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Our negotiating team is in place. Our first dates are set.

Earlier this year members of the UTE Collective Bargaining Committee reviewed bargaining proposals submitted by locals and members throughout Canada. With the Negotiating Team now in place and dates set for the Negotiating Team to meet with our PSAC Negotiator and finalize our demands, our union proposed dates to commence bargaining in May (next month).

The Agency indicated that it would not be ready to commence negotiations until June. Consequently we have now confirmed collective bargaining dates with CRA for the weeks of June 18^th and July 2^nd. The parties are also set to discuss potential dates in late summer and into the fall.

Our union is committed to improving our working conditions at CRA and to fighting to protect the hard-won gains in our current contract.

Together, we can make Canada Revenue Agency a better place to work.

Once the bargaining process gets underway and we have exchanged demands with CRA, we will be posting on the web both our proposals and those of the employer. If you have any questions speak with your Shop Steward, a member of our bargaining team or your UTE Regional Vice President.

Look for more updates as things progress. Also be sure to visit: http://psacunion.ca/employer/canada-revenue-agency or https://www.ute-sei.org/en/bargaining for more information.

PSAC/UTE members at Canada Revenue Agency
MY Contract. My Voice.

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Équipe de négociation formée. Date des premières séances fixée.

Plus tôt cette année, le comité de la négociation collective du SEI a revu les revendications soumises par les sections locales et les membres de l’ensemble du pays. Nous avons formé l’équipe de négociation et fixé la date des rencontres avec le négociateur de l’AFPC pour mettre la dernière main à nos revendications.

Nous étions prêts à entamer les pourparlers avec l’employeur en mai, mais l’Agence nous a avisés qu’elle ne serait pas prête avant juin. Nous nous sommes donc entendus pour aller à la table de négociation les semaines du 18 juin et du 2 juillet. Il devrait également y avoir d’autres séances à la fin de l’été et au début de l’automne.

Nous sommes déterminés à améliorer les conditions de travail à l’ARC et à lutter pour protéger les gains durement acquis.

Ensemble, nous pouvons faire de l’ARC un endroit où il fait bon travailler.

Lorsque les négociations auront débuté et que nous aurons échangé nos propositions avec l’ARC, nous afficherons ces propositions sur le site Web du SEI et de l’AFPC. Si vous avez des questions, communiquez avec votre délégué syndical, un membre de votre équipe de négociation ou votre vice-président régional du SEI.

Nous vous encourageons à suivre l’évolution des négociations en consultant notamment le site Web du SEI (https://www.ute-sei.org/fr/negociations) et de l’AFPC (http://syndicatafpc.ca/employeur/Agence-du-revenu-du-Canada).

Les membres de l’AFPC-SEI à l’ARC
MON contrat. Ma voix.

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This afternoon at our semi-annual Presidents’ Conference, I announced the composition of the UTE Bargaining Team. The team will be composed of eight members:

• Adam Jackson, Chair of the Committee and 2^nd National Vice-President
• Jamie vanSydenborgh, Co-Chair and RVP Southwestern Ontario Region
• Gary Esslinger, RVP Prairie Region
• Cosimo Crupi, RVP Northern and Eastern Ontario Region
• Eddy Aristil, RVP Montreal Region
• Greg Krokosh, RVP Rocky Mountains Region
• Brian Oldford, RVP Atlantic Region
• Michelle Neill, TSO Presidents’ Representative and President of Local 90002 Charlottetown

Now that the team has been created, they will be meeting with our negotiator Morgan Gay, in the near future. Brother Gay will be contacting the CRA negotiator to exchange demands and set up dates to start the negotiations. We ask for your continued support throughout the bargaining process.

Our bargaining team will keep you informed throughout this process. Be sure to go to ute-sei.org and psacunion.ca for updates or sign up for email alerts. Also, should you have any questions, please contact your UTE Local President.

In solidarity,

Marc Brière
UTE National President

AGM Meeting has an update

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CRA arbitration decision on wage re-opener is released

March 14, 2018

The Conciliation Board released on March 14, 2018 its decision regarding the wage dispute between the CRA and the PSAC-UTE. This decision finally puts an end to the parties’ wage dispute.

On January 31^st, 2018 our PSAC/UTE Bargaining Team presented our case before the Conciliation Board at the Federal Public Service Labour Relations Board on the wage dispute with the CRA for wage increases for the years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

For the two years commencing November 1^st 2014 and November 1^st 2015, the Conciliation Board awarded an additional 0.5% increase in both years over and above the 1% increase negotiated in the parties’ current collective agreement.

	Current collective agreement	Additional increases awarded
Effective November 1, 2014	1%	0.50%
Effective November 1, 2015	1%	0.50%

* Please note that out of the 1%, 0.25% was in exchange of severance.

While this outcome is better than the additional 0.25% increase that was put forward by the CRA during the arbitration hearing, we are disappointed that the Conciliation Board didn’t go further in addressing our wage proposal.

