The government gave itself the power in legislation a few years ago but never used it until Heritage Minister James Moore ordered the Public Service Labour Relations Board, which he oversees, to call a secret vote on the government’s May 6 offer to 8,600 employees represented by the Customs and Immigration Union.
Such votes have been called among employees covered by the Canada Labour Code since the 1990s, but the provision wasn’t added to the Public Service Labour Relations Act until 2005.
Moore’s decision to order a vote in the “public interest” came the day after the issuance of a long-awaited conciliation report by the Public Interest Commission, which recommended improvements to the deal the government wants workers to accept or reject in a vote.
The vote circumvents the bargaining process, and is seen as a signal of the hardline tactics the government is willing to take to get outstanding labour impasses settled. The foreign service officers are locked in an escalating two-month strike while customs officers, prison guards, pilots, and a large technical and support group are all log jammed at the bargaining table with conciliation reports or waiting for similar PIC hearings with a government unwilling to budge.
Jean-Pierre Fortin, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, said the vote is an attack on collective bargaining process while still underway. Some argue the government is testing the waters with a strong union like the CIU, which is among the more militant of the 18 federal unions. If successful, some speculate the government will force similar votes on all the other unions that have yet to reach deals. CIU is one of unions that falls under the umbrella of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
“What’s at stake here is the right to negotiate and the collective bargaining process. That’s what is (being called) into question here and that’s what the fight is now,” said Fortin.
“The government has the right but the problem is their work with the team wasn’t completed and that is the battle for all unions... If the government doesn’t like the way things are going at the bargaining table or doesn’t like a PIC conciliation report that both parties agreed to, it can stop it, call a vote and scare members that if they don’t take the offer we will legislate you with less.”
But a spokesperson for Treasury Board President Tony Clement said the minister decided to ask Moore to call the vote because the two sides had been negotiating since the contract expired in June 2011.
“The government felt it was only fair that employees themselves had an opportunity to decide if they would like to accept what we believe is a fair and reasonable offer,” said Andrea Mandel-Campbell.
The unions are battling in what they see as a hostile labour environment. They are facing legislation requiring them to disclose their financial transactions, including political activities, and proposals are being floated to scrap the Rand formula and bring in “right to work” legislation that would make union dues optional for public servants.
The government could argue unions don’t represent their members if it could win a vote for the offer that the bargaining team rejected. The big gamble, though, is what happens if the members reject the government’s offer and backs the union.
“They have to be betting that members would vote for the offer the union walked away from and if they win they will see that as members going against their union,” said one labour leader.
The two sides have been at an impasse for months and had been waiting for a conciliation report since December 2012 that was supposed to help the two sides bridge their differences and reach an agreement. A conciliation report is not binding but provides a basis for a possible settlement.
The conciliation report came out last week but the government moved to call the vote the next day without another round of talks to discuss the report.
A big issue is pay. The customs officers, many of whom are armed, argue they should be treated more like other armed forces, such as RCMP or prison guards while the government considers them more like a security service. The PIC concluded they were neither but conceded they were more akin to enforcement officers than a security service.
Despite this, the commission didn’t recommend pay increases but suggested some improvements.
The secret vote would unfold quickly. The PSLRB ordered Treasury Board and PSAC to put together list of employees who will be voting, PSAC can review the list and raise any concerns by June 14th and the government can respond to those concerns until June 19th.
The board will release the results, including the number of ballots cast for and against the offer to Treasury Board, PSAC and Moore.
In his order, Moore said the combination of the “current fiscal environment, the potential safety and national security risks and the significant financial repercussions” Canada would face in the event of a strike justified calling the vote in the “public interest.”
A strike, however, wasn’t on the horizon for several months. The union hasn’t had a strike vote yet and it is still haggling with government over its essential services agreement which spells out what employees are designated workers and cannot strike. That agreement must be in place before a strike.
PSAC President Robyn Benson said she believes the vote was a political decision and not that of the bureaucrats doing the negotiating.
The call for the vote, however, didn’t come as complete surprise. PSAC was worried the government would resort to it after Treasury Board officials took the unusual step a couple of weeks ago of hand-delivering a final offer to PSAC headquarters rather than at the table. The next day the Canada Border Services Agency took the unprecedented step of sending emails about the offer directly to all employees affected.
After that, Benson met several times with Clement to discuss the situation and the two parties returned to the table May 6 when the government presented the offer that members are being asked to accept or reject.
Benson also made pre-emptive appeal to Moore to meet with the union and hear their concerns about calling a vote before the parties worked their way through the process. Her appeal failed and no meeting was held.
“In our opinion, such a vote would distort the normal bargaining process, and as importantly is unnecessary and premature since the parties should be a left to receive and review the PIC report and attempt to freely negotiate an agreement,” she wrote in a May 7 letter.
Original Article
Source: ottawacitizen.com
Author: KATHRYN MAY
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