National Union-Management Committee (NUMC)

MINUTES OF THE NATIONAL UNION-MANAGEMENT CONSULTATION (NUMC) COMMITTEE MEETING BETWEEN THE UNION OF TAXATION EMPLOYEES (UTE) AND THE CANADA REVENUE AGENCY (CRA)
 HELD ON DECEMBER 8, 2005.
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OPENING REMARKS

Betty Bannon, National President of UTE, chaired the meeting and began by welcoming everyone.  The National President was pleased to see the Commissioner, Michel Dorais, in attendance, as well as most of the branch and regional Assistant Commissioners.  The Union stressed the importance of the NUMCC as being a forum whereby senior management can hear, first-hand, the concerns and issues of employees as brought forward by their union representatives.

The Union mentioned that this NUMCC was particularly noteworthy, as the Commissioner and the National President would be signing the new Union-Management Consultation Agreement.

The Commissioner also welcomed everyone to the meeting, and reiterated the commitment that he and all Regional Assistant Commissioners would attend the NUMCC meetings.

AGENCY 2010

The Commissioner stated that he had recently met with the National President to discuss Agency 2010, the Agency’s Blueprint for the next five years.  He noted that while the Agency’s efforts in the first five years had been focused primarily on the implementation of the governance structure and the overhaul of human resources and administrative services, the Five-Year Report gave the organization a solid and secure base to move forward to the second phase of its transformation.

The future success of the Agency depended on three fundamental elements: an emphasis and focus on the core business of the Agency, the continued maturation of the Agency’s governance models, and the pursuit of growth in the programs the Agency delivered to taxpayers.  The Commissioner was of the view that the Agency had not yet reached its full potential, and believed the future included the search for new clients such as various levels of governments and business with the provinces.

The official launch of Agency 2010 would take place in 2006, however the Commissioner wanted to promote discussion among all employees through the dissemination of a video production outlining the Agency’s future.

The National President thanked the Commissioner for providing an overall vision of the Agency in 2010.  She also expressed concerns regarding the CRA’s future direction, for example, the Government’s Common and Corporate Services plan, as well as the implementation of Service Canada (SC).  The Union did not want to see the jobs in the CRA eroded to be taken over by Service Canada.

The Commissioner stated that although the implementation of Service Canada would result in savings for the government, the Agency would only entertain further discussions with SC should it prove beneficial to the CRA.  That being said, it was likely that a CRA employee would be placed at Service Canada locations during the tax season to assist taxpayers.  However, the Commissioner reassured the Union that anything requiring access through the CRA network would automatically be redirected back to the Agency.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING – ESSENTIAL SERVICES AGREEMENT

An initial meeting with UTE had taken place on November 15, 2005, at which time both parties shared their thoughts on the collective bargaining process, and the timing required to conclude an Essential Services Agreement.  At that meeting, Management had agreed to consider the Union’s preference of having an agreement signed by Spring 2006.  The Agency was in the process of assessing the feasibility of this option by taking into account different initiatives such as the ACS-SP Project, and other reorganizations that could impact on the Essential Services Agreement.  Management agreed to provide an update to UTE prior to January 15, 2006.

Management reiterated its preference to conclude an Essential Services Agreement in advance of when the notice to bargain was given, based on the cooperation of both parties.

The Union asked for confirmation that the Agency did not intend to increase the current list of designations.  Management stated that while the final outcome could not be predicted, it was not intentionally looking to add positions to the list, but needed to ensure that positions identified as essential were representative of the organizational needs and in accordance with the requirements of the new PSLRA. 

COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Management mentioned that on November 4, 2005, the Union met with the Competency Based Human Resources Management (CBHRM) Advisory Committee to discuss a number of proposed improvements to the current PQP process.  Management said that it would be in a position to provide feedback to the Union on its comments in the near future.  Meanwhile, ongoing internal consultation was taking place, and Management expected to share a more defined plan on the improvements in mid-January.

The Union was encouraged by the improvements and recommended implementing the changes as quickly as possible, but noted that changes to the recourse procedures were essential if employees were to have any confidence in the process.  UTE appreciated having the opportunity to discuss its concerns with the CBHRM Advisory Committee, and cited this forum as another example of good Union-Management consultation at the CRA.

