Report of the President - Executive Council

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING:

Given that the number of reported cases of coronavirus in Canada was increasing at an alarming rate, it was important for the PSAC and its Components to take the lead in protecting the health and safety of its members and the Canadian public.

For this reason, and in accordance with the recommendations of local and national health authorities, the union had no choice but to postpone any activity involving a large number of members.

As a result of this decision, on March 13, PSAC National President Brother Chris Aylward was forced to suspend strike votes until further notice. Unfortunately, there were only two (2) weeks of strike votes remaining on the schedule we had established.

On April 29, the Public Interest Commission (PIC) released its recommendations regarding the settlement of a contract between PSAC/UTE and the Canada Revenue Agency. In its report, the Commission agreed with us on several points and made recommendations to the employer.

Following the release of the PIC report, the UTE-PSAC National Strategy Coordinating Committee (NSCC) met several times to discuss the Commission's report and to prepare next steps.

At the outset, we prepared a document for UTE union representatives to provide some information deemed relevant that may have been helpful to them in responding to the issues raised by our members.

We also issued a message to our members the day after the release of the report outlining the commission's main recommendations.

We issued another message on May 7 in which I informed our members that I had made it clear to the CRA leadership that negotiations should resume as soon as possible.

Our members have shown incredible dedication and commitment in quickly implementing the government's various financial support measures for the public during the pandemic, all while continuing to process benefits that are normally paid to Canadians and processing personal and corporate tax returns in the middle of tax season.

And our members are doing all of this while they have not had a new contract in almost four years. This can't go on, and I've made this clear to the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency in discussions we've had over the past few weeks. The pandemic should not be an excuse to delay the resumption of negotiations.

Since the end of March, the PSAC National Board of Directors (NBoD) has been meeting once a week by video conference and the issue of negotiations for the various bargaining units is constantly being addressed and updates provided.

Recently, the PSAC launched a campaign asking its members, including UTE members, to send an email to the President of the Treasury Board, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, demanding that bargaining resume as soon as possible for those bargaining units that are still without a new contract. The PSAC has asked us to launch our own email campaign to our members targeting the Minister of National Revenue, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier.

The members of the UTE-PSAC National Strategy Coordinating Committee (NSCC) decided to go ahead with this email campaign with the slogan "Enough praise, let's bargain now! ».

Discussions are currently taking place between PSAC and Treasury Board officials with the goal of returning to the bargaining table. I am also in regular discussions with the CRA Commissioner to achieve the same goal.

If these discussions prove unsuccessful, we will have to take strong action very soon to significantly increase the pressure on CRA and the federal government.

All of the options available to us are discussed at the now almost weekly meetings of the National Strategy Coordinating Committee and none are ruled out.

We will keep members informed of any significant developments in a timely manner.

AGMs AND CRA OFFICE VISITS:

While the Annual General Meetings (AGMs) season was in full swing, the COVID-19 pandemic came to disrupt both our professional and personal lives.

As a result, the PSAC National Board of Directors (NBoD) passed a motion to suspend all deadlines set out in the Local, Branch, DCL, Regional and Component By-Laws for the holding of AGMs.

As a result, several Annual General Meetings have had to be cancelled and postponed to a later date.

Restrictions put in place by local and national public health authorities over the past few months and still in place today prevent us from holding such meetings and making the usual visits to CRA offices.

We will continue to monitor the situation very closely and will make the necessary decisions and communicate them to members as soon as possible.

MEETING WITH THE CRA:

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, a new era of collaboration, innovation and timely decision making was needed.

I therefore had daily telephone conversations with senior Agency officials on a variety of issues and topics of current interest, such as:

• Suspension of grievance procedures;
• Staffing issues;
• National Business Continuity Plan related to the COVID-19;
• Implementation of internal programs and services;
• Leave provisions and the re-opening of schools and daycare centres;
• Deployment of members across the Agency;
• Status of term employees.

In addition, I have spoken on several occasions with the Commissioner of the Agency as well as the Chief Human Resources Officer via telephone conversations or videoconferences regarding our negotiations.

HOUSE OF COMMONS:

On May 8, I appeared via videoconference before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO). The committee is conducting a study on the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During my presentation, I mentioned how our union has worked very closely with the employer to respond to this unprecedented situation and to ensure the rapid implementation and delivery of the new emergency financial assistance programs announced by the government, such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Student Benefit as well as expansions to the GST credit and the Canada Child Benefit. All of this while continuing to process the benefits that are normally paid to Canadians and processing personal and corporate tax returns in the middle of tax season.

