CFIA Special Edition
In this issue:
- A message from John Gordon, PSAC National President
- CFIA: Top 10 bargaining issues
- CFIA Negotiating Team
- Collective Bargaining under the new
A message from John Gordon, PSAC National President
Bargaining with CFIA
Sisters and Brothers, this issue of Our Union Voice is being devoted to the negotiation of your next collective agreement with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
As you know, we negotiated and ratified a one-year collective agreement with the CFIA which expired at the end of 2007. It provided 4,500 PSAC members with a salary increase of 2.5 per cent, effective January 1, 2007. Less than a week after the official signing of the new collective agreement, the PSAC-CFIA negotiating team served Notice to Bargain to the CFIA.
The new round of negotiations started January 15 and 16, when PSAC exchanged bargaining demands with the employer. The teams met again in March and in May and quickly realized that CFIA would not allow this round to proceed very smoothly. In response to your bargaining demands, the employer answered that they were satisfied with the way the collective agreement was and that they saw no need for changes.
Many of you have asked how our members at the Union of Taxation Employees were able to achieve their new collective agreement so quickly with the Canada Revenue Agency. I believe it has much to do with political will. Both sides came to the table prepared to bargain, with their priorities clearly defined. While they certainly faced challenges, in the end both parties achieved a new collective agreement that meets the needs of the membership.
So how do we move CFIA to negotiate seriously? We need to take action! This means using every opportunity to promote the value of our work, and to put pressure on the employer to negotiate fairly and expeditiously. This includes lobbying and political action and getting involved in regional, component and national campaigns to promote our demands and fight for the positive change that we want to see in our workplaces. We cannot assume that someone else is going to do this for us. We all need to work together and support each other, in solidarity, so that all groups achieve their key demands.
This also requires CFIA to realize that they are no longer an employer of choice. Wage gaps with the broader public service and the use of pay zones do not make CFIA an attractive employer. We need to campaign for fair economic increases, solutions to classification and pay inequities, and an end to pay zones. We must promote investment in the federal public service; investment in the work of your sisters and brothers and in your collective agreements.
I urge you to get involved in mobilization activities taking place across the country. This is your collective agreement, and we all have a responsibility to ensure that it is the best possible contract we can achieve. As your national president, I am certainly taking every opportunity to promote the value of the work you do at the CFIA. You protect Canada's food supply. Each day of their lives, Canadians enjoy a safer and healthier lifestyle because of your work.
Your work is a vibrant example of the importance of quality public services accessible to all Canadians. It will be up to all of us to prove that it is in the public's interest to ensure that public services are maintained and enhanced, and that the workers who deliver these services are fairly paid. Promoting the message to Think Public! is a job for all of us. I know that working together, we can make this happen!
In Solidarity, John Gordon, PSAC National President
CFIA: Top 10 bargaining issues
The main issues that your negotiating team will bring to the bargaining table have been identified following indepth consultation with members. Some of these proposals were selected from the list of unresolved issues left over from the last round of bargaining. Others address emerging issues that have surfaced during the life of the current agreement, or reflect the longterm goals and operational needs of the union.
Putting a stop to harassment
PSAC's proposal seeks to provide additional tools and enhanced protection against all forms of harassment including requirement to do everything possible to prevent harassment and to alleviate its effects. The current language in the collective agreement is too restrictive and is limited only to sexual harassment. The proposal at the table is to expand the definition for Article 19, to include all forms of harassment.
Injury-on-duty leave
In cases of temporary disability resulting from a workplace accident, we demand that a workers' compensation board be assigned the responsibility for determining the duration of the period that an employee is entitled to regular, full pay. Currently, the employer alone determines the length of such leave.
When employees become unable to perform their duties as a result of a workplace accident, the employer alone determines the length of the period that they are entitled to regular, full pay. This can bring financial hardship to members if they are required to live on a reduced salary as a result of a workplace accident. We strongly believe that the period of time that an employee is on injury-on duty leave should not be left to the discretion of the employer. We have a proposal on the table that would protect an employee's right to remain on leave as long as it is certified by the Workplace Safety Insurance Board.
The current Treasury Board policy observed by the employer is not subject to the grievance procedure in the collective agreement and the employer does not apply the policy in a consistent manner. Often the employer's decision is tainted by its attitude towards the individual involved in the accident, in some cases providing preferential treatment to favoured employees.
Travel time
It is the union's position that employees should be paid for all hours worked for the employer, including all travel time hours. If the employer is keeping our members away from their families, the employer should provide full compensation in recognition of the sacrifices being made by these workers. We demand improvements to the travelling time clause, including removal of the threehour stopover limit and the 12-hour per day cap on travelling time.
