Please note, where there is nothing to report, no update will be provided.

12 December 2011:

The TO Bargaining Team has met with NRC on two occasions, September 14 and November 22, 2011.  At these meetings, proposals were exchanged and discussed.  While NRC does not yet have a final bargaining mandate from Treasury Board, they were quite clear in what they were hoping to achieve in this round of bargaining.  They are proposing the elimination of severance pay in cases of resignation and retirement, along the lines of the agreement reached between PSAC and TB last year.  They are also seeking to reduce the carryover of compensatory time and to include the drawdown of banked annual leave in the body of the collective agreement. 

On our part, we will be seeking appropriate wage increases, improvements for term employees, improvements and adjustments to annual leave, designated holidays and volunteer and personal leave, improvements to family related  and medical leave, and parking.  Links to the Union and Employer demands are below; as bargaining takes place in English, these documents are not available in French.

We anticipate that bargaining will resume in the New Year, although no firm dates have been scheduled.  Your bargaining team wants to ensure that NRC is in a real position to bargain before it goes back to the table.

TO Bargaining Team members:

Anthony Ifill – IAR
Cathy Fraser – INMS and First VP
Floyd Toll – INMS and TO Group Chairperson
Kurt Konieczny – CSTT
Robert Wasyliw – IAR
Vaughan Benson – IOT
Joan Van Den Bergh - Negotiator

RCEA Demands

Employer Demands

9 December 2010:

We are heading into what promises to be another difficult round of bargaining.  Many of you are undoubtedly familiar with what has been transpiring in the public service, with the PSAC recently ratifying a controversial collective agreement.  In that agreement, the PSAC agreed to substantial changes in severance pay in exchange for a small increase in pay.  This was agreed to after the Treasury Board approached the PSAC and invited them to participate in exploratory talks.

Despite statements from the President of the Treasury Board, not all unions have been invited to participate in these “exploratory” talks.  To date, the NRC has not approached the RCEA.  And we are happy about this.  We are not interested in proceeding in the manner that TB and the PSAC did.  All our collective agreements will expire over the next twelve months.  There are many areas that require improvement in those agreements and we are looking forward to a proper and productive round of bargaining. But this does not mean that we are prepared to make the same kind of concessions that the PSAC did.  We believe that severance pay is an important benefit that should remain intact. 

Notice to Bargain was served on December 1, 2010.  In the New Year, we will continue our preparations for bargaining. 

We are looking for members willing to participate on the Bargaining Committee.  If you are interested, please contact joan@rcea.ca

What is on your mind?  What changes would you like to see in your collective agreement?  Please send your proposals, suggestions or complaints to joan@rcea.ca.

30 June 2009:

The TO contract was signed today.

24 June 2009:

The TO contract has received final approval from the Privy Council Office.  We are in the process of scheduling a signing date.  Once it is signed, NRC will have 150 days to implement the terms, although they have assured the RCEA that it is unlikely that they will need that much time.

8 June 2009:

The tentative agreement is now at the Privy Council Office.  We hope that it will be signed prior to the summer recess of Parliament.  If it is not, the agreement may not be signed until the fall, thereby delaying the implementation of all new provisions.

20 April 2009:

TO Group Ratifies Tentative Agreement

On April 17, ballots were counted. The tentative agreement has been ratified. NRC has been advised. The NRC now has to get the approval of the Governor–in–Council. We do not know how long this will take and we have no control over the timing. Once the GIC has approved the tentative agreement, it will be signed by the RCEA and the NRC. From that date of signing, NRC will have 150 calendar days to implement the terms of the new agreement, including retroactive pay.

18 March 2009:

TO Group - Tentative Settlement Reached

On March 18, 2009, the RCEA reached a tentative settlement with NRC on behalf of the TO Group.  This settlement provides for, among other changes, the following increases:                               

April 1, 2007 – 2.3%
April 1, 2008 – 1.5%
April 1, 2009 – 1.5%
April 1, 2010 – 1.5%

Details of all the proposed changes to the collective agreement will be described in a ratification package which will be sent out shortly.

February 2009:

On Friday, February 7, the Conservative government introduced an omnibus bill to implement the provisions of the federal budget. Bill C-10 includes two sections that directly impact NRC employees: one section that provides for legislated wage rates for federal public sector workers and another that proposes a wholesale overhaul of federal pay equity legislation.

