Details and next steps for the new NRC RO/RCO contract with NRC
Dear NRC RO/RCO members:
We recently shared the good news that on March 29, 2018, your bargaining team reached a tentative agreement with NRC management for the NRC RO/RCO group. Points about the economic increases and other changes to the collective agreement and HR policies are included in our earlier update on our website:
http://www.pipsc.ca/groups/nrc-ro-rco
The next steps:
- A tentative agreement will be presented to NRC RO/RCO members for ratification. PIPSC will oversee this process; watch for an email from PIPSC for the online vote.
- Treasury Board will issue a non-objection letter to the tentative agreement and it will receive Order-in-Council approval.
- After ratification, the collective agreement will be signed by both bargaining teams, the President of PIPSC, and the President of the NRC.
- After signing, NRC has agreed to 120 days to implement the agreement, and back pay will follow subsequently.
- After signing, the new collective agreement will be posted on both the PIPSC website and the NRC green zone from where it can be downloaded and consulted by members.
Achieving this win has been an extended process. You will recall that bargaining with PIPSC groups began during the Harper government. In 2014, when our previous collective agreement expired, the government offer on pay to PIPSC groups was 0.5% per year four years, so 2% over the four years. When the PIPSC RO/RCO group finally got to the table in October 2017 under a new government, the first offer from NRC was 1.25% each year, so 5% over the four years of the agreement. Your bargaining team presented a comprehensive pay proposal (about 20 pages) to provide justification for a higher salary increase, including detailed salary comparisons with varying levels of professors at many Canadian universities, and researchers at other RTO organizations and the private sector. After considerable negotiations our tentative agreement on pay is 6.25% over four years, a win for our group that represents among the highest increases for researchers and professionals in the federal public service.
Thank you for your support.
Your bargaining team:
Right to left:
Nicholas Pernal, PIPSC negotiator, Ottawa
Craig Bihun, Vice-President, RO/RCO NCR sub-group executive, Ottawa
Cathy Cheung, President, RO/RCO group executive, Ottawa
Susan O’Donnell, past president, RO/RCO group executive, Fredericton
Daniel Durand, Member-at-large, RO/RCO group executive, Victoria
Jeff Zidichouski, IRAP ITA, Calgary
Maxime Gingras, PIPSC researcher, Ottawa