaining groups represented by PSAC, but sick leave is the big common issue.
PSAC has stood firm on its refusal to make concessions on sick leave. But some say the agreement protecting the existing regime could divide other unions.
“I am proud of our negotiating teams for standing strong during these two long, difficult years at the table,” PSAC president Robyn Benson said in a statement to members.
“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.”
This round of bargaining began with the previous Conservative government wanting to replace the existing sick leave with a short-term-disability plan. The Liberals continued with the same offer but dropped the Tories’ plan to impose it by legislation.
Public servants currently get 15 days’ sick leave a year. They typically take about 12 days a year and are allowed to carry any unused days from year to year. There are about 15 million unused sick days currently banked, all of which would have disappeared under the Conservatives’ plan.
Getting rid of the sick leave banks, once estimated as a $4-billion liability, and hiring an insurance company to bring in case management for sick employees were seen as big sources of savings for the previous Conservative government.
Treasury Board president Scott Brison said his government promised to restore respect for the public service by negotiating in “good faith” and is pleased another tentative deal was reached.
“We remain committed to reaching agreements with the rest of the public service so that we can all focus on delivering on our progressive agenda of good jobs and growth for the middle class,” he said.
Among the 18 unions, PSAC was the most vocal and opposed to any changes to sick leave. It led the charge for a solidarity pact among unions to ensure no concessions would be made in this round of bargaining.
As a result, all eyes were on PSAC in this week’s bargaining, especially after the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) recently struck a tentative deal that lays the framework for a new sick leave regime. It was also the first time PIPSC has reached a deal before PSAC.
Shortly after, the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) was offered and put to its members a settlement package for the translators it represents with the same sick leave deal as PIPSC.
All three unions have accepted a memorandum of agreement that takes sick leave off the bargaining table and creates a task force to come up with a new “wellness” plan that would then be negotiated as part of the next round of collective bargaining, which would begin in 18 months.
Until then, the existing sick-leave regime remains in place.
The big difference is that PSAC rejected the guidelines PIPSC accepted for the new “wellness” regime, which are built on some key features of the short-term disability plan originally proposed.
PSAC broadly agreed to consult and study a new plan, but it refused any of the specific changes PIPSC endorsed. If the task force can’t reach an agreement, then the existing sick leave regime remains for PSAC members.
The PIPSC memorandum calls for nine days’ sick leave and employees would be entitled to 100 per cent of salary for 26 weeks, getting rid of the existing 13-week waiting period. Employees would also carry over no more than three days of unused sick leave to be used the next year. Banking sick leave would stop once a new plan was implemented.
Employees with more than 26 weeks of banked leave can use the excess to top up their salaries to 100 per cent in the event of long illnesses before going on long-term disability.
Under PSAC’s deal, its members’ sick leave banks are “grandfathered” and would remain in any future plan.
PSAC went into this bargaining session with four sick leave principles that it refused to bend on in whatever wellness plan the task force proposes. Sick leave would be enshrined in all collective agreements and would provide wage replacement, existing sick leave banks would be kept, and there would be no third-party provider hired to mange it.
As the largest union, PSAC’s deals with the government have historically set the precedent for the other unions.
The settlements of the three unions will probably mean that the 1.25-per-cent annual increase in base salary will be the precedent for all unions. As for sick leave, other unions could pick PSAC or PIPSC’s approach, or go to arbitration for a decision.
“The recent settlements show there is clearly a difference of opinion on the future of sick leave administration in public service between the unions,” said Ron Cochrane, a former co-chair of the joint union-management National Joint Council.
It’s unclear whether the government is willing to have different regimes to manage sick leave and disability.
PSAC also negotiated what it calls the “most significant improvements” in the workforce adjustment provisions handling downsizing and layoffs since 1998. They include changes to reduce the number of involuntary layoffs, allowing more employees swap or alternate jobs, and limits on contracting out. It also got increases for education allowances and buyouts.
Other proposed changes include:
查看原文...
The deal, reached with the Public Service Alliance of Canada Saturday after a six-day bargaining session with a mediator, would boost paycheques of 68,000 public servants working in program and administrative services throughout government and give them a $650 signing bonus once it is ratified by the rank and file.
The proposed contract will increase base salaries by 1.25 per cent in each year, retroactive to June 2014. The government also agreed to an extra 0.5 per cent “market adjustment” increase for 2016.
