Parks Canada Special Edition
In this issue:
- A message from the PSAC National President
- Our critical issues at bargaining
- Collective Bargaining under the new
A message from the PSAC National President
Bargaining with Parks Canada
Sisters and Brothers, this issue of Our Union Voice is being devoted to the negotiation of your next collective agreement with Parks Canada Agency.
This round of bargaining has certainly not been an easy one. We've seen the same slow pace and dismissive attitude from the employer that we saw at the last round of bargaining in 2004 that led to a two-month strike. However, I can say with full confidence that our members at Parks Canada are as determined as ever to win a good collective agreement that includes job security and fair wages.
The employer has said at the bargaining table that they see our national parks, canals and heritage sites as a “business to run in the most efficient manner.” This has meant cutting operational costs, which mainly affected the wages, benefits and job security of our members that we have fought so hard over the decades to win. Misuse of student hiring programs, contracting out and the refusal to close the wage gap and eliminate pay zones are part of the agenda of a corporate-minded employer that is supposed to be managing a public service agency.
Ironically, the values and operating principles of Parks Canada are as follows:
Parks Canada is a public service organization dedicated to the protection and presentation of Canada 's national parks, national historic sites and related heritage areas.
The employer's persistent effort to run Parks Canada as a business means that it has abandoned these values and principles.
We need to act collectively to reclaim these values. I urge you to get involved in mobilization activities taking place across the country. This is your collective agreement, and we all have a responsibility to ensure that it is the best possible contract we can achieve. This will require the commitment and solidarity of all members across all bargaining units, component and regions.
Your struggle for job security and fair wages goes beyond your interests as workers at Parks Canada. Your work in protecting and interpreting our culture, heritage and natural resources lends greatly to the quality of life of all Canadians. In the end, your victory at the bargaining table means a victory in our fight to defend quality public services and will be a victory for us all.
In Solidarity, John Gordon, National President
Parks Canada bargaining team: Regional Executive Vice-President (Atlantic) Jeannie Baldwin, Kevin King, Carrie Docken and Mike LeBlanc, Jack Norris, David Sauvé (negotiator) and Elisabeth Woods (research officer).
Our critical issues at bargaining
Our major demands can be divided into three categories: defending quality public services, protecting bargaining unit work, and negotiating fair wages. While our demands are designed to improve the working conditions and pay of our members at Parks Canada, they are also geared to allow our members to provide the best services to the Canadian public and to protect, maintain and preserve our national parks and heritage sites.
Think Public!
Quality public services make our country, communities and people safe and protected. They provide us with tools to take care of one another when facing sickness, poverty, unemployment and old age. They bring social equality by ensuring everyone's basic needs are met. They are what define us as a community and as a country. Many of the public services that we enjoy are proudly delivered by our members, including maintaining our national parks, heritage sites and canals.
Canadian parks contribute to improving our quality of life by offering recreational activities and green spaces for Canadians to share. They are also a symbol of our commitment to the protection of the environment as these parks are home to many species of plants and animals that depend on the preservation of their natural habitat to survive. The services our members provide are public and must remain public.
Public services threatened
Funding cuts, public-privatepartnerships (P3s) and contracting out proposed or implemented by our federal, provincial and municipal governments threaten the public services we take for granted. Relegating the delivery of these services to private companies is not a solution. As Canadian citizens, we have a right to demand a say in how these services should be delivered. We lose these rights when the private sector takes over the delivery of these programs. Private companies are motivated by profit first and place the welfare of people second.
The high cost of privatization
Public-private-partnerships and contracting out are government schemes meant to save taxpayers' money, but they actually end-up costing us more, both financially and socially.
A recent study done for the Canadian Federation of Municipalities1 concludes that P3s end up being much more costly in the long run than maintaining public services. Numerous examples here in Canada and abroad have also shown that the quality of jobs of the people who deliver public services, the effectiveness and safety of the services themselves and the accessibility to these services are diminished.
