Canada Revenue Agency

Sick leave is a negotiated benefitSick leave provisions in collective agreements are a negotiated benefit for public sector workers who get sick; they are not a benefit for those who are healthy. Sick leave ensures workers are well enough to provide quality public services.Any changes to the current sick leave provisions are a matter for negotiations between the PSAC and the federal government

PSAC/UTE Bargaining Team spends week in negotiations with CRA.

PSAC/UTE Bargaining Team continues push for leave improvements, raises issues concerning health and safety and union communication in the workplace.This past week (January 28-31) our Bargaining Team spent four days in talks with CRA.  The parties spent the week in negotiations over a number of issues, including leave provisions, access to the collective agreement and union communication in the workplace.

We have had many inquiries from PSAC members about the new Family Day holiday in BC, which is coming up in February. Federal public sector collective agreements provide for 11 designated paid holidays, including a day in the opinion of the employer to be a provincial or civic holiday. Currently the civic holiday recognized by federal government employers is the first Monday in August. This means that federal public sector workers in BC will not be granted Family Day here in BC.Here is an example from the PA Agreement.

Yesterday the government crammed through Bill C-45, incorporating hundreds of pages of major legislative changes that Canadians have not been consulted on. This government knows it would lose public support if each of these initiatives were opened up to public scrutiny and debate.

We have presented our package of bargaining proposals to CRA. In presenting our package we made it clear to management that our union is determined to achieve new protections and rights in this round of bargaining, rights and protections that in many areas reflect what has already been agreed to for other unionized workers in the federal public sector.

On July 3, PSAC started the process of negotiating a new collective agreement with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).  The union sent a notice to the Agency that we want to bargain changes to the current agreement that ends on October 31, 2012.

Ottawa – Canada's largest federal public sector union says that 3,889 of its members in 13 departments are being told today they could lose their jobs.“This government is misleading Canadians when it says these cuts won't impact services we all rely on,” said PSAC's national president Robyn Benson. “We need Stephen Harper and his Ministers to stop hiding behind spin and start talking to all Canadians about the services we are losing.”

The negotiating team is in place, bargaining priorities are set and bargaining proposals are being prepared.Our national bargaining committee for members at the Canada Revenue Agency met in Ottawa the week of May 14th.  As per our by-laws, members of the committee reviewed bargaining proposals submitted by locals and members throughout Canada and set key priorities for this round of negotiations, including enhanced job protection, scheduling rights, improved leave provisions and fairness for term and part-time workers.

*** To: PSAC Activists in BCAs you know, National Public Services Week is taking place June 10th – 16th, under the theme “Celebrating our Commitment!”