OBSERVE AND ATTEST (O& A)

Management thanked the Union for its participation and valuable feedback during the Observe and Attest (O&A) training session held in June 2005.  It went on to state that the training of the facilitators/coaches had been rolled-out, and in some regions, managers had started receiving O&A training.  Positive feedback had been received to date on the training.

The Union mentioned that its comprehension of the initiative was much better now than during the inception.  That being said, UTE expressed concern that in some regions when facilitators/coaches discussed the issue of recourse within the training sessions, they indicated that the Union had agreed that grievances would not be filed on O&A, which was not the case.  Management agreed to clarify the matter with the field, and encouraged the Union to advise management if such comments continued to be made. 

CLIENT SERVICES INITIATIVE

Payment Counters

Management reiterated the commitment to maintain payment counters in CRA offices, that is, cheques and debit card payments would continue to be accepted, but not currency.  The Agency was also exploring the best way to implement a No Currency Policy while at the same time maintaining service to taxpayers.  Although taxpayers would be entitled to make CRA cash payments at a financial institution, the cash transaction would need to meet the requirements set out under the Legal Tender Act and/or the Currency Act.  Management stated that the policy would first be piloted at the Kelowna TSO in March 2006, followed by the TSOs in Trois-Rivières and Toronto Centre, in May 2006.

The Branch would be working closely with the regions to develop communication products advising taxpayers of this initiative.  Management reaffirmed that neither the pilot nor the national rollout should result in any reduction of staff.

UTE expressed concern with the Agency’s “no currency” direction, stating that front line employees would be the ones dealing with taxpayer resistance to this program, and needed to be provided with the necessary training.  The Union also asked whether the Agency would reconsider the No Currency Policy should the pilots prove to be unsuccessful.

The Commissioner acknowledged the Union’s concerns, and confirmed that employees would be provided with the necessary training to deal with potential situations at the counter.  A number of communication products would be prepared, and taxpayers would be advised in advance of the upcoming changes.  It was crucial that every effort be made to ensure the pilots were successful so that it would not be necessary to revert to the original decision to close the counters altogether.

The Union suggested that local offices communicate with local financial institutions to advise them of this initiative.  The Commissioner agreed that this was an excellent suggestion.

Enquiries Counters

Management reiterated that the decision to modify access to the Agency’s services by having individuals make appointments was as a result of the Agency’s $110M commitment to the Expenditure Review Exercise.

Management took the opportunity to note that the Unions were briefed on the human resources impact analysis of the Enquiries Counters Initiative on November 30, 2005.  Management noted, however, that the impacts would be revisited after a period of time, if it was determined that additional resources were needed.  Management offered to provide the Union with the number of employees impacted versus the financial resources impacted.

UTE was then provided with information on the In-Person Service Renewal Strategy, which was intended to educate and assist taxpayers in the use of self-serve options such as the CRA web site and the 1-800 telephone network, to target outreach activities to taxpayer needs, to invest additional resources in call centres in response to the expected increase in call demand, and to partner with other levels of government, federal departments and community associations to expand the reach of the self-service options.

The rollout of this initiative would occur in two phases.  The first phase would begin in January 2006, and see the CRA move forward on the self-service and service by appointment options.  Offices would provide self-service options during the transition to service by appointment, as well as educating and communicating, internally and externally, on in-person service changes.

Phase II, targeted to start in the summer of June 2006, would involve analyzing the information gathered during the first phase as well as fine tuning the information contained in service delivery models and communication tools.  Additional learning, adaptation and evaluation would take place prior to moving to the service by appointment only, as well as making the service by appointment available nationally through 1-800 lines.  The initiative would likely move forward in the fall, with an expected completion date of March 2008.

UTE asked if it was common knowledge that approximately $4M in savings for 2006-2007 would be reinvested into regional programs.  Management explained that the savings would go back to Treasury Board.

The Union concluded by stating that they were not opposed to implementing an appointment policy but encouraged the CRA to offer walk-in service as well as prescheduled appointments. 

