Updates

The 2017 Liberal budget has made some positive changes to the Canada Labour Code, which covers workers in federally regulated industries. But the budget has failed to provide the necessary staff and resources to improve compliance and enforcement of the Code.

Changes to the Canada Labour Code

The budget proposes some improvements for workers under Part III of the Code, including:

• the right to request flexible work arrangements from their employer, such as flexible start and finish times and the ability to work from home
• new unpaid leaves for family responsibilities, to participate in traditional Indigenous practices, and to seek care if they are victims of family violence
• making bereavement leave more flexible

These changes apply to workers in federally-regulated workplaces, but not to the federal public service (which is covered by other legislation).

A recent media article noted that 340 executives at Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the department responsible for Phoenix, got performance pay. On April 5, the government gave another update on the troubled Phoenix system and had to deal with questions from the media on the bonus payments.

“Words don’t even describe how shocked we are. The government is basically saying to our members that it doesn’t matter if they get paid or not, they are not important,” said Robyn Benson, PSAC National President. “If you are a manager and you’re not doing your job, you should not get paid bonuses.”

Our CAPI and CATI bargaining teams met with SSO March 17, 2017, to open this round of bargaining and exchange our initial proposals. Regrettably, the employer’s team was not even half there, which we told SSO was very disrespectful to us and to the bargaining process. We expect the employer will not continue to demonstrate this attitude as we pursue bargaining.

We had a very busy week. We spent three days reviewing our bargaining input from members across the country and doing the research necessary to prepare our proposals. We met with the employer for the initial exchange. As we always do, we began by exchanging non-monetary proposals. 

To Civilian Members of the RCMP who are in the process of beginning your transition to the federal public service, I am writing to welcome and introduce you to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

As you are aware, the date for the deeming process has been identified as April 26, 2018. This means a number of you will find yourselves joining existing bargaining units represented by PSAC and the Union of Solicitor General Employees (USGE) – PSAC’s Component representing members working in Canada's federal justice system. 

Our bargaining team met with the Agency on March 28, 29 and 30.

During this round of bargaining, the Agency withdrew its proposal to implement a short-term disability program to replace our current sick leave provisions. The Agency reserved the right to table language regarding employee wellness.