Privatization at Parks
Following the announcement of the 2008 federal budget, the employer stated that it is looking to contract out certain services and that this would affect between 100 and 150 people. The Agency has told us at the bargaining table that it does not yet know what positions will be affected. This is quite disturbing considering the negative effects of the privatization of public parks and services elsewhere.
Protecting public services and quality jobs: at the bargaining table and in the field
Many PSAC members have participated in mobilization activities, lobbied MPs and asked for public support in an effort to get the message out: well funded public services are better for everyone. Bargaining teams have also been addressing this issue at the table by telling Parks Canada that they will not stand for our members' jobs being contracted out. Our demands include nocontracting out language in the collective agreements and a revision of the Work Force Adjustment language to ensure job security for our members.
Misuse of student hiring programs
The May 2006 PSAC convention passed a resolution on student hiring. This issue is one of the union's top priorities. We are addressing student employment on a number of fronts, including at the bargaining table.
By the Parks Canada's own count, approximately 1,000 students work for the Agency. Students wear the same uniforms and do the same work as our members, but they are not covered by our collective agreement. They do union work, but they are not members of our union. This poses a very real threat to our union and to the students that do these jobs.
At Parks Canada, some of our union members have been told they will not be called back to work because students are cheaper labour. Also, Parks sent a message to some managers this spring, instructing them to only recall 50 per cent of the bargaining unit members normally recalled and to fill the remaining jobs with students. Our Parks union members are facing permanent job losses as a result of management misusing student employment programs.
Students are also affected. In some cases, student workers are required to work six or seven days straight on a regular basis.
The reality is that students are used as a cheap labour force to undermine our union and bargaining unit work. Our goals in these negotiations are clear: protect union work, protect the standards that we have won and protect students.
These have been our core messages at the table and on the shop floor:
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There is a place for student programs in the worksite.
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Students doing union work must be paid a union rate.
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If the employer wishes to assign union work to students, it must discuss with the union the conditions under which students are to work and gain our consent. It is our work, and we are the exclusive bargaining agent.
We have had several discussions at the bargaining table to date and have made little progress, but our Parks bargaining teams is committed to resolving this issue.
Justice for term employees
Term employees, by their very nature, do not enjoy the same level of job security as their indeterminate co-workers. Over the past rounds of negotiations, PSAC has made improvements for term employees in the federal public service. For example, PSAC fought to make several improvements in staffing policies and collective agreements to convert term employees to indeterminate status, thereby providing improved job security and curbing some employer practices that leave term employees feeling like they have second-class status.
This round of negotiations, we are seeking equality for term employees in these specific areas:
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The restoration of all unused sick leave credits when a term employee is re-hired within a year. There should be no loss of these credits after a short break in employment. If the credits were earned and unused, they should be retained so that a term employee has the same income protection if they fall ill.
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A definition of ‘service' for the purpose of determining vacation leave entitlements which includes all previous service as well as breaks between periods of service. This would allow term employees to accrue leave credits in line with their tenure as an employee.
These demands are about equal entitlements for members regardless of the length of someone's employment with the public service.
Seasonal employees
Many Parks employees work on a seasonal basis, which means that they are never sure how many hours they will have to work each week and when their work season begins and ends. Their jobs are designated as a percentage of a “full time equivalent” position.
So for example, if a person works half-time hours, their job is coded as “0.5 FTE.” Many Parks employees end up working many more hours than are reflected in their job designation. A lack of full-time status makes it difficult for people to access credit and buy a house. While many of our members have been working full-time hours for years, they don't have the security of knowing that they will be guaranteed those hours in the future.
PSAC is working hard to ensure that Parks workers' FTE designations better reflect the hours they actually work.
Wages
Annual wage increases
We proposed wage increases of five per cent for each of the three years of the collective agreement.
