PHOENIX: DAMAGES RULED TAXABLE AS TREASURY BOARD REFUSES TO COOPERATE

May 3, 2021May 3, 2021 00013UTEuser

PHOENIX: DAMAGES RULED TAXABLE AS TREASURY BOARD REFUSES TO COOPERATE

May 3, 2021

After months of waiting, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has rejected our request to review the taxability of Phoenix damages. This is directly due to Treasury Board’s refusal to provide CRA with a joint statement of facts which corrects CRA’s understanding of the purpose of our damages settlement agreement.

In an April 27 letter from the CRA, the Agency states:

As discussed in our meeting on February 3, 2021, we consented to reconsider our position only if the Employer and PSAC provided us with an agreed-upon statement of facts. As this did not happen, we have not considered any of the assertions in your draft statement of facts.

After numerous requests for Treasury Board’s cooperation, and direct appeals to Minister Duclos, they have refused any and all cooperation on the matter.

“It’s clear they’re still angry that PSAC forced them to deliver a better deal for our members,” said PSAC President Chris Aylward.

“They’re frustrated that they have to honour the top-up clauses signed with the other unions to match our general damages agreement, and now they’re taking it out on PSAC members by sabotaging attempts to get a positive tax ruling.”

Tell Minister Duclos to stop blocking

CRA from reviewing their decision!

Our union carefully worded the agreement to reflect a wide range of impacts suffered by PSAC members, including for “stress, aggravation, and pain and suffering” and for the late implementation of collective agreements. There is a strong precedent of damages for those purposes being deemed non-taxable by CRA. The tax treatment of the general damages should reflect the purpose of that compensation as outlined in the agreement.

It is unacceptable that Treasury Board refuses to affirm these facts. Instead they informed CRA that the agreement’s purpose is to resolve a policy grievance between the employer and the union – something that may be true for other unions, but not for PSAC’s damages agreement.

We will not let this stand without a fight.

While we continue to explore every legal avenue to appeal CRA’s decision, please take a moment to join our efforts by sharing your outrage directly with Minister Duclos and the Prime Minister.

Our goal is to ensure all PSAC members receive the full compensation they deserve and that we avoid any time consuming and complex tax disputes for individual members. We are also pushing Treasury Board to expedite the availability of the claims process for all former members and retirees who are still waiting to receive their Phoenix general damages.

We will provide additional updates to members about this ongoing work as we move forward.

For more information about Phoenix damages, please check out our FAQ .

Uncover the Costs

March 29, 2021March 29, 2021 00013UTEuser

UNCOVER THE COSTS

March 29, 2021

“Canadians expect top quality service when it comes to accessing important emergency benefits. Privatizing a call center opens the door to a breakdown in communication, breach of privacy, and frustration for those who need urgent help.” – Marc Brière, National President of the Union of Taxation Employees

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has silently decided it will outsource roughly 130 jobs to a third-party contractor to answer general questions about the emergency benefits available to Canadians.

“Using an American mega-corporation with a reputation for scandal and corruption, to answer calls from Canadians on important questions regarding their emergency benefits opens the door to breakdowns in communication, breach of privacy, loss of trust, and high levels of frustration,” says Marc Brière, National President of the Union of Taxation Employees.

someone filling in a paper form Outsourced call centre agents will not get the same rigorous training or be held to the same high standards as CRA employees. And even though CRA insists these third-party agents will not have access to taxpayers’ personal information, Canadians may believe they’re speaking with a CRA representative and may unknowingly divulge their personal information.

“We have raised these objections with the government on numerous occasions, and now we’re forced to take this issue directly to Canadians. Tax season will be especially difficult this year, and they deserve to be served by the very best the public service has to offer,” concluded Chris Aylward, National President of PSAC.

There is no benefit for CRA to continue this outsourcing of jobs. The cost of contracting out is higher and less efficient than using public service employees. In the end, public dollars end up in the pockets of shareholders and wealthy CEOs and Canadians will pay the price with poorer service and privacy.

The individuals who answer people’s calls with concerns about emergency benefits should be employed by, trained by, and accountable to the Canadian government.

It’s in everyone’s interest to take immediate action. Demand this work be brought back into the federal public service.

