RE :  Classification Grievance Process on Conversion to ACS-SP Group

Please find enclosed for your information and for your members, a joint communiqué from the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announcing the creation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the above-noted subject.  You will receive under separate cover a copy of the MOU with Bulletin 21/07.

You will note in the enclosed joint communiqué that it states “further information will be disseminated by the Union of Taxation Employees to its members concerning the internal union process for the collection of members concerns”.  This information will be provided to you along with a copy of the signed MOU.

Should you have any questions or require any further clarification, please feel free to contact Linda Cassidy or Kent MacDonald at (613) 235-6704.

In Solidarity,
Shane O’Brien
Shane O’Brien,
Senior Labour Relations Officer.

Encl.

November 19, 2007

Classification Grievance Process
Conversion to ACS-SP Group

In the interest of implementing the ACS-SP Standard and conversion to that Standard, as well as expediting the classification grievance process, the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with respect to the above.  A copy of the formal MOU will be posted on the CRA website and will also be sent to each local of the UTE.

As of this date, all employees should have been given advance notice of their new ACS-SP levels. Pursuant to the MOU between the parties, the period within which classification grievances may be presented on each job will be extended to start on July 1, 2008 and end on August 06, 2008 in order to allow the parties to review employee concerns and to consult meaningfully with respect to these concerns before filing classification grievances. Employees who are members of UTE will have an opportunity to provide their concerns through their Local directly to the National Office of UTE where they will be analyzed, compiled with others and presented to the Agency’s Corporate Organization and Classification Division (COCD). COCD will respond to UTE’s submission no later than June 30, 2008. Should the parties be unable to resolve employee concerns, employees shall have the right to present grievances commencing on July 1, 2008.

The MOU also goes on to modify the grievance procedure to provide for the efficient and expeditious processing of employee grievances by allowing UTE to advance a single grievance relating to the classification of a particular job. This singular grievance and any remedy flowing from it, however, will apply to all employees occupying the specific job being grieved. It should be noted that nothing in the MOU will serve to negate or otherwise adversely affect the members’ right to exercise the grievance procedure established between the parties, but serves for a more efficient and streamlined approach to implementing this new initiative. 

Further information will be disseminated under separate cover by the Union of Taxation Employees to its members concerning the internal union process for the collection of members’ concerns.

Should you have any questions or require any further clarification, we recommend that you speak with your local union representative or your manager or consult either the Agency’s ACS-SP website or the UTE’s website at www.ute-sei.org.