The Expenditure Restraint Act provides for wage increases as follows:

2006-2007 fiscal year – 2.5%
2007-2008 fiscal year – 2.3%
2008-2009 fiscal year – 1.5%
2009-2010 fiscal year – 1.5%
2010-2011 fiscal year – 1.5%

The legislation also prohibits any increases to what it terms “additional remuneration” which means that there can be no positive change to any so called “monetary items”. Collective bargaining remains as do the rights to arbitration and strike. In reality, what this seems to suggest is that unions can go to the bargaining table, but they can only talk about issues and provisions that have no cost attached to them. For all intents and purposes, the government has frozen collective bargaining for the next two years.

None of the RCEA bargaining units have agreements that will be affected by the roll backs contained in the legislation. All our bargaining units will be covered by the 2.3%, 1.5%, 1.5% and 1.5% increases.

The legislation must now make its way through the Parliamentary process. We do not know how long that will take. In the meantime, we will be attempting to resume bargaining on the non-monetary issues for the TO group and to commence bargaining for our other groups.

With respect to pay equity, the proposed legislation changes the entire framework in which pay equity complaints can be made. It changes pay equity from a human rights issue to a compensation issue that must be addressed through collective bargaining. If it is not resolved during bargaining, there can be financial and other penalties. There is a complaint process, but only by individual members and without the support of the union. There are also fines of up to $50,000 if the union encourages or assists a member in making a complaint.

This pay equity proposal is unwieldy and impossible for a union the size of the RCEA. It remains to be seen whether there be will changes to the legislation and if not, how it will be implemented.

3 December 2008:

Collective Bargaining Update

Last week, on November 27, after attempting to engage in meaningful discussions with NRC on the Final Offers, the RCEA Management Committee and representatives of all Bargaining Committees, decided to decline these offers. The offers included wage increases for the CS, OP, PG and TO Groups of 2.3% in 2007-2008 and 1.5% in each of the next three years. For the AD and AS Groups, the wage increases were 1.5% per year for three years starting in 2008-2009. Also in the offers was the demand that the OP, PG and TO Groups agree to a 35 day cap on vacation leave carry-over with a 10 day per year drawdown for any member with more than 35 days in their carry over bank. For the AD and CS Groups, who already have a 35 day cap, the demand was for the 10 day per year drawdown. The AS Group already has these provisions. For all groups except the AS Group, these demands represent significant reductions in benefits.

The RCEA was prepared to accept the wage offers for all groups. We were even prepared to consider the cap on vacation carry over. All attempts to negotiate the drawdown were met with refusals from NRC, until the very last minute, when it became apparent that the Government’s Economic Statement would not include such provisions.
Representatives of the RCEA deliberated long and hard about these offers. At the end of the day, it was felt that we could not, in good conscience accept these provisions. As it turned out, on November 27, the Government did announce the imposition of the very same wage controls but without any changes to current collective agreement language, as well as the removal of the right to strike. As none of the RCEA bargaining units are on the strike route, this part of the announcement does not directly affect the RCEA. We do stand, however, with our public service union colleagues, in denouncing this proposal. The right to collective bargaining and the right to strike are fundamental elements of Canadian democracy.

The situation remains extremely fluid. It was reported today that the Finance Minister has changed his mind about removing the right to strike. While this is good news for the Canadian labour movement, we have still to determine exactly how any legislative change will affect the RCEA. We are monitoring the situation and are seeking more information about any other proposed legislative changes. In the meantime, it is our interpretation that collective bargaining can continue on non-wage issues.

We have received many emails from members, some urging us to accept whatever was offered and others urging us to stay the course. As stated earlier, the RCEA on behalf of its members was always prepared to accept the lesser wage offers. However, we were reluctant to be intimidated into accepting other concessions under pressure through last-minute offers from NRC. Based on the state of current information, it now appears that we will have these wage increases, but hopefully will be able to return to the bargaining table to address other issues of concern to the RCEA and the NRC.

We appreciate the support we have received from all members and we will continue to work for the best deals possible for all members.

November 2008

TO Bargaining Update:

After four days of meetings, the RCEA has broken off “negotiations” for the TO
Group. While we have shown considerable movement and flexibility with respect both to our proposals as well as to those of the NRC, Council has consistently refused to address issues of concern to the Group. Instead, it has demanded that the TO Group agree to significant concessions before it will even consider some of our proposals.

In particular, NRC wants the TO Group to agree to cap vacation leave carry-over at 35 days with unreasonable grandfathering provisions. This, they said, was needed due to the financial obligation on NRC that unused vacation leave generates. However, by their own statistics, the total value of unused vacation leave over 35 days for the whole of the TO Group accounts for only 6% of this total financial obligation. In fact, over 82% of the Group has less than 35 days in their carry-over banks and close to 79% has less than 25 days in the bank. What they are talking about is an unfunded liability that may look bad on paper, but in reality, only has an impact if every NRC employee seeks to use all their unused leave at the same time.