To come up with this wage increase proposal, we considered what kinds of increases other workers are negotiating. Bargaining settlement patterns for major employers show that wage increases are on the rise. Private sector wage increases in 2008 are already at an average of 4.1 per cent. That's a full one per cent above 2007. Settlements in the federal jurisdiction are up 0.5 per cent since 2007.
In addition, we are seeking to address unfair wage discrepancies through the closing of the wage gaps found in the GL, SC and HP classifications, and through the elimination of pay zones.
Eliminating pay zones
Some employees of Parks Canada are paid significantly less than those who do the same job elsewhere in the country. For example, on average, Operational Services employees with regional rates of pay working in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta make 9.4 per cent less than their counterparts in B.C. and the Territories. The average wage loss for similar employees in the Atlantic, Quebec and Ontario is 7.3 per cent. In response to this injustice, the PSAC Triennial Convention in May 2006 made the elimination of the pay zones a key collective bargaining priority for this round of bargaining.
The PSAC is seeking an upward harmonization of the current regional rates of pay.
Receiving less pay for doing the same job for the same employer significantly reduces employee morale, particularly when the vast majority of the federal public service (including Members of Parliament), enjoy national rates of pay. For example, a Member of Parliament from Toronto would never agree to be paid 7.3 per cent less than an MP representing a B.C. riding; nor would an MP from Edmonton accept being paid 9.4 per cent less than his or her B.C. counterpart.
Changes in the overall labour market point to the need to eliminate regional rates of pay. The job market for Operational Services jobs has changed completely, with employers competing nationally for trades workers and operational service employees. The trades work force is far more mobile and willing to relocate than it was in 1967.
With a very high proportion of operational employees eligible to retire in the next five to 10 years, federal government employers will have to compete with employers throughout the economy for a small pool of workers. Quite simply, they can no longer afford to use regional rates of pay as a way of keeping their costs down.
Even after implementing national rates of pay, they will need to fight hard to retain the current workforce and hire new employees. Eliminating regional rates of pay is a relatively inexpensive solution to this problem.
Other demands
Shift premiums: Increase to $5 per hour for all hours worked, including overtime hours, between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
Injury-on-duty leave: New language to eliminate the employer's discretion on length of time off due to injury or illness allowed to workers who receive workers compensation from a provincial authority.
Compassionate care leave: New article that provides for leave to workers who need to care for seriously ill family members. We are also demanding that the employer provide a top-up to Employment Insurance to 93 per cent of the worker's income.
Joint Learning Program: We are proposing the creation of a Joint Learning Program between PSAC and Parks Canada Agency.
National Joint Council: Demand that the employer agrees to participate in negotiations with the National Joint Council. The Agency agrees to all National Joint Council policies and matches changes in rates and entitlements made during the cyclical review of National Joint Council Directives applicable to Parks Canada employees.
Social Justice Fund: The employer contributes one cent per hour worked by each Parks employee to the PSAC's Social Justice Fund to assist people in Canada and around the globe.
Appendix E: Demand that canal workers receive the same call back and reporting pay as other workers covered by the agreement, and discussions on scheduling of work performed during non-navigation season (“winter work”).
Appendix K – Workforce Adjustment: Strengthen the WFA provisions regarding affected employees and requirements to consult with the union; revise the language so that all transfers between employers in the federal public service are treated as WFA situations; and ensure that members transferred to other employers continue to receive equivalent wages and benefits.
Also: Various changes to contract language, including grievance language, due to the revisions under the Public Service Modernization Act.
Collective Bargaining under the new
Public Service Labour Relations Act
The Public Service Modernization Act has changed some parts of the collective bargaining process with major federal government agencies and contained in the new Public Service Labour Relations Act (PSLRA) which came into effect April 1, 2005. The PSLRA replaces the old Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA).
The old PSSRA put some limitations on bargaining and the new PSLRA does so as well. Our union has always faced challenges in bargaining, and we're ready and able to meet new challenges under the new Act.
The basic framework for collective bargaining remains largely unchanged but there are some critical differences.