Personnel selection leave
It is the union's position that the employer should recognize and encourage the career development plans of its employees within the broader federal public administration. The union is seeking to attain personnel selection leave, so that members will be permitted to participate in competitions or selection processes outside of the CFIA and Agriculture Canada. The language in the current collective agreement only allows for personal selection leave to be granted to an employee applying to a different position within CFIA. We believe this should be expanded to include the selection processes within the broader public service.
Mobility rights
PSAC's position is that our members should be entitled to full mobility rights when moving within the public service. The union is bargaining to allow members to transfer sick leave and vacation leave credits between CFIA and other government departments or agencies. With respect to maternity and parental leave, the union is trying to secure protections against having to pay back benefits when transferring to or from other government departments or agencies.
Union leave
The bargaining team is looking for improvements to article 13 relating to union leave. We believe it is important to ensure that our members are able to effectively represent our members and are able to avail themselves of opportunities to participate in their union.
Job security
Our demand seeks to protect public sector work and ensure that it remains a key role of the federal government. Over the last two decades, “lean government” policies have had an impact throughout the federal public sector. Non-essential or non-core services have been privatized and jobs have been moved to the private sector. PSAC opposes these policies because they remove public services from the public realm. Public services should be accountable to Parliament and to the people of Canada, not to shareholders.
It is the union's position that there should be language in the collective agreement on job security. This language needs to address the growing trend of CFIA to use private consultants, contract out and source alternate service delivery. The language also needs to address the improper use of contract security guards and similarly, the abuse of student hiring programs that have been used to take the work of PSAC Agriculture Union members.
Meat hygiene allowance
PSAC's position is that employees who perform meat inspection duties in an abattoir should be compensated properly. The bargaining team also strongly believes that the duties and the working conditions under which these employees operate should be fairly compensated.
Wage parity
With our pay position yet to be tabled, we have made some preliminary statements addressing the issue of pay parity with other sectors of the public service. We have put the employer on notice that this will be a priority for the union when we table our full pay position. We will be seeking parity with other sectors of the public service for all classifications of the bargaining units.
Work recognition
Proper recognition of all hours of work is certainly among the top 10 critical issues we want to address this time around. We plan to raise several concerns about preparation and wash-up time, overtime and the overall recognition that all work is performed “for the employer” and that “the employer” has a responsibility to pay the members for all time worked.
CFIA Negotiating Team
Bob Jackson, Denis Sicard, Len Halldorson, David-Alexandre Leblanc PSAC Research Officer, Debbie Forsythe, Marlene O'Neil, Michael McNamara PSAC Negotiator, Marianne Hladun
Your negotiating team has been working hard for almost a year to reach a fair collective agreement with the employer. They were elected last year at the PSAC/CFIA regional bargaining conferences.
Debbie Forsythe provides administrative support to Inspection Services in Kentville, Nova Scotia. She is very active in the labour movement being the Second Executive Vice-President of the Agriculture Union, Vice-President for PSAC on the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour and member of the Annapolis Valley Regional Women's Committee. She wants to make sure that the best efforts are being put forward in order for PSAC members to have a fair collective agreement.
Len Halldorson intends to get the best possible contract for PSAC members at CFIA. He works as a poultry inspector and grader for CFIA in Blumenort, Manitoba. When he is not busy as the First Vice-President, Health and Safety of his local, he offers his time and energy as a volunteer canvasser for different charities.
Between her union activities and her community and political involvement, Marianne Hladun finds time to work as an agriculture inputs inspector in Saskatoon. She was recently elected Alternate PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for the Prairies, she is also a National Equal Opportunity Director of the Agriculture Union, the North Saskatchewan representative to the Prairie Region Council and Vice-President of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour. She is also involved with United Way and Nashi, a local NGO that works with victims of human trafficking in the Ukraine.
Bob Jackson decided to get involved in the negotiations process because he wanted to make a difference in the way negotiations are conducted. He works as a regional operations coordinator which puts him in touch with all of CFIA's programs. He has been an active member for more than 25 years and he held all of his local's positions. He is currently a regional Vice-President for the Agriculture Union.
It is her desire to meet the needs of the membership that motivated Marlene O'Neil to be on the PSAC negotiating team. She is the president of PSAC Local 70067, active in operational health and safety issues, experienced in grievances and mediation, with over 21 years of experience in union activities. She is also a PSAC facilitator. At the CFIA, she works as an executive advisor for Agrifood Division in Ottawa.
Denis Sicard believes it is essential to fight for the members' rights and to make sure everybody is well protected through union representation. He is the Third National Executive Vice-President of the Agriculture Union, he represents PSACQuebec on the information committee of the QFL and he is a labour representative at the CFIA's Health and Safety Committee. Denis spends his free time with his family, especially his grandkids.
