A tentative agreement between PSAC and Treasury Board has been reached for the PA table, covering over 68,000 federal public service workers. The deal includes significant breakthroughs on “common issues,” such as sick leave and workforce adjustment, the details of which were hammered out by the common issues committee earlier this week.
“I am proud of our negotiating teams for standing strong during these two long, difficult years at the table. A deal for our largest group, as well as agreements on key common issues, is a significant victory,” said Robyn Benson, PSAC National President. “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.”
The issues agreed to between the employer and the common issues committee, composed of members from all five Treasury Board tables, will need to be accepted by each specific table. PA is the first table to formally accept the work of the common issues committee, which covers sick leave and the workforce adjustment appendix.
The agreement with the PA table contains significant improvements to monetary compensation for members. This includes a wage increase and allowances for certain occupations, such as compensation advisors and employees of Correctional Service of Canada. The total compensation for all PA members amounts to a minimum increase of five and a half percent over the four years of the collective agreement, plus a $650 signing bonus.
The wage increase is 1.25 per cent for each year, plus a point five percent (0.5%) market adjustment for 2016.
It has been agreed that a committee will be established to look at childcare needs. Better family leave, including provisions for extended family, have also been negotiated.
The PA team has achieved improvements to working conditions for members working in call centres.
This agreement has language recognizing gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination.
The Memorandum of Understanding that established the task force on Mental Health in the workplace is also contained in this agreement. The mandate of the task force includes identifying ways to reduce and eliminate the stigma associated with mental health issues, improving communication on mental health challenges in the workplace, and implementing the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. The MOU was agreed to earlier in the bargaining process, in 2015, and the task force has already been hard at work ever since.
A version of this article was originally published on the PSAC website.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has been pushing the Treasury Board to sign our new collective agreement for the Border Services (FB) group this month. As of this morning, the Treasury Board has confirmed that the date of signature will be July 3, 2018. Once the collective agreement is signed, all the provisions […]
CIU invites you to learn more about its history, and discover the many victories the union and its members have won throughout the years.
