Negotiations are set to resume for nearly 30,000 PSAC-UTE members who have been without a contract for almost four years. Canada Revenue Agency has agreed to return to the bargaining table the week of July 6 in the wake of ongoing pressure from our members.

PSAC-UTE members have played a pivotal role during the pandemic, going above and beyond to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Canadians during peak tax season. Members have been working day and night from their homes—often while also juggling family obligations—to provide support on an historic scale.

At the end of April, a Public Interest Commission (PIC) released recommendations for a settlement for PSAC-UTE members. The Commission sided with several union proposals, including:

• Addressing the wage disparity with our co-workers in the Audit, Financial and Scientific (AFS) group; management cannot simply offer us the wage pattern achieved by the PA group under Treasury Board for the 2016-18 period.
• Recognizing that management may have to move on “one or more of the issues” related to working conditions in call centres raised by the union in order to reach a settlement.
• Adopting improved definitions of “family” and “travelling time”.
• Acknowledging there is no valid reason for management to oppose seniority recognition for scheduling evening and weekend work.
• Reimbursing medical certificates that management requests from employees.
• Allowing union officials access to CRA facilities without unreasonable denials from the employer.

Our bargaining team also remains committed to our proposal to allow term employees the opportunity to gain indeterminate status rather than spending years on short-term contracts.

Since the PIC report, thousands of PSAC-UTE members have called and emailed Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos and Minister of National Revenue Diane Lebouthillier to pressure the employer back to the bargaining table.

The Agency must now be prepared to return to the table ready to address the key concerns as per the Public Interest Commission’s recommendations.

For regular updates, visit ute-sei.org and psacunion.ca/canada-revenue-agency and subscribe for regular email updates. Should you have any questions, please contact your UTE Local President.