Proposed Changes to Bylaws and Regulations of UTE Local 00013

March 26, 2021March 26, 2021 00013UTEuser

Proposed Changes to Bylaws and Regulations of UTE Local 00013

See Linked Documents Below for the Amendments

Please be advised we are proposing changes to the Bylaws and Regulations of Local 00013 of the Union of Taxation Employees of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. As per Bylaw 12, Section 2 of the UTE Local 00013 Bylaws and Regulations, please find attached a list of proposed changes and the proposed amended Bylaws. These changes will be voted on May 20, 2020 at our virtual Annual General Meeting. Further information will be provided shortly regarding the time of this event, the speakers presenting and how to receive a link to the virtual AGM.

Should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact any one of the Executives or the Stewards.

Thank you,

Andria Cullen
Local President
Union of Taxation Employees
00013 Toronto Centre

Relevant Files:
Bylaws and Regulations of Local 00013 With Amendments
Proposed Amendments

CRA STRATEGIC BUSINESS RESUMPTION PLAN

March 26, 2021March 26, 2021 00013UTEuser

CRA STRATEGIC BUSINESS RESUMPTION PLAN

March 26, 2021

As you are aware, since the CRA was delegated by the current Government the responsibility for administering the Emergency Benefits, the Union of Taxation Employees has collaborated closely with the employer in order to assist them in recruiting and encouraging our members occupying other positions to volunteer to perform duties related to the Emergency Benefits. As new workloads were created by the employer related to this function, we continued to consult meaningfully and collectively found positive and reasonable solutions to their need to redeploy additional employees.

Throughout all of these consultations, as stated earlier, we agreed to encourage our members to volunteer to work outside of their work descriptions and to take on functions unrelated to their position. In order to ease the administration normally required to move employees from one position to another, we agreed that on this interim basis, employees would not need to be provided with revised work descriptions and would not have to be deployed by means of a temporary lateral move. From the outset, however, we were adamant in our position that we would not accept forced or involuntary deployments or reassignments.

Recently, we were provided with the most recent version of the employer’s Strategic Business Resumption Plan and have held multiple consultations with various senior representatives of the CRA concerning this revised Plan. Again, we advised that we were amenable to working with them to encourage our members to volunteer to be reassigned, but remained firm in our position that we would not accept forced or involuntary deployments or reassignments of our members.

During our consultations, we explained to the employer that its own Staffing Program, does not allow for forced reassignments and that to move employees from one position to another, even on a voluntary basis, needed to be done through a staffing vehicle, such as a Temporary Lateral Move. Moreover, the collective agreement between the parties provides our members with the right to a complete and accurate statement of duties.

Despite our protestations, the employer has summarily dismissed our concerns and the advocating of our members rights and has indicated in its latest reversion of their Strategic Business Resumption Plan that while volunteers would be sought in some workloads, they will still be utilizing forced reassignments in others.

Notwithstanding the employer’s rigid position and its breach of the collective agreement and its own Staffing Plan, UTE is still asking our members to assist the Agency and indeed, the Canadian public, by giving serious consideration to volunteering to temporary lateral moves to the necessary workloads.

Having said this, UTE will not agree to the abrogation of our member’s rights and suggests that if members do not agree to their forced reassignment, contact their Local Union representative to challenge the employer’s forced deployment.

We suggest that if a Local Union representative is approached by members who are adversely affected by this forced reassignment, they have the member take the following actions:

The member should request in writing that the additional duties assigned be added to their current work description and that the work description be sent for point rating and classification;
The member should file a grievance contesting their forced reassignment;
The member should request Staffing Recourse against the forced or involuntary reassignment, arguing that it is an involuntary Temporary Lateral Move.

The National Office of the Union of Taxation Employees will also be examining other measures to challenge this arbitrary measure by the employer. Rest assured, UTE will do all in its power to protect our member’s rights!

In solidarity,

Marc Brière
UTE National President

Proposed Changes to Bylaws and Regulations of UTE Local 00013

March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 00013UTEuser

Proposed Changes to Bylaws and Regulations of UTE Local 00013

See Linked Documents Below for the Amendments

Should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact any one of the Executives or the Stewards.

Thank you,

Andria Cullen
Local President
Union of Taxation Employees
00013 Toronto Centre

Relevant Files:
Bylaws and Regulations of Local 00013 With Amendments
Proposed Amendments

UPDATE: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT FOR PREVIOUS UTE MEMBERS

March 8, 2021March 8, 2021 00013UTEuser

Source

UPDATE: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT FOR PREVIOUS UTE MEMBERS

March 8, 2021

Good news for former members of our union. The Canada Revenue Agency recently provided us with an update on the implementation of the monetary clauses of our new collective agreement with respect to its former employees.

