Your SP Group Bargaining Team met with the employer from May 16th-18th. Despite some difficulties in getting data from the employer, good progress was made.
Whereas the last round of meetings with TB was three days of work with very little progress to show, this round showed good progress, with discussions being held on a number of topics such as hours of work, vacation time, domestic violence leave, part time employees, and designated paid holidays. The team is also working on increased access to vacation.
Just as we have our goals and priorities to achieve at the bargaining table in order to improve things for our members, so too does the Treasury Board (TB) for the departments in the Core Public Service. These goals are sometimes complex and at odds with one another and sometimes directly opposed to one another. A barrier we face at the bargaining table is that the employer possesses the employee demographic data we need. Unfortunately, this round they are reluctant to share the data with us. It is our position that disclosure is part of the Employer’s duty to bargaining in good faith. Should this become a barrier to reaching a settlement, we can, and will file complaints with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.
In order to get to a tentative deal, both sides must move in various places. There are two ways that movement can be made at the bargaining table. Either both sides agree to a proposed change, or both sides agree to withdraw a proposed change. While it would be nice to get everything that we ask for, in reality there is a limited amount of space to work.
With summer coming up, I want to reassure our members your Bargaining Team will not be putting bargaining on hold. We have dates scheduled in June (20-22) and July (4-6) to meet with the employer. If all goes well, we plan on presenting our pay proposal to the employer at our June meeting. (Note that due to the meetings being in close proximity, there will be only one bargaining update encompassing both sets of meetings.)
Bargaining does not happen in a vacuum, and there have been lots of things going on in the broader realm of collective bargaining. We have seen tentative agreements from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), a general strike by bargaining units of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) in the core Federal Public Service and Canada Revenue Agency, followed by tentative agreements by said PSAC bargaining units as well as the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE).
The SP Bargaining Team wants to thank all of our members who walked the picket lines in support of striking PSAC members. Your support was truly appreciated by both them and PIPSC.
If you have any questions, please email the SP Bargaining Team at spbargainingteam@pipsc.ca.
In solidarity,
Marcel Beaudoin
SP Bargaining Team Communications Coordinator, PIPSC