But the big breakthrough was on sick leave, the hot-button issue that has stalled bargaining for more than two years. The deal only covers the largest of the five bargaining groups represented by PSAC, but sick leave is the big common issue.
PSAC has stood firm on its refusal to make concessions on sick leave. But some say the agreement protecting the existing regime could divide other unions.
“I am proud of our negotiating teams for standing strong during these two long, difficult years at the table,” PSAC president Robyn Benson said in a statement to members.
“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.”
This round of bargaining began with the previous Conservative government wanting to replace the existing sick leave with a short-term-disability plan. The Liberals continued with the same offer but dropped the Tories’ plan to impose it by legislation.
Public servants currently get 15 days’ sick leave a year. They typically take about 12 days a year and are allowed to carry any unused days from year to year. There are about 15 million unused sick days currently banked, all of which would have disappeared under the Conservatives’ plan.
Getting rid of the sick leave banks, once estimated as a $4-billion liability, and hiring an insurance company to bring in case management for sick employees were seen as big sources of savings for the previous Conservative government.
Treasury Board president Scott Brison said his government promised to restore respect for the public service by negotiating in “good faith” and is pleased another tentative deal was reached.
“We remain committed to reaching agreements with the rest of the public service so that we can all focus on delivering on our progressive agenda of good jobs and growth for the middle class,” he said.
Among the 18 unions, PSAC was the most vocal and opposed to any changes to sick leave. It led the charge for a solidarity pact among unions to ensure no concessions would be made in this round of bargaining.
As a result, all eyes were on PSAC in this week’s bargaining, especially after the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) recently struck a tentative deal that lays the framework for a new sick leave regime. It was also the first time PIPSC has reached a deal before PSAC.
Shortly after, the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) was offered and put to its members a settlement package for the translators it represents with the same sick leave deal as PIPSC.
All three unions have accepted a memorandum of agreement that takes sick leave off the bargaining table and creates a task force to come up with a new “wellness” plan that would then be negotiated as part of the next round of collective bargaining, which would begin in 18 months.
Until then, the existing sick-leave regime remains in place.
The big difference is that PSAC rejected the guidelines PIPSC accepted for the new “wellness” regime, which are built on some key features of the short-term disability plan originally proposed.
PSAC broadly agreed to consult and study a new plan, but it refused any of the specific changes PIPSC endorsed. If the task force can’t reach an agreement, then the existing sick leave regime remains for PSAC members.
The PIPSC memorandum calls for nine days’ sick leave and employees would be entitled to 100 per cent of salary for 26 weeks, getting rid of the existing 13-week waiting period. Employees would also carry over no more than three days of unused sick leave to be used the next year. Banking sick leave would stop once a new plan was implemented.
Employees with more than 26 weeks of banked leave can use the excess to top up their salaries to 100 per cent in the event of long illnesses before going on long-term disability.
Under PSAC’s deal, its members’ sick leave banks are “grandfathered” and would remain in any future plan.
PSAC went into this bargaining session with four sick leave principles that it refused to bend on in whatever wellness plan the task force proposes. Sick leave would be enshrined in all collective agreements and would provide wage replacement, existing sick leave banks would be kept, and there would be no third-party provider hired to mange it.
As the largest union, PSAC’s deals with the government have historically set the precedent for the other unions.
The settlements of the three unions will probably mean that the 1.25-per-cent annual increase in base salary will be the precedent for all unions. As for sick leave, other unions could pick PSAC or PIPSC’s approach, or go to arbitration for a decision.
“The recent settlements show there is clearly a difference of opinion on the future of sick leave administration in public service between the unions,” said Ron Cochrane, a former co-chair of the joint union-management National Joint Council.
It’s unclear whether the government is willing to have different regimes to manage sick leave and disability.
PSAC also negotiated what it calls the “most significant improvements” in the workforce adjustment provisions handling downsizing and layoffs since 1998. They include changes to reduce the number of involuntary layoffs, allowing more employees swap or alternate jobs, and limits on contracting out. It also got increases for education allowances and buyouts.
Other proposed changes include:
- a committee to examine child care needs of employees
- improved leave for “extended family members”
- better working conditions for call centre workers
- language recognizing gender identity and gender expression as prohibited ground of discrimination.
- The memorandum of understanding reached in 2015 to create a task force on mental health in the workplace to be enshrined in collective agreements.
查看原文...