Robyn Benson, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President – Prairies, negotiator Mike McNamara and research officer David-Alexandre Leblanc are also part of the negotiating team.
Collective Bargaining under the new
Public Service Labour Relations Act
The Public Service Modernization Act has changed some parts of the collective bargaining process with major federal government agencies and contained in the new Public Service Labour Relations Act (PSLRA) which came into effect April 1, 2005. The PSLRA replaces the old Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA).
The old PSSRA put some limitations on bargaining and the new PSLRA does so as well. Our union has always faced challenges in bargaining, and we're ready and able to meet new challenges under the new Act.
The basic framework for collective bargaining remains largely unchanged but there are some critical differences.
Some things don't change
The union still serves notice to bargain in advance of the expiry date of each collective agreement. The only difference now is that notice can be served four months in advance, instead of three months.
The parties are still obliged to bargain in good faith.
All the terms and conditions of the collective agreement remain in force after the expiry date until either a new agreement is signed or until a bargaining unit is in a legal strike position.
There are still two methods of resolving a dispute if the parties can't agree on a new agreement: conciliation with the right to strike or arbitration. Once the union has served notice to bargain, we can't change our choice of method.
New conciliation Process
The new legislation replaces the former Conciliation Boards with “Public Interest Commissions” or PICs.
The basic structure of the Public Interest Commission is very similar to the old Conciliation Boards. They normally consist of a chairperson and one nominee from the union and one from the employer. What's new is that the chairperson is chosen from a list pre-established by the Public Service Labour Relations Board, following consultation with the parties. Like the old Conciliation Boards, the PICs will make non-binding recommendations which the parties may or may not use to try and reach a deal.
Unlike the old Conciliation Boards, the PICs now must consider a set of factors when making their recommendations. These are the same factors that arbitration boards have had to consider as well as one new factor. The same factors include comparisons to outside employers and comparisons within the federal public service. The new factor for PICs to consider is “the state of the Canadian economy and the government of Canada 's fiscal circumstances.” However, the union had always addressed these factors in its presentations to Conciliation Boards.
The PICs now have 30 days to complete their reports. This is an increase from the 14 days given to the old Conciliation Boards. The Conciliation Boards had difficulty in meeting the old deadline and often went beyond the 14- day period.
Legal strike action can only take place seven days after the PIC report has been filed, which was also the case in the past.
Strike votes and strikes
Strike votes are now governed by the law. In the past, the Public Service Staff Relations Act was silent on how they were to be conducted. Because there were no legal rules about strike votes, the union generally held strike votes early in the bargaining process. Now, like the Canada Labour Code, the new PSLRA has an impact on when we take our strike votes.
The strike vote now has a “best before” date. Strike action is only legal if it begins within 60 clear calendar days of the strike vote. This means that we will hold strike votes much later in the process than has been our practice in the last several rounds of Agency and Treasury Board negotiations.
A legal strike can take place only:
- seven days after a Public Interest Commission has filed its report; and
- 30 clear days after the Essential Services Agreements (ESAs) process has been completed; and
- within 60 clear days of the strike vote.
The new PSLRA requires that a strike vote be conducted by secret ballot among all of the employees in the bargaining unit. PSAC has always conducted its strike vote by secret ballot. The difference now is that all employees in the unit are entitled to vote, even if they have not signed a union membership card.
Essential Services Agreements
Essential Services Agreements (ESAs) replace the old designation process.
PSAC's components and locals/ branches work on ESAs with their respective departments.
Unlike the old designation process in which the parties started from scratch in each round of bargaining, the ESAs that are put in place during this round of bargaining will remain in effect in subsequent rounds of bargaining unless they're amended.
As in the old designation process, if the employer and the union can't agree on the ESAs, the dispute is referred to the Public Service Labour Relations Board.
Strike action can't take place until 30 clear days after an Essential Services Agreement is signed by the parties or ordered into effect by the Board.
Something old with a new name
The new Act contains an employer “free speech” clause. This is a new provision that says that employers don't commit an unfair labour practice if they express their point of view “so long as they do not use coercion, intimidation, threats, promises or undue influence.”
During the bargaining process, PSAC members will find out what is happening during negotiations directly from the source – the members representing them at the bargaining table. Regular bargaining bulletins will be issued and members will be able to ask questions and get answers through their locals/branches, PSAC regional offices and components.
The members of the bargaining teams are working to get the best possible settlement for you while the employer has a vested interest in selling you an agreement for as little cost as possible. Where would you rather get your information?
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Date Modified : 2008/08/26
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