Some things don't change
The union still serves notice to bargain in advance of the expiry date of each collective agreement. The only difference now is that notice can be served four months in advance, instead of three months.
The parties are still obliged to bargain in good faith.
All the terms and conditions of the collective agreement remain in force after the expiry date until either a new agreement is signed or until a bargaining unit is in a legal strike position.
There are still two methods of resolving a dispute if the parties can't agree on a new agreement: conciliation with the right to strike or arbitration. Once the union has served notice to bargain, we can't change our choice of method.
New conciliation process
The new legislation replaces the former Conciliation Boards with “Public Interest Commissions” or PICs.
The basic structure of the Public Interest Commission is very similar to the old Conciliation Boards. They normally consist of a chairperson and one nominee from the union and one from the employer. What's new is that the chairperson is chosen from a list pre-established by the Public Service Labour Relations Board, following consultation with the parties. Like the old Conciliation Boards, the PICs will make non-binding recommendations which the parties may or may not use to try and reach a deal.
Unlike the old Conciliation Boards, the PICs now must consider a set of factors when making their recommendations. These are the same factors that arbitration boards have had to consider as well as one new factor. The same factors include comparisons to outside employers and comparisons within the federal public service. The new factor for PICs to consider is “the state of the Canadian economy and the government of Canada 's fiscal circumstances.” However, the union had always addressed these factors in its presentations to Conciliation Boards.
The PICs now have 30 days to complete their reports. This is an increase from the 14 days given to the old Conciliation Boards. The Conciliation Boards had difficulty in meeting the old deadline and often went beyond the 14-day period.
Legal strike action can only take place seven days after the PIC report has been filed, which was also the case in the past.
Strike votes and strikes
Strike votes are now governed by the law. In the past, the Public Service Staff Relations Act was silent on how they were to be conducted. Because there were no legal rules about strike votes, the union generally held strike votes early in the bargaining process. Now, like the Canada Labour Code, the new PSLRA has an impact on when we take our strike votes.
The strike vote now has a “best before” date. Strike action is only legal if it begins within 60 clear calendar days of the strike vote. This means that we will hold strike votes much later in the process than has been our practice in the last several rounds of Agency and Treasury Board negotiations.
A legal strike can take place only:
- seven days after a Public Interest Commission has filed its report; and
- 30 clear days after the Essential Services Agreements (ESAs) process has been completed; and
- within 60 clear days of the strike vote.
The new PSLRA requires that a strike vote be conducted by secret ballot among all of the employees in the bargaining unit. PSAC has always conducted its strike vote by secret ballot. The difference now is that all employees in the unit are entitled to vote, even if they have not signed a union membership card.
Essential Services Agreements
Essential Services Agreements (ESAs) replace the old designation process.
PSAC's components and locals/ branches work on ESAs with their respective departments.
Unlike the old designation process in which the parties started from scratch in each round of bargaining, the ESAs that are put in place during this round of bargaining will remain in effect in subsequent rounds of bargaining unless they're amended.
As in the old designation process, if the employer and the union can't agree on the ESAs, the dispute is referred to the Public Service Labour Relations Board.
Strike action can't take place until 30 clear days after an Essential Services Agreement is signed by the parties or ordered into effect by the Board.
Something old with a new name
The new Act contains an employer “free speech” clause. This is a new provision that says that employers don't commit an unfair labour practice if they express their point of view “so long as they do not use coercion, intimidation, threats, promises or undue influence.”
During the bargaining process, PSAC members will find out what is happening during negotiations directly from the source – the members representing them at the bargaining table. Regular bargaining bulletins will be issued and members will be able to ask questions and get answers through their locals/branches, PSAC regional offices and components.
The members of the bargaining teams are working to get the best possible settlement for you while the employer has a vested interest in selling you an agreement for as little cost as possible. Where would you rather get your information?
1- Hamel, P. (2007) Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) and Municipalities: Beyond Principles, a Brief Overview of Practices. INRS
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Date Modified : 2008/08/26
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