Of course, I took this opportunity to commend the dedication and exemplary work of our members who have been assigned additional tasks and programs more than any other federal government agency or department. They regularly work evenings and weekends from home, juggling family and child care obligations, despite the fact that they have not had a pay increase since November 2015 and under a collective agreement that expired on October 31, 2016.

EIGHTEENTH UTE NATIONAL TRIENNIAL CONVENTION:

Since it was impossible to determine when normally scheduled union activities could resume, the UTE Executive Council unanimously approved, at a special meeting held on April 29, a resolution to postpone our Triennial Convention originally scheduled for July 2020 to July 21-24, 2021, still in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

2021 PSAC NATIONAL TRIENNIAL CONVENTION AND 2020 PSAC REGIONAL CONVENTIONS:

On April 28, at a meeting of the PSAC National Board of Directors (NBoD), the officers of the NBoD adopted a motion that the Public Service Alliance of Canada postpone its National Triennial Convention from 2021 to 2022 and that PSAC Regional Conventions scheduled for 2020 be postponed to the year 2021 without overlap with the new dates for PSAC Component Triennial Conventions.

UTE DONATES OVER $120,000 TO FOOD BANKS CANADA AND THE RED CROSS:

At a special meeting of the UTE Executive Board on May 13, the Board unanimously adopted two (2) motions concerning extraordinary donations in this time of crisis.

The Province of Nova Scotia has experienced the worst massacre in Canadian history with the death of twenty-two (22) innocent people on April 18 and 19, 2020 and this tragedy has affected twenty-two (22) victims and their families as well as the communities of Nova Scotia.

The Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) has decided to do its part by passing a motion to donate one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per victim for a total donation of twenty-two thousand dollars ($22,000.00) to the Red Cross - All Together Fund.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been over 1.1 million monthly visits to food banks across the country. The crisis has resulted in job losses, layoffs and major business closures that are expected to increase demand for food banks by 30% to 50%. Food Banks Canada provides assistance and support to more than 640 food banks located in communities across Canada. The pandemic has had a very negative impact on many working Canadian families, including some of our own IAG members and their families. It has led to many situations where people once considered financially isolated from their families have also had to turn to food banks for help to support and feed their loved ones.

As a result, the Union of Taxation Employees has passed a resolution to make a donation to Food Banks Canada in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00).

We issued a press release to highlight this important decision and also invited our sixty (60) Locals to consider making donations to food banks operating in their communities.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS:

I have given several interviews to radio, television and print media on the following topics:

• the remarkable work done by our members since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and their exemplary dedication.
• the status of our negotiations.
• the donations made to Food Banks Canada and the Red Cross.

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF THE CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS (CLC):

On March 16, we were advised that the Canadian Council of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has decided to postpone the CLC General Meeting scheduled to take place in Vancouver from May 4 to 8, 2020. The CLC will retain the current registration of member delegates to the General Meeting unless otherwise indicated.

This decision was made in response to the general consensus by public health authorities to ban all large gatherings across the country in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

New dates for the 29th General Assembly will be set as soon as possible and only when the virus is no longer considered a public health threat.

WEB/COMMUNICATIONS:

Our website is working well, and updates are occurring in a timely fashion. We have recently added the participant’s manual of two of our courses to the “For Locals” section of our website.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:

All IT systems have been running well. Regular software maintenance of internal computers, servers and network was performed. All the employees have been working from home since the closure of the PSAC building. Spare laptops were given to all employees requesting them. Some employees continue to work on their work computers at the office via our VPN connection. Our phone system has been configured to forward calls to employee’s extension to their home or mobile phones. The staff have been using Microsoft Teams to communicate since leaving the office. We are now going to expand the usage of Microsoft Teams to RVPs and locals.

DONATIONS / SPONSORSHIPS:

Donations/Sponsorships
Dons/Commandites
As of May 27, 2020 / Au 27 mai 2020

NON-UTE UNION EVENTS:

Non-UTE Union Events
Événements syndicaux autres que ceux du SEI
As of May 27, 2020 / Au 27 mai 2020

GRIEVANCES:

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our operations, we cannot provide you with a grievance report for this quarter.

