Previous Month                                                                                                                        Next Month

News - July 2009

The headlines for news items published during this month are listed below.

Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article.

• The NHU’s ever-popular ‘Dues Checker’ is back!

• The TC group and the arbitration process – What’s going on?

• Health Canada confirms it: Federal government parking rates

go to market value next April

The NHU’s ever-popular ‘Dues Checker’ is back!

Posted July 23, 2009

One of the NHU’s most popular initiatives – our ‘Dues Checker’ – is back after an absence of almost a year.

Once again, individual NHU members will be able to view their most current dues assessment and understand the splitting of this global amount between our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the NHU and the member’s own Local.

The ‘Dues Checker’ sets out the dues structure for each NHU Local or Sub-Local across the country. This service is accessible either by clicking the ‘Dues Checker’ icon on the right-hand-side of our main page, or by clicking on the title under the ‘Services’ tab on our main menu to the left.

Bear in mind that, in calculating percentage dues, you should apply the lowest level/step of your particular classification (and not your current level/step).

While we would have preferred to reintroduce our ‘Dues Checker’ earlier this year, it made sense to wait for the outcome of the recent round of negotiations by the PSAC and the round of Local annual general meetings (where Local dues might have been altered).

While we have done our very best to provide the most up-to-date dues information possible, several caveats are in order:

          • The current dues information is based on data from the PSAC’s May 2009 membership

                 listing (the most recent received from employers).

          • Other events, such as collective bargaining and changes in Local dues, can alter these

                 numbers. For instance, the current dues data do not reflect the June 21, 2009 contract

                 raise, adjustments arising from decisions taken at the May 2009 PSAC Convention and

                 the as yet unresolved TC group arbitration ruling.

Going forward, the NHU National Office will review dues data on a twice-yearly basis and, if required, adjust the information contained in our ‘Dues Checker’.

It’s a point of pride at the NHU that we strive to provide the best in service while making careful and efficient use of every dollar of dues income. Our ‘Dues Checker’ is just another way of ‘delivering the goods’ for our members.

The TC group and the arbitration process – What’s going on?

Posted July 6, 2009

As we are all aware, collective bargaining in the federal public service is a lengthy and convoluted process. Our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, sensibly groups the classification groups it represents into ‘Tables’ sharing common work conditions and interests.

Each table has two dispute resolution paths available to it in the event negotiations break down: conciliation with the right to strike, and binding arbitration.

However, before a round of new contract talks begins, members belonging to each Table have the opportunity to choose a dispute settlement route. Should 10 per cent of the Table membership ask to switch dispute settlement paths, the PSAC will hold a vote of all Table members. The prevailing option carries the day.

So it was that members of the TC (Technical Services) group became the second of the four Treasury Board PSAC Tables to opt for the arbitration dispute settlement path.

Those TC negotiations have dragged on well past the date that the other PSAC-represented Tables reached an agreement with Treasury Board.

At this point, the two bargaining teams are set to meet from July 6 to 8 with the Arbitration Board to put forward their respective positions. Reports will be written and a binding decision will be imposed on both parties.

In a first, the arbitration board must take the following five criteria into consideration prior to making its decision:
      (a) the necessity of attracting competent persons to, and retaining them in, the public service in

            order to meet the needs of Canadians;
      (b) the necessity of offering compensation and other terms and conditions of employment in the

            public service that are comparable to those of employees in similar occupations in the private

            and public sectors, including any geographic, industrial or other variations that the arbitration

            board considers relevant;
      (c) the need to maintain appropriate relationships with respect to compensation and other terms

            and conditions of employment as between different classification levels within an occupation

            and as between occupations in the public service;
      (d) the need to establish compensation and other terms and conditions of employment that are

            fair and reasonable in relation to the qualifications required, the work performed, the

            responsibility assumed and the nature of the services rendered; and
      (e) the state of the Canadian economy and the Government of Canada’s fiscal circumstances.

Interested members may wish to look at the PSAC’s submission to the Arbitration Board. It can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking on the following icon:

Health Canada confirms it: Federal government parking rates go to market value next April

Posted July 1, 2009

It’s a bureaucratic case of ‘don’t shoot the messenger’. Health Canada has confirmed the rumour that departmental parking rates are set to jump next spring.

The increase was not Health Canada’s idea. Rather, it’s being imposed from on high by Public Works and Government Services Canada as part of a new government-wide parking policy. Obviously, this will also affect all other National Health Union members.

In keeping with the philosophy of the current government, PWGSC intends to bring parking fees in line with current market rates. In practical terms, this means that employees who have been paying parking fees below market rates or those paid by the private sector will see an increase in their monthly parking costs.

The new parking rates, which have not yet been set, will come into effect on April 1, 2010 when the policy comes into full effect. As for rented space, the new rates will come into effect with the new lease as PWGSC will no longer be including subsidized parking spots for employees in building leases. This means that parking rates could go up if a building has an existing lease that expires before the April 1 date.

Neither Health Canada nor the NHU is pleased with this parking rate increase. Management has told us that they will continue to work with PWGSC on behalf of their employees to try and reduce the end impact of this new policy.