Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Civilian Members will join the federal public service in less than a year. We understand that many of you still have questions about whether your terms and conditions of employment will change once you join the federal public service.
At the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and its component the Union of Safety and Justice Employees – which will represent more than 800 CMs – we’re doing everything in our power to make sure that transition is as seamless as possible.
Here are a few updates:
Protecting your benefits through collective bargaining
With the ultimate goal of protecting your current benefits, PSAC’s bargaining teams presented Treasury Board with a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in October 2018 for negotiating the terms and conditions of work for CMs. The MOU would commit Treasury Board to negotiate your terms and conditions no later than 90 days after deeming.
What this means is that, if the MOU is signed, your terms and conditions will not be changed without the direct involvement of CMs as new PSAC members in the process.
This continues to be PSAC’s path forward for protecting your terms and conditions of employment. So far, Treasury Board has refused to commit to PSAC’s agreement.
However, on September 1, 2019, Treasury Board and PSAC returned to the bargaining table after a period of impasse. PSAC bargaining teams were hopeful that a new collective agreement, which includes the MOU for CMs, would be signed prior to the fall federal election. Unfortunately, Treasury Board squandered its last pre-election opportunity to deliver a fair deal at the bargaining table when it refused to meet PSAC’s key demands despite six continuous days of bargaining.
Since the federal election campaign is officially underway, there will be no additional opportunities to return to the bargaining table until after the election is concluded. In the months after the election, negotiations will continue.
As you’ve likely heard, several smaller federal public service unions have reached collective agreements with the government. PSAC has expressed its opposition to these contracts, which offer meagre economic increases and just five days of leave as compensation for four years of emotional and financial suffering under the Phoenix pay system.
Treasury Board’s current offer is far less than what you, as our future members, deserve, and the union will not be pressured into taking a bad deal. PSAC is larger than all other federal government unions combined, and we will not allow ourselves to be set back by what other unions have accepted. Unlike them, we currently have 140,000 PSAC members negotiating new collective agreements at the bargaining table and we can and will use that leverage to get the best deal possible for current and future members.
Fall info sessions and welcoming you to your new union local
Joining the federal public service is an important milestone, and it’s important that all CMs understand all the implications of the deeming process. That’s why PSAC will be holding information sessions throughout the fall to give CMs the opportunity to meet their USJE Local executive, spend time with other unionized members and to become acquainted with PSAC Regional Representatives.
The sessions will be designed to give CMs the chance to ask questions about collective bargaining, union structures and how deeming will affect RCMP CM terms and conditions of employment.
USJE and PSAC representatives will be invaluable resources in dealing with workplace issues and for providing an understanding of your collective agreement.
We’ll be announcing dates for info sessions and online webinars soon with dates in late October and early November.
Any questions about deeming, the benefits of union membership or collective bargaining can be sent to CM-INFO-MC@psac-afpc.com.