They are also seeking the right to schedule the annual leave of group members. Even though we explained to them that the problem in the TO Group was not one of employees not taking or scheduling their leave, rather it is one of employees not being allowed to take leave in the amount and at the time they want due to “operational requirements.” As well, they expect the TO Group to give up all carry-over of compensatory leave earned as a result of doing overtime work.

To this they added a wage offer of 1.5%, 1.5%, 1.2% and 1.2% over four years.

October 2008:

Bargaining took place on Oct. 1 and 2 and is scheduled to resume on Oct. 28 and 29.  Progress was made on some issues but a great many remain outstanding.  NRC is attempting to restrict or remove several current benefits and entitlements while the RCEA is attempting to preserve or enhance those same provisions.  At this time, no pay offer has been made.   It is not our practice to release specific details of bargaining while it is going on.  We will wait and see what happens  during the next two bargaining dates and may, at that time, put out a more detailed summary and explanation.

August 2008:

Tentative bargaining dates have been scheduled for October 1 and 2 and October 28 and 29. NRC hopes to have a mandate by that time.

March 2008:

Bargaining demands have been submitted. We once again must now wait until NRC receives a mandate from Treasury Board to commence bargaining. While Treasury Board has commenced bargaining with its own bargaining units, 27 of 28 agreements are up for negotiation, they have yet to determine or release any pay mandates.

Recently, Treasury Board released a document called “Policy Framework for the Management of Compensation”. In it, Treasury Board sets out specific principles and an approach to managing compensation in the public service. The document has this to say about separate employers such as NRC:

Separate agencies may exercise their own human resources authority granted by their enabling statute or by Order in Council. This authority may be unconditional or subject to conditions such as prior consultation with or approval by Treasury Board. Separate agencies are employers in their own right. Most separate agencies require the approval of the Governor in Council to enter into collective agreements with the bargaining agents representing their employees. By Cabinet directive, 1967, the Governor in Council requires separate agencies, in advance of bargaining, to obtain from the President of the Treasury Board their collective bargaining mandates, including the objectives to be pursued and the limits to be observed.

This clarifies the difficulties that both the RCEA and NRC have with respect to collective bargaining. On the one hand, Treasury Board says that separate employers are employers in their own right. In the same breath, they identify the limitations to that right. It is these limitations that impact and delay our bargaining with NRC. These limitations are beyond the control of the RCEA. We are forced to wait for Treasury Board to identify and issue bargaining mandates prior to the commencement of any real or meaningful bargaining.

November 2007:

Bargaining demands have been submitted.

July 2007:

No news to report at this time.

May 2007 :

We have served notice to bargain for the Technical Category (TO). We have held one meeting with members of the group who have expressed a willingness to serve on the bargaining committee.  Another meeting is scheduled, from the meeting a group chairperson will be elected or acclaimed by the participating members. Once the group chairperson is identified, a notice will be posted on our website. All group members are welcome to forward comments and/or suggestions regarding changes for the collective agreement to the RCEA office (ofiice@rcea.ca) or the group chairperson. These comments and suggestions will form part of the demand setting process.

March 2007:

No news at this time.

January 2007:

It is time to start our preparations for the next round of bargaining. If members are interested in participating on the various Bargaining Committees, please send your name, email address and telephone number (by email) to joan@rcea.ca. Once the Committees are established, we will begin the process of preparing demands.

December 2006:

No news at this time.

November 2006:

No news to report at this time.

October 2006:

We will be establishing a bargaining committee shortly. Members interested in serving on this committee should send an email to office@rcea.ca.

September 2006:

No news to report at this time.

June 2006:

No news to report at this time.

March 2006:

No news to report at this time.

January 2006:

New agreement signed.  Members should start receiving retroactive pay shortly.

20 December 2005:

The TO contract was signed on December 19th. NRC has 90 days to implement the terms of the new agreement, including retroactive pay.

12 December 2005:

The TO collective agreement will be signed on December 19. NRC then has 90 days in which to implement the terms of the new agreement.

November 2005:

The collective agreement has been ratified.  NRC has been notified.  We hope to sign the new agreement before Xmas.

