September 24, 2007

Canada Revenue Agency Bargaining Unit

A productive first full week negotiating with CRA

After a week at the table with the CRA, your bargaining team is pleased to report that we're continuing to make progress and that negotiations are moving at an unprecedented pace.

Why are these negotiations different? This time, both parties have come with a real willingness to negotiate. The process is less formal, less structured and as a result, more productive. A significant change from past rounds is that the employer's team is at the table with the authority to negotiate. Instead of continually checking with their “principals”, the Agency team is ready and able to make some decisions.

The use of joint sub-committees to tackle some of the more detailed and complex issues is also helping move the process forward. The ACS-SP sub-committee has been putting in considerable work on the details of applying a salary schedule to the new SP classification plan. Workforce Adjustment (WFA) issues are also being discussed in a joint sub-committee and many of the union's concerns already have been addressed.

We have agreement in principle on a number of proposals that may eventually be part of a settlement package. The employer's team has indicated they are prepared to table a full economic package once the ASC-SP sub-committee has finished its work, which is expected to happen early next week.

More bulletins will be issued as negotiations continue.

We can't do it without you

We've said before and we'll say it again – the support of our members is what gives us our strength at the bargaining table. We offer another big thank you to our Local Presidents and activists for organizing activities in support of bargaining. We need to keep up the good work. Just because negotiations are progressing well so far, doesn't mean that we can take a good settlement for granted. CRA needs to know that you support your team and the bargaining demands that are at the table and that you won't agree to a second-rate offer. We're counting on you.

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