Report to the 2018 CS Group AGM
President
To: CS Group AGM
From: Stan Buday
Date: June 9, 2018
The year in review always provides us a chance to look at how far the CS Group has come since our last Annual General Meeting. It allows us to take an objective and subjective look at what we have accomplished and what still must be done.
It may have been a year without bargaining, but it has been far from quiet. We concluded our last round of bargaining before our 2017 AGM and now the fight to defend our new language has only just begun. We have moved from one challenge, the negotiation of a new collective agreement, to the new challenge of ensuring that the employer complies with the changes to our articles on contracting out and technological change. Within months of the signing our new contract, there is a fully supported plan in place to review all tenders for IT work on Buy and Sell, question contracting departments and file grievances when and where needed. We continue to educate our members on the critical amendments to these articles in order to build awareness and provide the tools required to ensure that they will benefit from the hard work of their bargaining team.
The CS Group has worked within PIPSC to promote both its agenda and that of our union as a whole. We are a strong proponent of collaboration amongst all Groups, supporting their issues and seeking their support for ours in return. We speak with clarity and integrity at every forum: at the PIPSC AGM, at councils, at Sub-group AGMs, the Advisory Council and the Strategic Bargaining Committee. We have the ability to influence the direction taken by our union on key issues and we do so with foresight and consideration for the needs of both the Group’s members and of the Institute. We have formed strong ties formally and informally with other Treasury Board Groups including the AFS, SH, AV, SP and NR Groups. This cooperative effort has demonstrated a united front in bargaining and in the passing of key resolutions at the PIPSC AGM and the Advisory Council.
The CS Group has also formed closer ties with departmental consultation teams principally as a result of the work to promote our Article 30 language on contracting out. This has solidified the connection between the Group and this effective structure that presents our concerns at union-management consultation tables.
Work on a new “IT” classification standard is now taking place. We expect to see the results of this work, the introduction of new technical work streams and the generic work descriptions of the CIO suite over the next two years.
The Institute is in the midst of negotiating a new sick leave plan. The Group is well represented on both the Advisory and Technical Committees that meet frequently on behalf of the Institute and is now engaged in a campaign to meet with and inform our members across the country.
The clear priority of the Group remains our fight against contracting out and of course the preparation and focus on the next round of negotiations.
A Year in Review
Your CS National Executive has attended all major Institute events including Steward and Regional Councils. We have interacted with our stewards and members across the country, discussing our collective agreement and building engagement and support in anticipation of the upcoming round of bargaining.
Regional executive representatives have attended as many Sub-group AGMs as possible. In my role as president, I met with stewards and members during, before and after Steward and Regional Councils in British Columbia, Ontario and the NCR. I attended Sub-group AGMs in Vancouver, Comox, Kingston, Moncton, Fredericton, Regina, Toronto, Burlington, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Annapolis Valley, Charlottetown, Bathurst and the NCR. I was able to provide updates to a large number of our members at these events. I have also met with various departmental CIOs, TBS CIO Alex Benay and leadership at the Canada Digital Service. I participated with other activists once again lobbying MPs on reducing the extent of privatization of IT services in the Federal Government.
I represent our Group at the Advisory Council and on the Strategic Bargaining Committee. These committees are instrumental in directing the course of our union. Our goal has always been to influence the focus of these bodies and their impact on the Institute
I also continue to participate on CS Group and Institute committees including the Bargaining Team, the Contracting Out Action Team, the Contracting Out MOA Team, National Organizing Steering Committee, Classification, Budget, CS Executive Steering Committee and CS and PIPSC AGM Delegate Selection.
Bargaining, Organizing and Mobilization
Preparation for the next round of bargaining has already begun.
A survey has been sent out to our members and the results tabulated and prioritized. Our Contract Proposals Committee has met and identified areas for improvement in our collective agreement. They have analyzed our past proposals for articles to be included in our future demands. The national executive has reviewed the work and settled on moving towards a normal course of negotiations. We will be deciding on the bargaining route in the coming months.
And we will be demanding that the employer recognize the current IT worker retention and recruitment crisis and pay our members appropriately for the work that they do. Any further misrepresentation of retention and recruitment issues is unacceptable. Contractors are paid far more for the same work of our members. Achieving wage parity with other federal government IT employees must be the basis of any new contract. Equal pay for equal work.
Strategically coordinating bargaining with all Institute Groups is one of the most effective means of advancing our interests in negotiations. We will be participating in coordinated and lead table negotiations where we deem appropriate.
The foundation of our Group has been and always will be our Sub-groups. They are the grass roots contact and the conduit of information to and from our members. When they flourish, so does the CS Group.
The National Organizing Committee will be relying on a strong Sub-group structure to support our goals in negotiating the best deal possible for our members. Our success is in direct relation to the demonstration of that support.
Contracting out and Privatization
The Contracting Out Action Plan is in full swing. Tenders have been reviewed, questions asked of the employer and grievances filed. We have the support of our stewards and Institute staff is providing the resources needed for success.
We are having an impact as departments are taking notice and have come to the realization that we do not take our new language lightly and nor should they. Meetings with the various departments have met with mixed results but our message is consistent: we will no longer tolerate the unbridled use of contractors doing the work of our members and our Group.
The bargaining team also negotiated a Memorandum of Agreement on developing guidelines on the use of contractors at SSC, DND and ESDC. The work has been slow but we are hopeful that the results will be productive and useful in curbing the hiring of contractors and the tendering for managed services.
Lastly, we keep reminding the employer of the failures of Phoenix and ETI when we hear of new initiatives to privatize the services that our members faithfully provide.
The Days Ahead
Bargaining begins anew. We will deliver the best contract that we can in the time it takes to do so. We will not be rushed into anything less than a good deal or be pressured in any way. That is a promise that I will make to our members. We will work with other Groups where it makes sense and find our own way when it does not.
I promise as well that your national executive will work hard on your behalf in bargaining, organizing, fighting contracting out, pressing for member training and for a classification standard that truly represents the work of CS members.
With deep respect and in solidarity,
Stan Buday
CS Group President
Proudly CS since 1998