We’re the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), representing more than 35,000 employees of Canada Revenue Agency. We exist to maintain and advance the workplace rights of our members – a big task in today’s federal public service!
It’s a job we take very seriously. The UTE believes in fostering a constructive relationship with Agency management. But, we’re aggressive in protecting our members’ interests – from the office floor to Parliament Hill.
As a progressive, innovative union, our vision extends into the future. At the same time, our roots go back more than half a century. In 1943, employees working for the then Taxation Department first organized themselves into the Dominion Income Tax Staff Association. Then, as now, federal workers recognized that unionizing is the best insurance policy against unfair and unreasonable employer actions.
In 1966, with the advent of free collective bargaining in the federal public service, the UTE joined the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) as the “Taxation Component”. Our 1987 convention voted to adopt our current name. With the passage of the CCRA Act, we moved from a department of the federal public service to an agency. This Agency was proclaimed on November 1, 1999. On December 12, 2003, the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) became the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
UTE members work in such areas as Taxpayer Services, Debt Management, Audit, Finance and Administration, Human Resources, Information Technology (IT), Compensation, Enforcement, Appeals, and the Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch (LPRAB). They fall into either the SP or the MG Classifications.
These groups are covered under one collective agreement (the Program and Administration Services agreement).