FEDERAL VACCINATION REQUIREMENTS: NO POLICY UNTIL AFTER FEDERAL ELECTION

August 24, 2021

In a recent meeting with PSAC and other federal public service bargaining agents, Treasury Board committed to ongoing consultation in the development of a vaccine requirement framework.

The employer has confirmed that no new policy will be implemented until after the current federal election.

PSAC remains in support of vaccination requirements to protect the health and safety of our members and their communities. Throughout the consultation process, PSAC will ensure the protection of members’ rights in the workplace, as well as their right to privacy.

We will continue to provide updates as the federal government develops its vaccination requirements plan.

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, 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.

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.

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