23 November 2005:

Members of the TO Group have ratified the tentative collective agreement. NRC has been notified. They will now begin their approval process; approval of the Governor-in-Council is required. Once this is approved, the agreement will be signed and NRC will have 90 days in which to implement the agreement.

3 November 2005:

Under the proposed TO agreement, the apprentice Rates of Pay will be as follows: Apprentice Rates of Pay.

27 October 2005:

For complete details of the agreement: TO Ratification Package.

18 October 2005:

The finalization and distribution of the TO ratification package will be delayed while the rates of pay are being confirmed.

7 October 2005:

After several days of bargaining with the NRC, the TO Bargaining Team reached agreement on a wide variety of issues. With respect to pay, duration, hours, and the Research Deployment Allowance, the NRC put a final offer on the table. Your Bargaining Team felt that it had an obligation to bring this offer forward to all TO members. As such, all TO members will shortly be receiving a ratification package that will outline the proposed changes to the collective agreement.

These changes include:

1. Effective Feb. 14, 2005 – increase all rates of pay by 0.306%
2. Effective April 1, 2005 – increase all rates of pay by 2.4%
3. Effective April 1, 2006 – increase all rates of pay by 2.5%

The new agreement would expire March 31, 2007.

All leave entitlements that are now expressed in days would be changed to hours, with the exception of bereavement leave. This conversion would be done on the basis that one day equals 7.5 hours. This change will primarily affect those members who are working a compressed work week in relation to volunteer, personal, family related responsibility, and medical appointments for pregnant employees leave.

The IAR Research Deployment Allowance will now be applied to all TOs that meet the qualifying periods. Despite all our best efforts, we were unable to achieve reductions in these periods.

There are many other changes, some of which are improvements and others that can be viewed as concessions sought by NRC. These will be explained in detail in the ratification package. The Bargaining Team does not recommend either that the agreement be accepted or rejected. All members are encouraged to review the package carefully and to vote according to their own wishes.

October 2005:

There has been a delay in getting the ratification package out. We are waiting to confirm the rates of pay with NRC prior to sending out the package. We hope to have it out by the end of next week.

September 2005:

Bargaining in July had to be postponed. It is scheduled to resume October 3, 6 and 7.

19 July 2005:

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the bargaining scheduled for July 20-22 has been postponed. We hope to resume bargaining at the end of August.

June 2005:

Bargaining took place on June 13 and 14. Many non-pay issues were resolved. The next bargaining dates are scheduled for July 20-22. At this time we expect that NRC will be in a position to discuss all outstanding issues including rates of pay.

May 2005:

Bargaining will commence on May 6 with the exchanging of proposals. Future bargaining dates will scheduled in June and July.

March 2005:

The Bargaining Committee met on February 23, 2005. It will meet again on March 9 to review and finalize demands.

January 2005:

A new TO Bargaining Committee has been established with Jeff Fraser as Chairperson. The committee met on January 25 to begin the process of formulating demands. It will meet again on February 23.

December 2004:

Notice to bargain has been served. A bargaining committee with a new chairperson is being established and a meeting will be held in the new year.

September 2004:

The agreement will expire in February 2005. A request for input will shortly be sent out to all members. While the last survey provided us with good basic data, it was decided that this time, members would be invited to identify issues and concerns directly.

Workforce Adjustment Policy: The Workforce Adjustment Policy is a joint document that deals with what happens in the event of job cuts. It covers the identification of surplus employees, the marketing of surplus employees, the rights and obligations of surplus employees and the benefits available. The last policy was negotiated almost 10 years ago. Two years ago, the RCEA and PIPS jointly prepared demands and recommendations for a review of the Policy. That review, with NRC, was completed on July 5, 2004. Significant changes have been agreed upon and the new policy will now form part of all collective agreements. The new policy should be signed and implemented shortly. If you have any questions, please call the RCEA office.

August 2004:

No news to report at this time.

June 2004:

No news to report at this time.

March 2004:

The President of the Treasury Board recently announced that the freeze on reclassifications has been lifted.

December 2003:

Members should now have received their retroactive pay. Please note the following: the new increment in the last (expired) collective agreement only became effective on April 1, 2001. Members who received that increment on that date would have had to wait 12 months to receive the new increment under the new agreement. So although the agreement says that the new increment is effective February 14, 2002, it will only be applied on April 1, 2002. This may have an impact on retroactive pay adjustments. Those members who received the last new increment after April 1, 2001 will have to wait 12 months from the date of their last increment to receive the new one.

November 2003:

No news to report at this time.