The CRA has a maximum of 150 days from today to adjust employees’ wages and pay out retroactive payments.

In the meantime, the UTE Collective Bargaining Committee is finalizing its review of the membership demands submitted by locals across the country last year in preparation for the next round of bargaining with the Agency.

We will continue to update as things progress. Be sure to go to www.ute-sei.org  and www.psacunion.ca for updates.

PSAC/UTE members at Canada Revenue Agency 

United for a Fair Contract

Sisters and Brothers,

Please read below an important message from the PSAC regarding the federal government’s decision to delay the recovery of overpayments and emergency pay due to the Phoenix pay system.

I received today the confirmation by CRA officials that this decision applies to all departments and agencies, including the Canada Revenue Agency. Therefore, this decision will also applies to our members.

Please distribute this message to your members.

In Solidarity,

Marc Brière

Président national du SEI

UTE National President

A Phoenix Victory Source

In response to pressure from PSAC, the federal government has finally agreed to halt recoveries of overpayments, emergency salary advances (ESA) and priority payments until employees’ pay files have been cleared of all outstanding transactions. This means employees will receive any and all funds they are owed before they must reimburse the employer for any overpayments or emergency pay.

“Many of our members who received overpayments have also been underpaid, are missing entitlements, or are owed retro pay from the collective agreements signed last year. That is why PSAC has been pushing for a whole-person approach to pay files before beginning any recoveries. Thanks to the hard work of our members and our union, the government is finally listening,” said PSAC National President Robyn Benson. “However, we will need to hold their feet to the fire to ensure this commitment is fully implemented on the ground.”

No recovery of an overpayment (including ESA and priority pay) is to commence until an employee’s pay file is completely reconciled; namely, until the employee’s pay problems, such as incorrect or no pay, have been resolved.

New approach to recovery of emergency pay

Recovery of ESA and priority pay will now be treated the same as the recovery of overpayments, and will have the same flexibility under the new directive in the Terms and Conditions of Employment. The goal is to end the hardship being caused by the recovery of emergency salary advances and priority payments.

Until now, most departments have been instructing the pay centre to recover ESA or priority pays from the employee’s next pay cheque, as per the existing directives. This has resulted in many employees being caught in a cycle of needing to access emergency pay time and time again because pay problems are often not resolved by their next pay cheque.

“We are disappointed it took so long for the government to be convinced that their standard directives on recovering emergency pay were problematic in the era of Phoenix,” said Benson. “That said, we are relieved to see them finally making these much-needed changes. PSAC and our members will now need to be vigilant in holding the employer to account when it comes to these recoveries.”

PSAC strongly urges its members who are accessing emergency pay to speak to their section 34 manager about the changes to how recovery will be done for ESA and priority pay.

Flexibility of recovery

When overpayments are discovered, employees will be notified in writing. However, recovery should not begin until the following criteria has been met:

1. All monies owed to the employee has been paid out.
2. The employee experiences three stable pay periods.
3. A reasonable repayment plan has been agreed to by the employee.

The same applies to the recovery of emergency salary advances and priority pay.

PSAC members who face problems as a result of recoveries should immediately contact their steward, pay advocate, local executive, component or their nearest PSAC regional office.

Further Update

Sisters and brothers:

The June 28 GTA Service Modernization (GSM) announcement had potential radical changes to our organizational structure. CRA management at all levels saw fit to make decisions and attempt to implement GTA Service Modernization (GSM) without any consultation from the unions or you, the people whose lives and careers were going to be turned upside down.

The impact of the announcement was felt immediately by all of us. Shock, anger, anxiety from the commute to the extra time on the road, the additional expenses, the familial obligations, the lack of career development. The list went on and on and rightly so.

Because of you taking action to fight for what you believe in over 700 grievances from UTE were filed across the GTA and our voices were heard, all the way up to the National level. Our PIPSC brothers and sisters were very vocal too.

As a result of your voice and your actions true consultation has happened over the last few months. Your local UTE executives from across the GTA met with local management on a weekly basis along with PIPSC reps. This was our Local Working Group Committee. At these meetings, your union executives have worked hard and pushed to have your concerns addressed to the best of our ability within the constraints that we were given. We pushed hard for the work-life balance you deserve and and pushed hard to ensure career development for all our members in all our GTA locals. All of that is not only what’s best for our members but best for the CRA.

We worked with management and assessed each model provided for review. We believe that this new model reflects our concerns as much as possible and is a significant improvement for our membership – the focus on virtual reporting and workplace flexibilities in many ways is vastly different from the original model presented on June 28.

We will continue to fight for these flexibilities during the implementation stage of modernization.

Thank you for your support over the past 6 months, and thank you for your continued support in the future.

These last few months have proven again the positive change we, union brothers and sisters, can bring about when we are strong, united and take action together.

When true consultation is held, the best outcomes can be had for all parties involved.

In solidarity,
Your UTE GTR Local Executive