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES

The Union drew attention to the fact that it continued to receive numerous complaints from members, specifically pertaining to career opportunities in light of the move towards imperative staffing of bilingual positions, combined with the lack of opportunity to learn the second language during working hours.  Furthermore, the majority of employees who were the feeder groups for higher level positions were coming from the field offices, and they consequently needed to be provided with training opportunities, which in the Union’s view would benefit all the parties.

UTE suggested that the CRA resurrect the exchange program, where an employee learning a second language would work in an environment conducive to learning the language. Management stated that it supported this type of initiative.

The Commissioner mentioned that Official Languages was a renewed priority for the Federal Government requiring a significant change to the organizational culture of the public service.  The changes to the Official Languages Policies impacted the whole Federal Public Service, and depended upon a mixture of available resources, the number of designated bilingual positions, as well as the availability of training opportunities. 

Management then added that the CRA’s Action Plan for the Renewal of Official Languages Program 2005-2008 had been shared with the Union on October 20, 2005, and that the plan identified language training as a key priority.  Also, an analysis was being conducted on the various options to alleviate the impact of staffing bilingual positions on an imperative basis.  The results would be shared early in the new fiscal year 2006-2007.

Management had also recently shared a report with the Union, which demonstrated that 2,713 requests for language training for 2005-2006 were received, and that the CRA was in a position to meet the demand.  Management stated that it would continue to give serious consideration to requests for language training, noting, however, that it was a shared responsibility.  The Agency needed to determine the most appropriate time to send employees on language training, and employees in turn, needed to invest the time required to become bilingual.

Management mentioned that the National Committee of Champions of Official Languages would be meeting on January 31, 2006, and extended an invitation to the Unions to meet with them to discuss its concerns.

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION REORGANIZATION

Management stated that as a result of the implementation of improved contracting processes and systems, there was a reduction in the volume of regional contracting requirements.  Therefore, the remaining workload was consolidated in the Quebec Region through the establishment of a centre of professional services for regional contracting, resulting in human resources impacts.

The Union expressed concern regarding the November 3, 2005, announcement on the changes to the Contracting, Forms and Call Centres, in particular, that this workforce adjustment situation was considered by Management to be a “lack of work initiative” rather than a “relocation of work”.  As a result, UTE filed a policy grievance.  While UTE expressed frustration when dealing with the Agency on WFA issues, its intent was to work with the CRA to resolve them.

Management acknowledged the Union’s concerns, and suggested that a meeting be scheduled with the National WFA Committee to initiate a more in-depth discussion on the issues.

UNION-MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE (UMI)

The Assistant Commissioner, Human Resources Branch stated that she had attended a Union-Management training session on October 13, 2005, along with the Commissioner, the UTE National President, and other Senior Union and Management representatives.  Everyone who attended subscribed to the UMI Philosophy and signed the Philosophy Statement.  As a result, the Union-Management initiative was formally launched and a communiqué was forwarded to employees and published on InfoZone.

The Commissioner stressed that Management and Union representatives in the regions and local offices also needed to subscribe to the UMI Philosophy, through regional and local steering committees that would oversee UMI implementation in their respective areas.

UTE replied that although achieving consensus on national implementation had been a challenge, it was encouraged to see that the Steering Committee had been established and would be meeting on December 12th and 13th to begin discussions on the Terms of Reference, training, and communication tools and strategy.  The Union also stressed the importance of clear communication on the intent of the initiative to ensure the same level of understanding across the Agency.

AGENCY CLASSIFICATION STANDARDS (ACS)

UTE asked whether the ACS-SP Project was on target and stated that priority needed to be given to the initiative in order for it to be successful. 

Management explained that work on the initiative was continuing as planned.  The draft standard had been shared with a number of stakeholders, including the Union, and while close to being completed, continued to be a work in progress.  Some concerns had surfaced regarding the quality of the work descriptions.  Consequently, additional analysis was required. 

The Commissioner stated that given the importance of having good quality work descriptions both for the project and the Agency, various quality review processes were being explored and that priority would be given to securing experienced individuals from the program areas to write the work descriptions.

Management thanked the Union representatives working with the ACS-SP Project team for the good work and valuable comments provided in support of this initiative.

CRA PILOT PROJECTS

The Union expressed concern regarding the length of time projects retained their pilot status, and the impact this had on the term population.  UTE asked to be consulted on the status of pilots, especially if the pilot was being extended past a specific time period.