Public Services Procurement Canada still plans to process the retroactive salary adjustment on March 31, 2021 and the lump sum payment of $500 in recognition of the extended implementation timeline on April 28, 2021.

We are happy to confirm that the CRA plans to pay past employees at the same time as current employees.

We will continue to keep you informed of any updates as they become available.

In solidarity,

Marc Brière
UTE National President

UTE DONATES $10,000 TO THE BLACK CLASS ACTION TRUST FUND

February 24, 2021February 24, 2021 00013UTEuser

UTE DONATES $10,000 TO THE BLACK CLASS ACTION TRUST FUND

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February 24, 2021

On December 10, 2020, a day recognized by the United Nations as Human Rights Day, the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) joined with the bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), in support of the legal action taken on behalf of nearly 30,000 past and present federal public service workers who identify as Black, Caribbean or of African descent.

Today we are proud to announce that UTE has approved a donation in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to help support the class action suit.

The class action (below), which has been filed with the Federal Court of Canada, argues that Black employee exclusion has led to economic and psychological harm for thousands of public service workers since the 1970s. The claim calls on the federal government to implement a plan to truly diversify the federal public service and provide restitution to tens of thousands of Black public service workers.

While this class action was advanced independently from the Union, our support of this legal action is well within the spirit and principles of our ongoing battle against racism, including the pursuit of the end of these practices and the resolution and remedy for our members as a result of these practices.

LOCAL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

February 24, 2021February 24, 2021 00013UTEuser

Local Annual General Meetings

source

February 23, 2021

As a result of the pandemic, Local Annual General Meetings (AGMs) were put on hold as in person meetings were not possible. The Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) has been working with online tools and we are re-scheduling these AGMs as virtual meetings.

Locals will be contacting members prior to the meetings and/or elections so that members can register themselves. If your local does not have your current personal email address, they may not be able to reach you.

You can find your local by visiting https://www.ute-sei.org/en/about/locals clicking on your region and then clicking on your local. If you have an upcoming AGM scheduled, it will be listed at the top of the page. This page will also provide you with contact information for your local.

If you are not sure which local you belong to, you may email Louise Dorion dorionl@ute-sei.org (dorionl@ute-sei.org) and she can look up your membership status and provide you with this information.

PSAC Ontario Federal Disability Insurance Plan for PSAC Members

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021 00013UTEuser

PSAC Ontario Federal Disability Insurance Plan for PSAC Members

Greetings,

PSAC Ontario will be holding a webinar on Federal Disability Insurance Plan for PSAC Members. Our guest speaker will be James Infantino, PSAC Disability Insurance and Pensions Officer.

The webinar is scheduled for:

Wednesday, March 3rd at 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

Topics covered in the webinar will include:

Federal Disability Trends
Provisions of the Federal Disability Insurance Plan
Filing a claim for Federal Disability Benefits
Appealing an adverse decision (denial) of a federal disability claim
Termination of Employment due to Disability

This webinar is open to ALL members.

Please use the following link to register:

Register Here

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to participate.

Should you have any questions, please contact Kellie Loshak at the PSAC Kingston Regional Office – loshakk@psac-afpc.com (loshakk@psac-afpc.com).

Please see the attached poster for further details.

In Solidarity,

Craig Reynolds,
PSAC Ontario Regional Executive Vice-President

Phoenix Damages Taxability Communications / Documents sur le caractère imposable du dédommagement Phénix

February 18, 2021February 18, 2021 00013UTEuser

Phoenix Damages Taxability Communications / Documents sur le caractère imposable du dédommagement Phénix

Hi everyone,

Unfortunately, I have some bad news.

It looks like the federal government is moving ahead in paying the Phoenix damages on March 3, 2021 even if the CRA has not yet rendered its formal ruling.

We just received this message from PSAC. It will be posted any minute on its website and Susan Duncan will post it on our website immediately after and on our social media.

PSAC is finalizing Talking Points and a Call to Action for the members.

We will give you more information as soon as we receive it from PSAC.

In Solidarity,

Bonjour à tous,

Malheureusement, j’ai de mauvaises nouvelles.

Il semble que le gouvernement fédéral aille de l’avant en payant les dommages pour Phénix le 3 mars 2021, même si l’ARC n’a pas encore rendu sa décision formelle.

Nous venons de recevoir ce message de l’AFPC. Il sera publié sur leur site web d’une minute à l’autre et Susan Duncan l’affichera sur notre site web immédiatement après et sur nos médias sociaux.