22 October 2003:

No news to report at this time

Performance Bonus: While the Performance Bonus Program was in effect, the RCEA challenged NRC’s refusal to publish the names of bonus recipients. That challenge was heard in the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division. The Court recently ruled that NRC was not within the law to refuse to provide the RCEA with the names of recipients. The RCEA will now receive that list of names from NRC. Here is the web site that cites the Performance bonus court decision: http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fct/2003/2003fc1116.html.

7 October 2003:

TO COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT: VOLUNTEER AND PERSONAL LEAVE:

The new Volunteer and Personal Leave provisions of the TO collective agreement became effective September 19, 2003. Apparently, the SIGMA system has not yet been adjusted to accommodate these changes. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO THE LEAVE AS OF SEPTEMBER 19. If you want to take the leave prior to SIGMA being up and running, you should notify your supervisor of your intent, give the 5-day notice period and then take the leave. Your supervisor must take note of the leave request and when it was taken. Once the SIGMA system has been adjusted, the leave should be retroactively entered.

19 September 2003:

The new collective agreement was signed today.

September 2003:

Members voted to accept the new collective agreement. It will be signed on September 19. NRC then has 90 days in which to implement the terms of the new agreement.

25 August 2003:

The TO collective agreement has been ratified by a majority of the membership. NRC will be notified shortly. They must then go through the Governor-in-Council approval process. This should take about six weeks. Once this is completed, the new agreement will be signed. As such, we anticipate signing the agreement by mid-October. Once the agreement is signed, NRC has 90 days to implement the terms of the new agreement.

August 2003:

The ratification ballots will be counted on August 15, 2003. If the agreement is ratified, NRC will be notified immediately. We anticipate that it will be signed by the end of September.

23 July 2003:

For complete details of the agreement: TO ratification

10 July 2003:

TO TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED July 10, 2003.

Highlights of the Agreement (details to follow on website and in ratification package).

Rates of Pay:

1. 14 February 2002 Add a new increment to the top of each range.
Value of Increments: TO-1 -- 4.9%

TO-2 -- 4.36%

TO-3 -- 4.01%

TO-4 -- 3.66%

TO-5 -- 3.66%

TO-6 -- 3.66%

2. 14 February 2002 Increase all rates of pay by 2.5%.
3. 14 February 2003 Increase all rates of pay by 2.5%.
4. 14 February 2004 Increase all rates of pay by 2.5%.

Vacation Leave:

4 weeks after 6 years of service.
5 weeks and 2 days after 23 years of service.

These changes will come into effect on July 1, 2003. The other vacation leave provisions remain unchanged.

Overtime Meal Rates: Increase to $10.50. New overtime meal allowance when working overtime on days of rest.

Sick Leave: For shift workers, 2 extra days of sick leave per year.

Volunteer Leave and Personal Leave: One day each.

Deployment Allowance for IAR.

July 2003:

Bargaining took place on June 19. Progress was made on many items. Bargaining will resume on July 10.

7 July 2003:

Bargaining has been scheduled for July 10, 2003.

June 2003:

Bargaining has been scheduled for June 19, 2003. While NRC does not yet have a mandate to bargain pay, we are hopeful that they will be in a position to deal with other issues and that they will shortly have a pay mandate.

We are aware that most members are very frustrated with the pace of negotiations. So are the RCEA and your bargaining team. Below you will find a letter to Dr. Carty. It is an example of the type of letter that you could send to Dr. Carty to let him know how members feel.

Dear Dr. Carty:

As a member of the TO Group, I would like to express my unhappiness with the pace of collective bargaining between the RCEA and the NRC. Our contract expired on February 13, 2002, almost 18 months ago. The RO collective agreement expired on July 19, 2002 and they already have a new agreement. This is not acceptable. The TO Group is always left behind. I urge you to return to the bargaining table and to conclude a new agreement for the TO Group. Please show us that all NRC employees are equally important.

Sincerely yours,

March 2003:

The bargaining sessions that were scheduled for March 24 and 25 have been postponed. We expected that NRC would have a mandate by now and that they would be able to address many of the outstanding bargaining demands. In fact, NRC has not yet even approached Treasury Board for its mandate. They tell us that they are still reviewing our proposals. We have made it very clear to NRC that this is unacceptable and that we expect them to make every effort to secure the mandate and to bargain with us in a timely manner.

January 2003:

The bargaining sessions that were scheduled for January 27 and 28 were postponed until March 2003. NRC anticipates that it will have a mandate to bargain by then and your Bargaining Team felt that it was best to wait until such time as NRC could engage in meaningful discussions at the bargaining table.