Parks Canada bargaining team members will head to their Public Interest Commission (PIC) hearings January 27, 28 and 30 in Ottawa. Parks members are one of nine PSAC bargaining units who are moving through the PIC process as negotiations reached an impasse last July.

During the hearings, PSAC will present our proposals for a fair and progressive collective agreement for Parks Canada workers, which includes:

• A competitive wage increase
• Introduce protections to guard against the impacts of Phoenix
• Improvements to leave provisions, work-life balance, parity with the core public service, and improvements for seasonal workers
• Access to domestic violence leave
• Measures to achieve pay parity for Park Wardens and Park Warden Supervisors
• An Indigenous language allowance
• The creation of a joint committee on child care
• A plan to further increase parity for Parks Canada by joining the National Joint Council

Watch members of the Parks negotiating team discuss the important issues on the table

What is a Public Interest Commission (PIC)? 

Under the law that governs contract negotiations in the federal public service, once impasse is reached at the bargaining table, a PIC is established to help the parties reach an agreement. 

The PIC is a panel of three people – a chairperson appointed by the Labour Board and nominees appointed by the union and management. The union and the employer submit briefs and explain their positions on the outstanding issues at a hearing with the PIC. The PIC then issues a report with recommendations for settlement. The recommendations are not binding. Once the PIC releases its reports for the various PSAC units, the union’s respective bargaining teams will meet to discuss the recommendations. 

Stay up to date!

It’s important that all Parks Canada workers are receiving the latest bargaining news especially at this critical time in the process. You can help spread the word by:

• Forwarding Parks bargaining emails
• Sharing bargaining updates on social media like Facebook & Twitter
• Encouraging your co-workers to check out the Parks bargaining webpage
• Reminding fellow members to sign up to receive bargaining e-News