PRESIDENT’S ITINERARY:

DATE            ACTIVITY                                                                         PLACE

MARCH 2020
3                    Strike Votes – Québec Local 10006                                Québec
4                    Strike Votes – Chicoutimi Local 10110                            Chicoutimi
5                    Strike Votes – Jonquière TC Local 10004                       Jonquière
9                    Strike Votes – Bathurst Local 60006                                Bathurst
10                  Strike Votes – Moncton Local 60008                                Moncton
11                  Strike Votes – Ottawa TC Local 70030                             Ottawa
12                  Strike Votes – Ottawa HQ Local 70000 and Ottawa ITSO Local 70009              Ottawa
12                  PSAC NBoD Emergency Meeting – COVID-19                Ottawa
13                  Executive Council Emergency Conference Call -
                      COVID-19 and its impacts on meetings and conferences    Ottawa
13                  Conference Call with the CRA Director, Labour Relations    Gatineau
17                  Emergency meeting – Executive Council                              Gatineau
19                  Emergency meeting – Executive Council                              Gatineau
19                  Special meeting – PSAC NBoD                                            Gatineau
23                  Special meeting – PSAC NBoD                                            Gatineau
24                  Conference Call with CRA AC, HRB                                    Gatineau
25                  Conference Call with the CRA Director, Labour Relations     Gatineau
26                  Special Executive Council Meeting via videoconference     Gatineau
31                  Special meeting - PSAC NBoD videoconference                 Gatineau

APRIL 2020
6                    Radio Interview – 107,7 FM Sherbrooke                            Gatineau
7                    Conference call with CRA AC, HRB                                   Gatineau
7                    Special meeting – PSAC NBoD                                         Gatineau
7-9                 Executive Council Meeting via videoconference               Gatineau
8                    Conference call with CRA AC, HRB                                  Gatineau
8                    PSAC Holdings Board meeting via videoconference        Gatineau
9                    Conference call with CRA AC, HRB                                  Gatineau
10                  CERB Online Festival – UTE Toronto North Local 00048   Gatineau
14                  Special meeting – PSAC NBoD videoconference              Gatineau
17                  Conference Call with the CRA AC, HRB                            Gatineau
21                  Conference Call with the CRA AC, HRB                            Gatineau
21                  Special meeting – PSAC NBoD Videoconference              Gatineau
22                  Special Executive Council meeting via videoconference    Gatineau
23                  PSAC Component Presidents’ Teleconference                  Gatineau
27                  PSAC Component Presidents’ Teleconference                  Gatineau
28                  Special meeting – PSAC NBoD videoconference              Gatineau                                                                               
29                  Conference Call with the CRA AC, HRB                            Gatineau
29                  Special Executive Council meeting via videoconference   Gatineau
29                  Videoconference with the CRA Commissioner                  Gatineau
30                  PSAC Component Presidents’ Conference Call                Gatineau
MAY 2020
1                    UTE-PSAC Bargaining Team Teleconference                    Gatineau
4                    PSAC Component Presidents’ Conference Call                Gatineau
4                    UTE-PSAC NSCC meeting via videoconference               Gatineau
5                    Special meeting – PSAC NBoD videoconference              Gatineau
6                    Special Executive Council meeting via videoconference    Gatineau
6                    PSAC Social Justice Fund Committee meeting                  Gatineau
12                  Special meeting – PSAC NBoD videoconference               Gatineau
13                  Special Executive Council meeting via videoconference    Gatineau
13                  Conference Call with the CRA AC, HRB                             Gatineau
15                  PSAC NBoD Representation Issues Committee meeting   Gatineau
19                  Conference Call with the CRA Commissioner                     Gatineau
19                  Special meeting – PSAC NBoD videoconference               Gatineau
19                  UTE-PSAC NSCC meeting via videoconference                Gatineau
20                  Special Executive Council meeting via videoconference    Gatineau
21                  E-Learning session: Demystifying Article 25 –Hours of Work    Gatineau
22                  Conference Call with the CRA Commissioner                      Gatineau
22                  Bargaining Update                                                              Gatineau
25                  PSAC Component Presidents’ Conference Call                 Gatineau
25                  Training for the Executive Council - Microsoft Teams         Gatineau
26                  Discussion on Bargaining Strategy                                     Gatineau
26                  Special meeting – PSAC NBoD videoconference               Gatineau
26                  Training for the Executive Council - Microsoft Teams         Gatineau
26                  NHSPC Ad-Hoc meeting                                                     Gatineau
27                  Conference Call with the CRA Commissioner                     Gatineau
27                  UTE-PSAC NSCC meeting via videoconference                 Gatineau                                                                               

Acronyms

AC – Assistant Commissioner
CERB – Canada Emergency Response Benefit
CRA – Canada Revenue Agency
HQ – Headquarters
HRB – Human Resources Branch
ITSO – International Taxation Service Office
NBoD – National Board of Directors
NHSPC – National Health and Safety Policy Committee
NSCC – National Strike Coordinating Committee
PSAC – Public Service Alliance of Canada
TC – Technology Centre
UTE – Union of Taxation Employees

MEMBERSHIP:

Respectfully submitted,

Marc Brière
National President