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News release
September 11, 2004
Conciliation Board brings
strike date closer
for federal workers
OTTAWA – Tens of
thousands of Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members, working
in 70 federal government departments, are on a count down to strike
action.
The PSAC is appearing before a Conciliation Board starting Sunday,
September 12th, on behalf of its almost 80,000 members in the Program
and Administrative Services Group.
"Once again, a year of negotiations with Treasury Board for
this group have resulted in almost nothing being agreed to at the
bargaining table," says PSAC National Executive Vice-President
John Gordon.
While Treasury Board’s one and only offer to date is 1.75%,
1.25% and 1.25% over three years, money is not the only issue in
dispute, according to Gordon. "Our members are also looking
for improvements to family leave and maternity and parental leaves,
in order to achieve a better balance between the work and family
responsibilities."
Other demands include improvements to job security provisions, increases
in various allowances and better conditions for term workers. Members
are also seeking changes which will increase their protection from
harassment in the workplace.
" We’re hoping for a better hearing before the Conciliation
Board than we have so far received from Treasury Board,” indicates
Gordon. “We have spent days in negotiations providing rationale
for our demands, describing the working conditions that have prompted
the need for these changes with virtually no response from the employer."
Gordon says that Treasury Board’s wage offer doesn’t
address the fact that PSAC members’ salaries have been lagging
behind increases in the cost of living and increases in the private
sector, as a result of the years of wage freezes in the 1990s. "Treasury
Board’s offer is also well out of step with recent forecasts
by compensation analysts of salary increases of at least 3% in 2005."
The Conciliation Board has 14 days from the first day of the hearings
in which to file its report, although time extensions may be granted.
The union will be in a legal strike position seven days after officially
receiving the Board’s report.
The Program and Administrative Services group includes positions
mainly involved in the planning, development, implementation or
management of policies, programs, services or activities in the
federal government that are intended for the public or to support
the public service.
The collective agreement between PSAC and Treasury Board expired
on June 20, 2003.
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For information:
Louise Laporte,
PSAC Communications
(613) 560-4287 or (613) 558-4975
62-110904
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