President's Report - Executive Council

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING:

The bargaining teams of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Union of Taxation Employees of the Public Service of Canada (UTE-PSAC) continued negotiations at two meetings held March 28-30 and May 10-12.

Hours of work and telework were at the heart of the discussions during these sessions.

With respect to hours of work, our team is demanding better access to compressed work schedules; more notice in the event of schedule changes; and consideration of years of service in the allocation of evening shifts.

With respect to telework, our bargaining team is seeking legal advice on the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) proposed changes to telework arrangements. In its potential return to the workplace plan, the Agency claims that it will be able to unilaterally require some staff to return to the office as early as this fall.

As a result, CRA has been advised that UTE-PSAC will consult with its legal department about the possibility of taking the matter to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board if changes are made without its consent.

At the next bargaining session, which is scheduled for mid-July, our bargaining team plans to present our monetary demands.

We all agree that bargaining our new contract is obviously of paramount importance to all our members and we need to find ways to engage them, especially in the virtual environment in which we operate. That is why our Second National Vice-President, Brother Adam Jackson, and I have been in discussions with the PSAC about holding virtual town hall meetings in June for our members regarding the current bargaining.

There will be five (5) meetings as follows:

• Atlantic - 7:00 p.m. Atlantic Time / 6:00 p.m. EDT - bilingual - Tuesday, June 14, 2022;
• British Columbia - 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 9:00 p.m. EDT - English only - Wednesday, June 15, 2022;
• Prairies - 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time / 8:00 p.m. EDT - English only - Thursday, June 16, 2022;
• Quebec and NCR - 7:00 p.m. EDT - bilingual - Monday, June 20, 2022;
• Ontario - 7:00 p.m. EDT - English only - Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

Some UTE Regional Vice-Presidents will be involved in these meetings by welcoming members and acting as moderators. The PSAC National President, Brother Chris Aylward, will give a welcoming address. I will also provide an introductory message. Following this, Brother Adam Jackson will address the membership, followed by the PSAC Negotiator, Brother Morgan Gay. For the bilingual sessions, Brother Eddy Aristil, Regional Vice-President for the Montreal region and member of the bargaining team, will join the other panelists. Members may send in their questions in advance or ask them during the meetings. The panelists will answer as many questions as possible.

In addition to the virtual meetings themselves, we are also proposing to conduct a text message and phone call campaign to our members in advance of the meetings. This campaign will require the participation of local union representatives whose salaries will be reimbursed by the PSAC.

The Ulink telephone campaign will be held;

• Tuesday, June 7, 2022 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT.

The text message campaign will be held;

• Wednesday, June 8, 2022 from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm EDT. 

In a message sent to our Locals on May 17^th, I asked our representatives to please get involved and actively participate in this campaign.

PSAC Regional Representatives will be contacting them regarding this national phone call and text message campaign to solicit their participation and to provide them with more information. Alliance staff will be available to provide training and assistance to participants to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

In addition, UTE and PSAC posted messages on our websites and social media on May 19 to publicize the virtual town hall meetings and invite members to attend in large numbers.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS (AGMs):

Despite the fact that provincial and federal public health authorities have begun to lift restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided that Locals would continue to hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs) virtually until late spring. When this decision was made, we were still dealing with another wave of infections. I can't stress this enough. We must continue to be cautious. As has been mentioned many times, our union has an obligation to ensure the health and safety of our members. We must also keep in mind that our organization could be held legally responsible if problems arise for members who attend an UTE approved event. This could also result in significant expense and damage to our reputation.

Again, I would like to thank the Locals for respecting my decision. A decision like this is never easy to make.

Our position on this matter will be reviewed prior to the next AGM scheduled for early fall.

So the AGM season has continued and UTE National Officers continue to attend as many of our local meetings as possible.

As a guest speaker, it is always a pleasure to address our members and answer their questions. Since the beginning of the AGM season, the two (2) main topics of discussion continue to be the Policy on Mandatory Vaccination against COVID-19 for Federal Public Servants and the bargaining on the new contract.

