Question Period Note: Collective Bargaining

The government’s negotiation of new collective agreements for public servants.

•The Government of Canada has concluded collective agreements covering approximately 99% of public servants for the 2018 round of bargaining.
•Negotiations with the Public Service Alliance of Canada are underway for the next round of bargaining and we anticipate starting negotiations with other bargaining agents in the coming months.
•The Government of Canada remains committed to reaching agreements with all bargaining agents that are fair to employees, mindful of today’s economic and fiscal context and reasonable for Canadians

To date, the government has reached 53 agreements for the 2018 round, including recent tentative agreements, with groups covering close to 270,000 employees or approximately 99% of public servants in the core public administration (CPA) and separate agencies. The agreements include pattern economic increases over either three- or four-years, new provisions for caregiver leave, extended parental leave, and a memorandum of understanding on the implementation of collective agreements. Most agreements also include up to 10 days of paid leave for domestic violence.

The tentative agreement reached with the PSAC for the Border Services (FB) group has recently been approved by the Board and will be signed with the PSAC shortly.

Negotiations to conclude the 2018 round of collective bargaining are ongoing between TBS and two CPA bargaining units: the Police Operations (PO) group represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ships’ Officers (SO) group represented by the Canadian Merchant Service Guild. Negotiations are also ongoing between the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and four separate agencies: the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), the Statistics Survey Operations (SSO) and the Office of the Auditor General (OAG).

In the context of the 2021 round of collective bargaining, the PSAC filed notice to bargain for four collective agreements that expired in 2021: Program and Administrative Services (PA), Technical Services (TC), Operational Services (SV) and Education and Library Sciences (EB). The parties exchanged bargaining proposals in June 2021 and participated in negotiations during the summer and fall of 2021. Negotiations are scheduled to continue in the winter. The PSAC also filed notice to bargain with two separate agency groups: the Canada Revenue Agency and the Parks Canada Agency. These negotiations have not commenced yet.

Core Public Administration – Ongoing Negotiations
In the context of the 2018 round of bargaining, negotiations with two remaining groups are underway:
•Exchange of non-monetary proposals for negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) for a first collective agreement for the RCMP Police Operations Support (PO) group took place on May 27, 2021 and negotiations are ongoing.
•Negotiations with the Canadian Merchants Service Guild (CMSG) for Ships' Officers (SO) have started in July 2021 with the exchange of bargaining proposals. After two bargaining sessions, the CMSG signalled, in October, an interest in seeking the assistance of a mediator. Talks will continue between the parties towards reaching a settlement.

Separate Agencies – Ongoing Negotiations
In the context of the 2018 round of bargaining, the status of negotiations between the remaining four PSAC groups in the following separate agencies is as follows:
•Statistics Survey Operations (SSO) Negotiations with the PSAC are ongoing. In June 2021, following a joint application by SSO and the PSAC, the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board issued a decision authorizing the amalgamation of SSO’s two former bargaining units. Consequently, the parties are now negotiating a new collective agreement.
•Office of the Auditor General (OAG): At the end of October, the PSAC held strike votes with the bargaining unit. Since the majority of the members voted in favour of a strike, the PSAC is in a legal strike position but no strike has been declared yet. The OAG remains at the bargaining table and is prepared to continue negotiations to conclude a tentative agreement.
•Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS): Negotiations with the PSAC are ongoing. The CSIS and PSAC exchanged bargaining proposals on June 2, 2021.
•Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI): Negotiations with the PSAC are ongoing. The OSFI and the PSAC exchanged bargaining proposals on September 27, 2021.

None