Report of the President - Executive Council

Marc Brière – Item 6

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING:

SALARY RE-OPENING CLAUSE:

On January 31, we presented our arguments before the arbitration board in Ottawa. The hearing is now closed and we await the arbitrator’s decision. The Board has two months to render its decision.

NEXT ROUND OF BARGAINING:

The preparations for the next round of bargaining are going well. The composition of the bargaining team has been finalized. It is composed of three (3) of the four (4) standing committee members as well as the five (5) Regional Vice-Presidents who are part of the National Bargaining Committee. Eight (8) people gave their names to be part of the bargaining team.

Robyn Benson, PSAC National President, and I agreed on a bargaining team composed of eight (8) people, rather than seven (7) as was the case in several other bargaining rounds. One of the reasons for this change was that we wanted to avoid having an insufficient number of people on the team in the event of multiple departures (for whatever reason) as was the case in the last round of bargaining. We did however decide on a quorum of at least six members in order to hold a meeting. In fact, it can sometimes be difficult to schedule meetings given everyone’s busy schedule. It should be noted that one of the two (2) following people, the Chair (Second National Vice-President) or the Co-chair of the Standing Bargaining Committee, who are de facto members of the team, must be present at each bargaining team meeting.

PROBLEMS WITH THE PHOENIX PAY SYSTEM:

Some of our members unfortunately continue to have problems with their pay. We continue to encourage our members to speak to their supervisor regarding the situation, but also to notify one of their Local representatives to get the assistance they need. We are also continuing to remind our locals to respect the memorandum of understanding with CRA regarding pay problems. My Executive Assistant, Brother Daniel Camara, also gets involved with CRA officials when necessary.

As for union dues, it should be noted that the increase that went into effect on January 1, 2017, in the amount of $0.35 per member per month, has still not been applied due to problems with the Phoenix pay system. The national UTE portion of the union dues is still $19.40 per month rather than $19.75.

On January 31, the PSAC also notified CRA authorities that the Union of Taxation Employees authorized an increase in union dues at its 2017 Triennial Convention in the amount of $0.92 per member per month. This increase will go into effect on March 1, 2018 and will bring the national UTE portion of the union dues up to $20.67 per member per month. It should be noted however that the normal process for making changes to the union dues of individual members through an electronic file at Public Services and Procurement Canada is not operational since the Phoenix pay system is still not capable of processing this data. Once electronic exchanges with Phoenix are possible again, the members will see an adjustment in their union dues.

AGMs:

AGM season continues and the national officers will be attending as many AGMs of locals as possible. Once again, we would ask the locals to coordinate their AGMs with other locals in the same region to facilitate travel by our national officers and to ensure a national officer presence at every AGM.

2018 PSAC CONVENTION:

As you know, the 2018 PSAC Triennial National Convention will take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto. Meetings will begin at 2:30 pm on Sunday, April 29 and will end at noon on Friday, May 4, 2018. The UTE will hold a caucus Sunday morning, with the time and room yet to be determined. Observers have until March 9, 2018 to register. The National Board of Directors (NBoD) met December 12 to 14 and approved the budget that will be proposed at the 2018 Convention.

NATIONAL OFFICE STAFFING:

We have renewed the contract for Sister Louise James for a period of six (6) weeks for an administrative support position until February 23, 2018. The total contract term for Sister Louise does not exceed four (4) months, thereby complying with article 44.02 of the collective bargaining agreement of Unit V of the Alliance Employees’ Union.

MEETINGS WITH CRA:

I have had meetings in person and over the telephone with CRA senior management. After long negotiations, on January 30 we signed two (2) memoranda of understanding with the Canada Revenue Agency including:

• Temporary incentive measures for CRA compensation advisors.

This memorandum therefore provides incentive measures that are consistent with those offered to compensation advisors of equivalent group and level represented by the PSAC in the core public administration in August 2017.

• Term members and leave credits

Under the memorandum of understanding, the continuous and discontinuous service of term members who received severance pay will be counted in the acquisition and calculation of annual leave credits. This memorandum of understanding is retroactive to November 1, 2016.

Lastly, as for the Union-Management Approach (UMA) philosophy, the Commissioner’s office has still not been able to find dates so that we can sign our engagement to respect the philosophy. I will continue to follow up on this matter. I also proposed that a launch video be recorded with the participation of the Commissioner of the CRA, the National President of the PIPSC-AFS Group and myself.

MODERNIZATION OF SERVICES - GREATER TORONTO AREA (GTA):

A meeting was held at the national level on December 8, 2017 to finalize the matter. I am pleased to confirm that following continuous and productive consultations between representatives of the Union of Taxation Employees and the CRA at the national, regional and local level, we were successful in making significant changes to the delivery of the Greater Toronto Area organizational model. In this regard, we were able to persuade the employer to not move employees before 2021, with the exception of those who might volunteer. Even in such cases, we were able to persuade the employer to review the situation before requiring employees to move. During this evaluation, the employer agreed to examine its requirements in 2021 in regards to relocations and work assignments and to engage in meaningful consultations with the employees affected and the UTE. This issue is an excellent example of effective union-management relations and our mutual willingness to return to the practice of holding serious and beneficial consultations for our members, their employees.

RENEWAL OF THE TRIENNIAL CONTRACT WITH A HOTEL IN OTTAWA: 

Our current contract with the Fairmont Château Laurier runs out at the end of 2018. After having examined the proposals of three (3) hotels for the next triennial cycle, we have concluded an agreement in principle with the Delta Ottawa City Centre Hotel.