L’AFPC est en train de finaliser des Points de discussion et un Appel à prendre action pour les membres.

Nous vous donnerons plus d’informations dès que nous les recevrons de l’AFPC.

En toute solidarité,

Marc Brière

Président national / National President
Syndicat des employé-e-s de l’Impôt / Union of Taxation Employees

Government rushing Phoenix damages payment without tax ruling

The Liberal government has shamelessly chosen the 5th anniversary of the Phoenix pay system disaster to short-change thousands of PSAC members on their compensation for years of pay problems.

Even though PSAC is in the process of working with CRA to review the taxability of Phoenix damages, the federal government has confirmed that it intends to ignore these efforts and issue the up to $2,500 for our members, on March 3 – with taxes deducted.

“The government still has time to do the right thing,” said PSAC National President Chris Aylward. “General damages should not be taxed, so we’re calling on key ministers to immediately intervene to fix this before payments are issued.”

The $2,500 settlement, even if taxed, is still greater than the five days of leave offered to PSAC members, but it represents a violation of the language we negotiated into the agreement. PSAC maintains that general damages paid to all employees for ‘stress, aggravation, pain and suffering’ and for the late implementation of collective agreements are non-taxable, as CRA has acknowledged other specific damages in the settlement should be treated.

“It’s a slap in the face to the tens of thousands of PSAC members who suffered years of pay problems, and then worked non-stop during this pandemic to deliver aid and benefits to millions of Canadians in crisis,” said PSAC National President Chris Aylward.

PSAC will pursue every legal route to secure the full compensation that our members are entitled to. This includes tax challenges that would retroactively see our members reimbursed should the payments be issued as planned on March 3, but our goal remains to avoid any time-consuming and complex tax disputes for our members.

“Phoenix short-changed PSAC members for years – the last thing they deserve is for the government to short-change them again,” added Aylward.

PSAC will continue to work to resolve this problem and updates will follow in the coming days.

Caractère imposable du dédommagement Phénix : le gouvernement agit sans attendre la décision

Pour souligner le 5e anniversaire du cauchemar Phénix, le gouvernement libéral a décidé de flouer des milliers de membres de l’AFPC en leur faisant payer de l’impôt sur un dédommagement visant à compenser tous les problèmes causés par le système de paye Phénix. C’est scandaleux!

Pourtant, l’AFPC était en pourparlers avec l’Agence du revenu du Canada (ARC) au sujet du caractère imposable du dédommagement Phénix. Ne tenant pas compte de ces efforts, le gouvernement a confirmé qu’il verserait le 3 mars les indemnités, qui peuvent aller jusqu’à 2 500 $, en qu’il en déduirait de l’impôt.

« Il est encore temps pour le gouvernement de corriger le tir, déclare Chris Aylward, président national de l’AFPC. Un dédommagement, ce n’est pas imposable. C’est pourquoi nous demandons aux ministres concernés d’intervenir immédiatement pour régler la situation. »

Même avec les retenues d’impôt, le dédommagement de 2 500 $ est bien mieux que les cinq jours de congé offerts à nos membres, mais il reste que cette décision du gouvernement est contraire à ce que nous avions négocié. Pour l’AFPC, le dédommagement pour « stress, exaspération, douleur et souffrance » et pour la mise en œuvre tardive des conventions collectives doit être exempt d’impôt, ce qu’a d’ailleurs confirmé l’ARC au sujet d’autres dédommagements.

« C’est une insulte aux dizaines de milliers de membres de l’AFPC qui souffrent depuis des années à cause de Phénix et qui, malgré tout, ont travaillé sans relâche durant la pandémie pour venir en aide à des millions de Canadiens et Canadiennes », s’indigne Chris Aylward.

L’AFPC poursuivra toutes les voies légales afin d’obtenir la pleine indemnisation à laquelle nos membres ont droit. Nous entreprendrons notamment des contestations fiscales qui permettraient à nos membres d’être remboursés rétroactivement si les paiements étaient versés comme prévu le 3 mars. Nous espérons toutefois éviter de longs et complexes litiges fiscaux.

« Phénix a pénalisé les membres de l’AFPC pendant des années. Ils ne méritent vraiment pas que le gouvernement les pénalise à nouveau », ajoute Chris Aylward.

L’AFPC continuera de travailler à résoudre ce problème et fera le point dans les prochains jours.