It’s back to bargaining in a ‘much fairer’ environment
Sick leave and public servant wages top of mind ahead of six-day session
The Public Service Alliance of Canada will return to the bargaining table Saturday to kick off an unusual six-day negotiation session, ready to talk sick leave and wages for public servants now that the Treasury Board has agreed to all but throw out the Tories’ rules on collective bargaining.
PSAC president Robyn Benson said the session is taking place in a “much fairer bargaining environment” now that the Liberals’ have agreed to a set of interim measures that get around rules imposed by Tory legislation.
In fact, the union has considerably toned down its rhetoric against the government compared to even a week ago when it was staging rallies and demonstrations across the country to protest the slow pace of bargaining and boycotting National Public Service Week.
“I am cautiously optimistic,” said Benson. “What I am trying to say (to the government) is that ‘You have levelled the playing field, so let’s get down and do some negotiations.’ We are two years in and our members want a fair agreement.”
Benson said the interim measures were a “big win” for the unions, but Treasury Board President Scott Brison wouldn’t have agreed if the unions hadn’t held protests and lobbied MPs for the changes. “Not to be disrespectful, but Brison wouldn’t have done this on his own,” she said.
The government has met with the 18 unions in two- or three-day sessions, but never over a weekend since this contentious round of bargaining began more than two years ago.
All eyes are usually on PSAC when it’s at the bargaining table because the government needs the buy-in from its largest union before it can resolve the most protracted round of public service union bargaining in years.
PSAC has also been the most vocal critic of the government’s proposal to replace the existing sick leave with a new short-term disability plan. Treasury Board negotiators have been holding firm on the plan.
Benson said the union and government still have many nonmonetary issues to deal with, but she said she expects discussions on sick leave.
The last offer proposed eight days of sick leave. It limited the carry-over to two days a year and abolished the existing bank, which has about 15 million days of unused sick leave.
Public servants now get 15 days a year of paid sick leave, which they can roll over and bank from year to year. They typically take about 12 days a year and are banking the rest. Benson wouldn’t discuss the offer. However, the Association of Canadian Financial Officers, which represents the thousands of financial officers working in government, recently raised eyebrows when it said the latest improved offer may open the door to a longawaited settlement.
It’s the first union to publicly muse it may be willing to give up sick leave for a new short-term disability plan.
“The revised short-term disability plan tabled by the employer represented considerable movement from the plan tabled in previous bargaining sessions,” ACFO said in a statement on its website.
“With several additional improvements we are confident that a short-term disability framework could be implemented that is superior to the current sick leave regime in place for the (financial officers) community.”
The definition of disability is similar to the current requirement for sick leave. The proposed shortterm disability plan will cover employees for 26 weeks consisting of 100 per cent of salary for the first 17 weeks followed by 70 per cent for the next nine weeks.
That’s a big improvement for young public servants or those facing chronic illness who have not banked enough sick leave for a long or recurrent illness. If they fall ill, they must wait 13 weeks before qualifying for long-term disability. Those who have banked sick leave can use it to bridge this waiting period, but those who don’t go on employment insurance and face a big income drop.
ACFO lead negotiator Scott Chamberlain said the union made counter proposals to the latest offer and if adopted the union could “recommend this short-term disability plan to the membership.” It has proposed an annual raise of 3.5 per cent over the next four to six years.
“We are nowhere close to signing a deal, but I would say we are in the realm of talking about something that is viable after more than a year of (talks) not moving anywhere,” Chamberlain said.
ACFO is the first union to publicly suggest the possibility of taking up the federal government’s offer for a short-term disability plan since the unions signed a landmark solidarity pact when bargaining began two years ago. At that time, the 18 unions vowed to present a united front against making any concessions on the sick-leave regime now embedded in all employees’ contracts.
That position held fast and further solidified as the Conservatives changed the rules for collective bargaining, then passed legislation giving the government the power to impose whatever deal it wanted.
The Liberals picked up the Conservatives’ short-term disability proposal when they took over negotiations, but have since promised to repeal every piece of legislation seen as anti-union that the Conservatives introduced.
It’s unclear whether ACFO’s position reveals a crack in the solidarity pact’s united front or if the Liberals have changed the bargaining climate enough that unions are coming around.
Chamberlain argues ACFO is not breaching the pact because the union will not make concessions and accept a new plan unless it’s better than what its members enjoy now.
“The solidarity pact, from our perspective, is not to accept any income-replacement regime that doesn’t improve the current one. Our duty is to members and if we feel they offer an income-replacement regime better than we have now, our duty is to put it out to members for a vote.”
ACFO has stood apart from other unions from the start because it had tabled a proposal for a new short-term disability plan at the previous two rounds of collective bargaining.
For the unions, the big deal breakers are: hiring an insurance company or third party to process and manage disability claims; abolishing banked sick leave; and taking sick leave provisions out of collective agreements.
Chamberlain said ACFO tabled a counter-proposal that addresses those issues and seeks more annual sick days and additional sick-leave carry-over.
Like other unions, it wants employees to be able to draw on banked sick leave to top up their salaries to 100 per cent during the nine weeks when payments drop to 70 per cent of salary.
The solidarity pact ... is not to accept any incomereplacement regime that doesn’t improve the current one.