PSAC/UTE members get real value for their union dues. When you sign a PSAC membership card you’ve got one of the country’s largest public sector unions backing you up. To give you even more for your money, the PSAC and UTE have negotiated special discounts with outside suppliers.
In this edition of Union News, we are going to discuss several articles contained within the collective agreement. This includes the most recent changes to our collective agreement along with changes in place because of negotiations during the past few rounds of collective bargaining.
Due to COVID-19, PSAC has agreed with the employer to make some temporary amendments to the Public Service Health Care Plan, which will assist members in accessing the services that they need.
These changes include:
The following changes will be made up until April 24, 2020:
As of June 1, 2021, all CRA employees and their family members have access to external Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services through one national provider, Homewood Health.
Services may be accessed by:
After lengthy negotiations and an arbitration process, PSAC has won a major victory for the Public Service Dental Care Plan, which will result in substantial improvements for your coverage.
PSAC and Treasury Board are heading to arbitration after negotiations to improve the Public Service Dental Care Plan (PSDCP) for over 185,000 federal public service workers have broken down.
Arbitration dates have been set for June 14-15, 2024. We are hoping to resolve all outstanding proposals in arbitration, and we are confident that gains can be made at this stage of the process.
On July 1, 2023, the Public Service Health Care Plan administrator was changed to Canada Life. Some inconvenience was expected in the first week or so, given the scope of the change. Unfortunately, the problems continue to plague our members. Customer service wait times remain too long, and too many calls remain unanswered. This poorly managed transition prevents our members from fully taking advantage of their benefits. Some members are postponing treatment, others are left with invoices that have not been reimbursed leading to financial hardship.
While death is a subject that no one likes to talk about, it is important to advise members of a benefit that could be available to your beneficiary or estate upon your passing. The unfortunate fact is that in many circumstances survivors or the estate are not aware of this benefit and thus do not apply for it.
In an important victory for federal public service workers, an arbitration panel has ruled in favour of significant improvements to the Public Service Dental Care Plan (PSDCP) following an arbitration hearing on June 14. This binding arbitration award will lead to important changes to the plan, coming into effect January 1, 2025.