I would like to once again congratulate the Locals for their good work at the meetings. I would also like to acknowledge again the excellent work of our National Office IT Specialist, Alex Thon, as well as our Communications/Web Officer, Susan Duncan, and the technicians from Electronic Language Communications Ltd (ELC) who both successfully took over during Alex's vacation period.

MEETINGS WITH SENIOR CRA OFFICIALS:

I continue to have monthly phone calls with the Agency's Chief Human Resources Officer during which we discuss various important issues.

In addition, I have had discussions with other senior Agency officials regarding current issues and topics such as:

• A meeting on the changes at the Collections and Audit Branch;
• Monthly meetings on potential return to the workplace;
• MG Classification Reform;
• Meeting on agenda items for the June 9^th National Union Management Consultation Committee meeting.

MEETING WITH THE CRA COMMISSIONER:

I have also spoken with the Agency Commissioner regarding the following topics:

• Follow-up on the interference of some managers in union affairs;
• The employer's cooperation in assisting the union in reaching out to its members in a virtual environment.

STAFFING AT THE NATIONAL OFFICE:

The Senior Labour Relations Officer, Shane O'Brien, and my Executive Assistant, Daniel Camara, have now completed the selection process to fill two (2) vacancies in the Administrative Support Group of the UTE National Office. All candidates who met the selection criteria were invited for an assessment of their ability to communicate in writing in both official languages. All but two (2) candidates did not meet the minimum pass mark established by the selection board.

Two external candidates, Guylène Lepage and one other candidate, were assessed against all the established selection tools and were found to fully meet the requirements of the positions.

In response to my request to expedite the process to fill the position of Administrative Assistant to the National President, I had asked our Senior Labour Relations Officer to review the resumes of the candidates who had passed the selection process and as a result of this review, we agreed that Guylène Lepage met the criteria. I invited the candidate for an interview and after two discussions with her, I made her an offer of employment which she accepted.

Sister Lepage will join our team on Tuesday, May 24.

We have made an offer of employment to the other successful candidate for an administrative assistant position. She had verbally indicated that she would accept our offer. I therefore asked the Executive Committee to endorse the proposal. The committee members unanimously agreed to do so. However, the candidate later informed us that she could not accept our offer for personal reasons. As a result, we were unable to fill an administrative assistant position. I still have every intention of filling two positions. So I asked Shane O'Brien to start another hiring process. He did so immediately. The announcement was made on our website and by email. We also circulated this other job offer among the PSAC and other employment offer websites.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL RETREAT AND MEDIA TRAINING:

In my last President's Report, I mentioned that we were about to sign a contract with the Hilton DoubleTree Hotel in Gatineau.  I can confirm that the contract has been duly signed. I would like to remind you that the members of the Executive Council will arrive on Sunday, June 19 and will leave the hotel on Friday, June 24. The first two days will be dedicated to the Retreat and the last two days to media training.

PSAC 2022 NATIONAL TRIENNIAL CONVENTION:

As you know, the 19^th PSAC Convention will be held in virtual mode on May 26 and 27 and from May 30 to June 3.

As usual, UTE will hold its Component Caucus to which all UTE delegates, our observers and other UTE members who are attending the convention but who are delegates for other entities (e.g. PSAC Area Councils) are invited. The caucus will take place on May 25^th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

At our caucus, you will hear from the UTE representatives who sat on the four (4) convention committees, namely the First National Vice-President, Brother Doug Gaetz (Finance), the Second National Vice-President, Brother Adam Jackson (Bargaining), Sister Kimberley Koch, Regional Vice-President for the Pacific Region (General), and myself (Constitution), on the resolutions that we consider important. Of course, there will also be discussion of the budget that will be presented at the convention. I will also share with you the resolutions that were submitted by the UTE convention. In addition, during the meeting, we will also allow the candidates running for the various positions being elected at the convention (PSAC National President, National Executive Vice-President (NEVP), and Alternate to the NEVP), to briefly address our caucus.