Management acknowledged the Union’s concerns and agreed that pilots needed to have an end date.  While pilots had been put in place to evaluate and validate new ways to conduct business, and although no set rules existed as to the length of time required for pilot projects, they should normally last until such time as the proof of concept confirms that the new processes should be incorporated into the regular workflow or not, as the case may be.  As an example, the Revenue Collections Branch would be undertaking a review of its National Program Delivery Model for 2010 that would provide recommendations on some pilot activities.  Management expected to share those recommendations with the Union by April 2006.

The Union then asked if the regions made their own decisions on how to distribute the funds allocated from the function.  Management replied that regional decisions were based on a partnership, and ongoing discussions with the branches.

WORKFORCE ADJUSTMENT

The Union expressed concerns regarding the CRA’s interpretation and application of the Kreeway decision. 

Management replied that the matter was still under review, and that discussions would resume at the next meeting of the National Workforce Adjustment Committee. 

WORK ASSESSMENT PROJECT (FORMERLY PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS)

Management stated that the new name, Work Assessment Project better reflected the intent of this pilot project, which was meant to assess the work activities undertaken by PM-02 Collections Officers.

The team leaders working in the pilot offices would be using the templates in preparation of the employee performance evaluations, with an expected completion date by the end of October 2005.  Once the pilots had been completed, an analysis would be conducted of the usefulness, the outcomes, as well as any suggestions for improvements to the templates.  Management anticipated that the analysis would be completed this winter.  Additional evaluations and consultations with the users and the Union would be undertaken through a second, wider, series of pilots.  The goal was to present a well-tested tool for national implementation by September 2006.

The Union mentioned that they had heard positive feedback on the Work Assessment Project and recommended that other areas research the possibilities for their respective programs.

JOINT TERM EMPLOYMENT STUDY

Management stated that on November 16, 2005, the Union was provided an update on the status of the implementation of the Term Study Action Plan, as well as issues such as generic job descriptions, seasonal employees, and the Term Commitment Report, to name a few.  In addition, further to management’s commitment to change the tenure of at least 25% of the subject population from term to indeterminate, an updated status report was provided to the Union on November 8, 2005.

Moreover, additional information on the analysis of seasonal employment would be made available by the end of March 2006, and supplementary Union consultation would take place on the Manager’s Toolkit before setting a completion date.

Management also appreciated the Union’s comments on the draft Management of Terms directive, and expected that the directive would be approved in early 2006-2007.

The Union expressed concern regarding the length of time needed to finalize the directive, as the information contained in the document was urgently needed in the field.  UTE encouraged the CRA to issue the Management of Terms directive, as soon as possible.

The Union was of the view that the regions did not fully comprehend the importance of the term committee recommendations, and urged the Commissioner to communicate his support of the term recommendations. 

UTE then took the opportunity to express its frustration when attempting to discuss
off-season benefits for term seasonal employees, and consequently asked for clarification as to the appropriate forum that should be used.  Management recommended that a meeting be scheduled to further discuss the Union’s concerns.

DIRECT LINK TO UNION’S WEBSITE (FORMERLY ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARDS)

The Commissioner was pleased to announce that the direct link to the Union’s website had been made available to employees on November 23, 2005.  Employees would now be able to access the links through InfoZone under “Employee Corner”.

Management also mentioned that a disclaimer had been added to inform employees that they would be leaving the CRA site and entering the Union’s website.  As per a previous commitment, a letter had been sent to the PSAC National President to advise her of this decision, and that Management reserved the right to discontinue access to Union sites, should the Unions post information adverse to the CRA.  However, based on the Agency’s experience with UTE, Management did not anticipate the need to do so. 

The Union was pleased to hear this announcement as it had been a very long time in coming.

CLOSING REMARKS

The Commissioner thanked the National President for chairing the meeting, and noted that a great deal had been accomplished since the last NUMC.  He thanked everyone for a productive meeting, and looked forward to future discussions.

The National President also thanked the participants and noted that the number of agenda items demonstrated that Union and Management were working in between meetings to resolve the issues and also provide closure on certain matters.

All participants were wished a very happy and healthy Holiday Season by the Commissioner and the National President.

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