The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
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2019 AFS AGM - NCR IT Regional Representative 2019 Report

I am pleased to represent the NCR IT Region's interests on Collective Bargaining, Consultation and Representational with   CRA as part of the AFS National Executive.

On the Regional and National Level

  • CRA consults with the National Executive before it implements most new programs.  Although the union may not agree with all the new policies; we have worked in confined and non-confined discussions to protect and take into account the members rights and benefits.  In addition, Joint Union Management Committees exist to monitor and provide feedback. 
  • As the NCR IT Regional Representative I have Regional Union Management Consultation Meeting (RUMC's) with the AC/CIO & DAC where I bring up issues and get updates on issues affecting our members.  Issues such as long term acting's are discussed, we want to ensure that everyone has fair access for acting opportunities.  We also monitor the number of  Long Term Contractors.
  • The NCR IT Region was divided into four subgroups this year.  The creation of the these additional subgroups have allowed for the first time local NCR consultation at the Director General level   Members will be able to access the local subgroup to deal with local issues.  For Regional issues and issues that cannot be resolved locally, I will address them at the RUMC with with the Assistant Commissioner/CIO.
  • The NCR IT region has 2,494 members distributed in the 4 subgroups as follows:

Billings Bridge   516 members

Fitzgerald  535 members

Trainyards  210 members

NCR IT (Heron,  St Laurent, Downtown)  1,233 members

  • Thee Union Steward Initiative (USI) which I signed does allow for the recruitment of  stewards and we now have 40 stewards.  Furthermore, ITB Management will work towards assuring stewards and future candidates that the Branch supports and values their role as a steward.
  • Union Management Approach has been relaunched this year.  Supervisors and stewards are to meet and work with each other to resolve issues a the appropriate lowest possible level.  The Agency and the union are committed to resolve issues using Interest Based Negotiations (IBN).
  • For the Building Consolidation Project we are actively engaged in the process so that our members concerns are taken into account when the ITB HQ Buildings are renovated or replaced. 
  • Employee's continue to use EAP services at a rate of 5.8%.  As the stigma of Mental Health Issues is being reduced there has been an increase in the utilization of Mental Health benefits.
  • Employees were paying more than 50% of the Superannuation (Pension) Cost so the 2019 Employee Contribution Rate dropped by 0.35% to 11.78% of your salary.
  • CRA continues to provide us with their Staffing Plan and has posted it on Infozone where it will be kept updated.   This will allow our members to see how the staffing is evolving over the coming years.   We expect job number stability in the NCR over the next year.

For CRA to continue to recruit the best technology professionals and retain them Compensation needs to better correlate to private industry salaries.  Attached is a link to the  2019 Robert Half Technology & IT Salary Guide.

In this current round of Bargaining, continued support for the Bargaining Team and the Union will be needed if we are once again to receive a Fair Contract and Compensation that reflects the unique work and challenges that AFS Members face in maintaining the income and benefits programs Canadians depend on.

Allaudin Alibhai

AFS National NCR IT Region Representative

613-809-6453