Pay Zones

August 4, 2006

Pay zones: it's time for them to go!

Where did pay zones come from?

At the time collective bargaining commenced in 1967, there were some 27,000 “prevailing rate” employees. These employees were paid hundreds of different local rates of pay established in comparison with local market conditions. There were, for example, 320 GL pay zones. Collective bargaining resulted in the merger of “prevailing rate” employees with “classified” employees hired under the Civil Service Act . In the case of the GL group, for example, 71% of the 18,000 employees included in the bargaining unit at the time of certification (August 29, 1967) were prevailing rate employees. The other 29%, or 5,200 employees, were “classified” and were paid a national rate of pay.

The merger of these two different types of employees required considerable rationalization of the pay structure. The first GL and GS collective agreements thus established regional rates of pay for 36 zones. PSAC tried to correct this problem in the second round of bargaining, but a n arbitration tribunal found the zone issue “too complex” to make any changes.

In 1972 PSAC proposed a reduction in zones from 36 to 18 in order to clear away anomalies in the 36-zone structure. In the end, a reduction to 25 zones was agreed upon. In 1975, the issue of pay zones resulted in a five week strike of GLs, the strike ending just hours before back-to-work legislation was to be introduced. Among the gains made was the reduction to 22 pay zones.

Pay zones were reduced to 16 in 1984; in 1987, the number of zones was reduced to 10, and then 7 a decade later. Finally, in 2000, the number of zones was reduced to three at Treasury Board and to only two at CRA. These reductions were achieved during rounds of negotiations where members retained the right to strike.

So how do we get rid of pay zones once and for all?

Since 1970, our goal has been to eliminate pay zones so that Operational Services workers, like the vast majority of the federal public service workers, are paid the same wages whether they work in St.John's or in Victoria . The road has been long and painful, but the best gains were made when the members were ready to strike for their rights.

The upcoming round of Treasury Board and Agency bargaining will provide us with an opportunity to eliminate this antiquated and unfair system. PSAC members must make this a priority in the next round of bargaining, and history has shown that the conciliation and strike route will best achieve this goal. Membership mobilization and solidarity will be essential to achieving national rates of pay – let's work together to make this happen!