In order to allow UTE delegates to communicate with each other during the PSAC National Convention, I have created two discussion groups which I have titled, "UTE Caucus - PSAC Convention" and "Caucus du SEI - Congrès AFPC", using the Signal messaging application. This application is highly secure and will ensure the privacy of our conversations.

The purpose of these discussion groups is to allow us to communicate about the resolutions that will be debated at the convention and to allow us to react in a timely manner if possible and to adopt or modify our strategies if necessary.

As usual, I expect our group of delegates to be very involved and active during the convention.

I hope that this initiative will contribute to a better coherence of our group because of the virtual format we have to deal with.

Respectfully submitted,

Marc Brière
National President

INFORMATION/TECHNOLOGY

All IT systems have been running well. Regular software maintenance of internal computers, servers and network was performed.

WEB/COMMUNICATIONS:

Our website is working well, and updates are occurring in a timely fashion. We have awarded the contract for our new website and have had our initial meeting. It is a big project, and we are planning to go live with the new site by the end of the year.

We have updated our expense claim form so that it can now be used by the National Office and by locals as well. 

DONATIONS / SPONSORSHIPS:

As of May 29 2022

Non-UTE Union Events
Événements syndicaux autres que ceux du SEI

As of May 29, 2022 / Au 29 mai 2022

 GRIEVANCE:

GRIEVANCE REPORT
March 1st 2021 to MAY 31ST, 2022

During Q1, fifty-five (55) new grievances were received in the National office. Twenty-eight (28) grievances were presented. Twenty-six (26) final level replies were received from CRA, nineteen (19) were denied, seven (7) were withdrawn and sixty-three (63) closed.

(1) Grievance in abeyance pending HRT & WSIAB complaints. The complaints are still active and outside legal counsel has carriage of file. The complaints are currently held in abeyance. This grievance has been outstanding for a number of years and will likely not be resolved anytime soon. The member is no longer working for CRA and the matter has been delayed due to extensive and complicated legal proceedings.
(2) Waiting for tax appeal information
(3) Discussion ongoing with the employer. Hearings to be held in the near future.
(4) Three grievances awaiting disposition of unfair labor complaint.
(5) Two grievances awaiting the implementation of all provisions of a Memorandum of Settlement (MOS). MOS is expected to be concluded in May 2022. One grievance held in abeyance pending disposition unfair labor practice complaint. One grievance held in abeyance pending claim for damages arising from Phoenix pay issues.
(6) One grievance was scheduled for Dec 2021, but subsequently held in abeyance at the request of the grievors. Waiting for information from grievor on two related grievances were the grievor self-represented.
(7) Two grievances are pending settlement discussions with the employer. Five grievances were recently presented, and replies are expected in the near future. Settlement discussions were recently concluded and were unsuccessful for two grievances. Replies are expected shortly.

There are presently one hundred seventy (170) grievances in the National Office inventory which have not yet been presented at the Final Level dealing with a variety of issues.

POLICY GRIEVANCE

In the last quarter we reported on three policy grievances that were filed by the PSAC, at the request of our office. Two grievances related to the employer’s mandatory vaccination policy and the remaining grievance related to the employer’s implementation of extended hours and shift work in its Contact Centre’s. These grievances will be heard in mid-June 2022.

CLASSIFICATION GRIEVANCES

There were no new classification grievance filed during this period.

INDEPENDENT THIRD-PARTY REVIEWS (ITPRs)

One (1) ITPR’s were received and three (3) were closed during this period.

CRA POLICY GRIEVANCES

There were no new CRA Policy Grievances received during this period.

STATUTORY FREEZE COMPLAINT

As a result of the CRA unilateral actions in scheduling extended Hours of Work, and scheduling Saturday work without overtime compensation, we were successful in persuading the PSAC to file a Statutory Freeze complaint against the CRA. Brother O’Brien worked in collaboration with PSAC Legal Services and outside Legal Counsel in the submission of the complaint which was filed on March 14, 2022. No hearing date has been established yet.

