To all proud IT Group Members,
Welcome to the first issue of IT Bytes as we transition away from our previous name, CS Bytes. You will see references to both names during the remainder of this round as we began negotiations as the CS Group and then transitioned to the IT Group.
The CS Group exchanged proposals with the Treasury Board on February 4, 2022 as was announced in CS Bytes #2. Please find below the link to both proposal documents.
Your Bargaining Team met with the employer for the first session of negotiations from February 8 to 10. Our group President and Bargaining Officer each made opening remarks to set the tone in this round of bargaining. They spoke about learning from the past, fairness, respect, and the priorities of the group such as pay parity, the cost of living and the contracting-out of our work.
Most of our efforts were spent on a high-level review of the proposals packages to ensure that each side understood the intent of each proposal without getting into the finer details. We also spent a significant amount of time rewriting the language in the collective agreement to make it gender neutral. In subsequent sessions we will begin discussing the proposals in detail.
As is normal in negotiations, we will be discussing non-monetary issues before we start discussing salary. We are currently working with PIPSC researchers and economists to develop our pay proposal. The details of our pay proposal will be shared with the membership soon after we table it with the Treasury Board.
In closing, we cannot say it often enough how support for your negotiations team, from each and every one of you, is so important to our success at the bargaining table. During this round, your National IT Executive, the National Organizing Committee and your regional and local stewards will be calling on you to demonstrate your support. Please understand that no act of support is too small. Everything you do, showing your IT colours, posting articles or pictures on social media, or attending information sessions, is an essential part of the Group’s effort to succeed in our negotiations.
The next bargaining session will take place April 5-7, 2022.
In solidarity,
Robert Scott
IT Group Bargaining Officer