WEB/COMMUNICATIONS:

Our website is working well.  Updates are occurring in a timely fashion.  We are working on displaying the items we have for sale and this section of the website will launch in April.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:

All IT systems have been running well. Regular software maintenance of internal computers, servers and network was performed. We replaced our internal phone system in the national office because the current one was no longer supported by the manufacture. There are significant cost savings with the new phone system.

DONATIONS / SPONSORSHIPS:

Donations/Sponsorships
Dons/Commandites
As of December 31, 2017 / Au 31 décembre 2017

Donations/Sponsorships
Dons/Commandites
As of March 6, 2018 / Au 6 mars 2018

NON UTE UNION EVENTS:

Non UTE Union Events
Événements syndicaux autres que ceux du SEI
As of December 31, 2017 / Au 31 décembre 2017

Non UTE Union Events
Événements syndicaux autres que ceux du SEI
As of March 6, 2018 / Au 6 mars 2018

GRIEVANCES:

GRIEVANCE REPORT
NOVEMBER 25^th, 2017 to MARCH 5^th, 2018

Since our last Executive Council meeting, the National Office received sixty-three (63) grievances, other than classification.

During the same period, thirty-six (36) grievances were presented.  Twelve (12) grievances were withdrawn, and two (2) of these withdrawals resulted in Memoranda of Settlements. Some grievances were reported during previous quarters. In addition to grievances withdrawn or settled, were also received thirty (30) replies from CRA, all of which were denied.

There are presently sixty-two (62) grievances in the National Office inventory which have not yet been presented at the Final Level dealing with a variety of issues.

1. Grievance held in abeyance at request of PSAC pending judicial review of WSIB appeal. Judicial review is scheduled for March 2018.
2. Awaiting a decision from the National Health & Safety Policy Committee before proceeding with grievance
3. Grievances are being held in abeyance at the grievor’s request pending a CHRC complaint.
4. Two grievances are held in abeyance at the request of grievor and legal counsel pending the grievor’s criminal trial.
5. Waiting implementation of MOA.
6. Waiting information pursuant to ATIP request.
7. Waiting decision from Health Canada with respect to medical retirement.
8. Presentation scheduled for March 20, 2018.   
9. Grievance previously held pending criminal proceedings and was subsequently present on Feb 23/18
10. Waiting appointment of classification committee
11. Presented January 26, 2018
12. Four of these grievances were presented on January 26 and reply is expected shortly. One grievance reply for one other grievance is expected early March. Three grievances are in the process of being settled by way of MOS.

POLICY GRIEVANCE

There were no new policy grievances filed during this period.

CLASSIFICATION GRIEVANCES

There were no new classification grievances filed during this period.

INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY REVIEWS (ITPRs)

During this quarter, the National Office did not present any ITPRs. Two (2) new ITPRs were received in the National Office concerning staffing. One decision was received and the ITPR was allowed. There are currently (three) 3 ITPR’s outstanding where the National is required to provide representation

CRA POLICY REVIEW GRIEVANCES

Currently there are no new CRA Policy Grievances in our inventory.

PRESIDENT’S ITINERARY

DATE             ACTIVITY

NOVEMBER 2017

15                 AGM Bathurst – Local 60006                                                         Bathurst
24                    Meeting with CRA – CRA Culture Service                                 Ottawa
24                    Meeting with the Commissioner at CRA                                      Ottawa
28                    CRA Charitable Campaign – Celebrations for volunteers        Ottawa
30                    National Leadership Training                                                        Ottawa

DECEMBER 2017

1 – 3               National Leadership Training                                                        Ottawa
4 – 6               Executive Council meeting                                                            Ottawa
7                      NUMC* Meeting with CRA                                                             Ottawa
8                      Meeting - Organizational Model in the Greater Toronto Region     Ottawa
12 – 14           Meeting - PSAC NBoD**                                                                Ottawa
20                    Meeting with a Commercial Real Estate Agent                          Ottawa

JANUARY 2018

10                    Meeting with CRA officials, Annual Resource Alignment Process   Ottawa
15                    Conference Call with CRA’s Assistant Commissioner of HR   Ottawa
17 – 18           Media Training – Hilton Lac Leamy                                              Gatineau
19 – 21           UTE Executive Council Retreat - Hilton Lac Leamy                  Gatineau
23                    AGM Prince George - Local 20002                                              Prince George
24                    Visit Frasey Valley TSO, Local 20007                                          Surrey
25                    Visits Vancouver TSO and Surrey TC                                          Burnaby, Surrey
25                    AGM Pacific Region Call Centre – Local 20050                         Surrey
30                    Meeting with CRA, Signature of two (2) Memorandum of Understanding   Ottawa
31                    Arbitration Hearing - Re-Opener Clause                                     Ottawa

FEBRUARY 2018

6                      AGM Shawinigan South – Local 10005                                       Shawinigan
7                      AGM Ottawa TSO – Local 70010                                                 Ottawa
8                      Joint Announcement with CRA Deputy Assistant Commissioner – Memorandum of Understanding For Compensation Officers Ottawa
8                      AGM Ottawa East – Local 70001                                                  Ottawa
12                    Meeting with the Components’ Presidents of PSAC                     Ottawa
13 – 15           Meeting - PSAC NBoD**                                                                Ottawa           

*= National Union Management Committee
**= National Board of Director

MEMBERSHIP:

Respectfully submitted,

Marc Brière
National President