PRESIDENT’S ITINERARY

DATE             ACTIVITY                 PLACE

MARCH 2022

14-16             PSAC Constitution Committee meeting                                  Gatineau
15                  AGM Saskatoon Local 40023                                                  Gatineau
16                  AGM Jonquière Local 10004                                                   Gatineau
17                  Component Presidents’ meeting                                              Gatineau
18                  Meeting with CRA - Potential return to workplace                     Gatineau
23                  PSAC SJF Steering Committee Meeting                                  Gatineau
23                  AGM ITSO Local 70009                                                          Gatineau
24                  NBoD Ad-Hoc In-Camera meeting                                           Gatineau
26                   AGM Shawinigan Local 10005                                                 Gatineau
28                  Component Presidents’ meeting                                              Gatineau 
30                  PSAC SJF Steering Committee Meeting                                  Gatineau
31                  NBoD - Media training                                                            Gatineau                  

APRIL 2022

1                    Meeting - UTE website redesign                                              Gatineau
4                    NSCC meeting                                                                         Gatineau
4-7                 Executive Council meeting                                                      Gatineau
11                  Component Presidents’ meeting                                              Gatineau
11-14             Presidents’ conference                                                            Gatineau
14                  Meeting with the CRA Assistant Commissioner, HRB             Gatineau
14                  Meeting with PSAC - Re-opening of PSAC offices                  Ottawa
19                  Meeting with CRA Commissioner                                            Gatineau
21                  Meeting with CRA – CVB Changes                                          Gatineau
21                  Meeting - UTE website redesign                                               Gatineau
21                   AGM Quebec Local 10006                                                       Gatineau
22                  Meeting with CRA - Potential return to workplace                     Gatineau
22                  Meeting with PSAC – Townhall meetings on bargaining            Gatineau
22                  Meeting with CRA - Agenda items for the June 2022 NUMCC   Gatineau
25                  Component Presidents’ meeting                                              Gatineau
26                  AGM Ottawa Headquarters Local 70000                                  Gatineau
27                  AGM Trois-Rivières Local 10027                                             Gatineau
28                  Meeting with CRA - Potential return to workplace                     Gatineau
29                  Meeting with CRA - MG classification reform                            Gatineau                                                       

MAY 2022

3                    Meeting with CRA - Agenda items for the June 2022 NUMCC   Gatineau
4                    PSAC Standing Finance Committee meeting                             Gatineau
5                    UTE regional EO Conference                                                     Gatineau
6                    Meeting with PSAC – Townhall meetings on bargaining            Gatineau
9                    NBoD Ad-Hoc In-Camera meeting                                           Gatineau
10                  PSAC SJF Steering Committee Meeting                                  Gatineau
12                  Meeting with the CRA Assistant Commissioner, HRB                Gatineau
12                   Meeting with Susan Nosov - LCC Program                               Gatineau
13                   NSCC meeting                                                                          Gatineau
13                   Ad-Hoc Executive Council meeting                                          Gatineau
13                  Meeting with CRA - Potential return to workplace                     Gatineau
16                  Executive Committee meeting                                                 Gatineau
16                  Meeting - LCC Program - Meetings in hybrid format                 Gatineau
18                  AGM Laval Local 10028                                                          Gatineau
19                  UTE regional EO Conference                                                  Gatineau
20                  Component Presidents’ meeting                                              Gatineau
20                  Executive Committee meeting                                                 Gatineau

Acronyms

AGM - Annual General Meeting
CRA - Canada Revenue Agency
CVB – Collections and Verification Branch
EO – Equal Opportunities
HRB – Human Resources Branch
ITSO – International Taxation Services Office
LCC - Labour College of Canada
MG – Management Gestion
NBoD - National Board of Directors
NSCC - National Strategy/Strike Co-ordinating Committee
NUMCC - National Union Management Consultation Committee
PSAC - Public Service Alliance of Canada
SJF - Social Justice fund
UTE - Union of Taxation Employees

Respectfully submitted,

Marc Brière
National President

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