Re:  Employees’ Right to Strike

IMPORTANT

There have been questions regarding the right of employees to strike when they have been assigned or seconded to a Department to which Treasury Board has the authority to enter into an agreement

To determine if a CRA employee working for a Department by virtue of an Assignment/Secondment Agreement, you must carefully check the applicable documentation; i.e., the Agreement, the Letter of Offer and the Term and Condition of Employment to determine under which collective agreement the employee is subjected.

If the employee is subjected to the CRA Collective Agreement, he/she is not in a legal position to strike.

If the employee is subjected to a Collective Agreement that is in a legal position to strike, then they may go on a legal strike.

Some agreements that have been characterised as secondment are in fact acting appointments pursuant to the Public Service Employment Act.  For example, in the case that was sent to the National Office, three (3) documents formed part of the secondment. 

The first document was a form entitled Assignment/Secondment Agreement. 

The second document was a letter of offer from the host department stating in part:

Congratulations, on behalf of Human Resources Development Canada.  I am pleased to offer you an acting appointment as Program Officer at the PM-02 group and level effective …  on a full-time basis.

Your rate of pay on appointment will be in accordance with the CRA salary range, which is currently … per annum.  You are also entitled a bilingual bonus payment pro-rated at $800.00 per annum.

Attached are the terms and conditions applicable to your offer. 

In making this offer, the Department exercised its delegated authority from the Public Service Commission to appoint the CRA employee into the bargaining unit position.  This was supported by the third document, the Terms and Conditions of Employment, which provided in part:

Your employment will be subject to the Program and Administration Services (PA)  Collective Agreement.

You are required to comply with the Public Service Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code.

By appointing and subjecting the employee to a Treasury Board position and Collective Agreement, he/she has the legal right to strike except if he /she is in a designated position.

NOTE: The agreement of each employee, in similar situations, must first be reviewed.  If in doubt, consult with the National Office.

In Solidarity,

Betty Bannon
National President