From December 17th to the 20th, 2012 our Bargaining Team spent four days in negotiations with CRA. In light of the fact that Bill C-45 has passed – giving Treasury Board effective control over CRA bargaining – our Bargaining Team indicated at the outset of the session that we are now more determined than ever to achieve new protections for UTE/PSAC members at CRA.
The parties spent the week in negotiations over a number of issues:
- leave provisions
- access to the collective agreement
- union communication in the workplace
Leave improvements discussed
With respect to leave, our Bargaining Team is pushing in this round of negotiations for a number of improvements. Those discussed in bargaining this past week include:
- an increase in family related responsibility leave,
- the expansion of access to bereavement and
- leave for the care of family
- inclusion of the Leave With Income Averaging policy into our collective agreement, and proposals that would improve access to this leave.
We also discussed our proposed language to improve union communication in the workplace. We have made it clear that we are interested in both protecting and expanding our union’s ability to keep union membership informed.
We are scheduled to meet again in negotiations next month (the week of January 28th). We’ll be sure to update as things progress. We wish all UTE/PSAC members a happy and restful holidays, as 2013 will undoubtedly be a busy year for us all.
If you have any questions or concerns, speak with your union representative, and sign up for more updates.
