Press release

July 4, 2003

PSAC gears up for bargaining

OTTAWA – In preparation for the upcoming round of Treasury Board negotiations, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is holding its National Bargaining Conference at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Ottawa from July 6th to 10th, 2003. The conference is crucial to a successful round of negotiations and will set the stage for the first bargaining session with the Treasury Board slated to begin in September.

PSAC National President Nycole Turmel outlines the importance of the conference: “One of the goals of the conference is to develop a strategy to ensure that all of our members affected by this round of bargaining understand the issues and are committed to them. Our ultimate success depends on a membership that is willing and able to demonstrate support for its bargaining position day in and day out at the work place. And finally, it depends on members being prepared to withdraw their services – to strike – if necessary to force the employer to treat our demands seriously.”

Over 60 delegates to the Conference will review the package of demands submitted by PSAC members across the country in order to draw up a list of priorities, elect bargaining team members and plan strategy. The package covers a range of issues all the way from the creation of a Social Justice Fund to increased leave for family reasons to wage demands.

The PSAC fully expects the Treasury Board to come to the table saying that it has to take into account increasing economic uncertainty while maintaining fiscal responsibility and managing taxpayers’ money prudently.

The response from the PSAC will be strong and unequivocal. “Compensation within the federal public sector cannot be tied to short-term economic shocks, such as SARS and Mad Cow disease. It has to be based on the work that people do, on productivity and on the cost of living. By these measures, federal public sectors have a lot of catching up to do”, says Robyn Benson, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President (REVP) responsible for collective bargaining.

The reduced surplus forecast for 2003 and 2004 should not be a determining factor in bargaining talks either. Gerry Halabecki, REVP responsible for collective bargaining, explains: “While we can expect the employer to come to the bargaining table declaring that the sky is falling, we know better. We know that some of the $50 billion in surpluses generated over the last five years was made on the backs of PSAC members. So, while a reduced surplus is not good news from a bargaining perspective, it is not a justification for low wage increases.”

Negotiations for approximately 90,000 members employed by the Treasury Board begin in August. These members work in four different categories: Program and Administrative Services, Operational Services, Technical Services and Education and Library Science.

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Information: Liz Holden
Coordinator, Communications and Political Action
Work: (613) 560-4280

32-040703