The RCMP CM Negotiation Team has successfully concluded negotiations in mediation with the Treasury Board to secure a Memorandum of Agreement establishing the terms for transition of RCMP civilian members into the PIPSC collective agreements. The RCMP CM Memorandum of Agreement (RCMP CM MOA) is effective upon deeming, May 21, 2020, and your existing terms and conditions, including pay-matching, continue until that time.
This agreement is the culmination of months of preparation, including a review of all RCMP terms and conditions, membership survey, bargaining conference with CM participants, many meetings of your Negotiation team, nine days of negotiation meetings with Treasury Board and three full days and evenings in mediation.
The RCMP CM Negotiation Team set out to accomplish a fair and equitable agreement to address the concerns and priorities of our civilian members, as identified by civilian members in the membership survey. These priorities included Sick Leave, Annual Leave, Hours of Work, Overtime, Lieu Time Banks and Retirement Relocation.
Highlights of the Agreement
The following terms will apply for all civilian members upon deeming:
- Sick Leave – PIPSC members currently receive sick leave bank credits under the collective agreements, and are eligible for Long-Term Disability (LTD) after thirteen (13) weeks (65 days). Upon deeming, civilian members will be granted a sick leave bank of a minimum of 65 days or 10 days per year of service, whichever is greater.
- Vacation – Civilian Members will retain the accrual rate in effect upon deeming, until reaching the next increment under the collective agreement. In addition, each civilian member will receive:
- A one-time vacation entitlement of five (5) days as provided for under the collective agreement; plus
- An additional one-time vacation leave adjustment of forty (40) additional hours.
With the inclusion of two days of personal leave per year available under the Collective Agreement, over 85% of civilian members will receive more paid leave than under the existing RCMP Terms & Conditions.
- Hours of Work – Change from 40 hours per week including paid half-hour meal break to 37.5 hours with unpaid lunch.
- While CM's are pay-matched in respect to annual salary and weekly pay, this results in a 6.67% increase in the hourly rate for the purposes of calculating overtime and payouts of leave bank and compensatory/lieu time.
- Civilian members required to remain on duty during their lunch hours will be paid overtime.
- All leave banks, including vacation and lieu time credits, will be maintained at existing levels upon deeming, with no adjustment due to the increase in hourly rate. This represents a 6.67% increase in the value of these credits at time of payout. Maximum carry-over provisions under the collective agreements will not apply until March 31, 2021, with excess amounts paid out at the new hourly rate.
- Retirement Relocation benefits have been retained for those eligible due to a relocation that occurred prior to deeming.
- RCMP Funeral & Burial entitlements have been retained.
The Agreement includes a parity clause, which requires the employer to incorporate any civilian member transition measures, negotiated by another bargaining agent (union) between now and the date of deeming, which are more generous than those contained in the agreement.
Additional Details
We will be preparing information packages and scheduling information webinars specifically for civilian members in the coming days and weeks. Please monitor your email for more information.
Next Steps
The RCMP CM Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) will be included in the Minutes of Settlement for renewal of the PIPSC Group Collective Agreements, for ratification. Presently the AV, NR, RE, SH and SP Groups have reached tentative agreements for renewal collective agreements, and these groups will be commencing the ratification process in the coming weeks. As part of the ratification process, information packages are being prepared for distribution to every eligible member of these groups, including registered civilian members, which will provide more details of the proposed changes to the group collective agreements, including the results of the Central Agreement and the RCMP CM MOA.
The CS Group is preparing for mediation in July, and the RCMP CM MOA will form part of the outcome of the CS negotiations.
In the event that a PIPSC group collective agreement is not signed prior to deeming, the expired collective agreement will apply to the civilian members in this group, except that the terms and conditions of employment included in the RCMP CM MOA will also apply.
You Must Be a Member to Vote
In order to cast your ballot during the ratification process, you must be registered as a PIPSC member. You can register here: https://www.pipsc.ca/member-tools/application
Thank You!
The Negotiation Team would like to recognize the continuous contribution and support of PIPSC President Debi Daviau, Director of National Labour Relations Richard Beaulé, and the PIPSC Communication and Mobilization Teams during these historic negotiations.
Better Together!
RCMP CM Negotiations Team,
Daniel Chamberlain, Chair
Civilian Member