News

As many of you may know, “H” Division OCC is scheduled to move from Truro, NS to the provincial RCMP HQ building in Dartmouth, NS in February 2021. One of the employer’s reasons provided for this move was the health and safety of employees. This did not make sense from the beginning, especially given the information and facts that everyone local knew.

It seemed natural to ask for health and safety information so, that’s what we did; we requested the latest air quality reports and security assessments for the new location. Initially, we were told that we would be provided the air quality report within weeks of that first request. However, those weeks went by and the employer refused to provide the reports.

Air quality reports are routine and not a secret so, refusing to release the report seemed very strange. We then made a request through the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) process. Again, the RCMP put up roadblocks to releasing the report and continued to delay. Finally, we had to put in a complaint with the Information Commissioner of Canada.

Last week, as a direct result of the complaint to the Information Commissioner of Canada, we finally received the report. The report showed alarming levels of Radon present in the space where the new OCC is supposed to be built. The levels reported surpass the World Health Organization’s 100 Bq/m3 threshold and even Health Canada’s threshold of 200 Bq/m3. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. We immediately reported this to the Occupational Health and Safety Committee of the Truro (current) location for their awareness. We also alerted the Health and Safety specialists at CUPE National who put an analysis together of the reported results.

We have advised management and the OCC Move project team lead. Now that they knew we had the report, they finally agreed to speak to us about it. The employer said they are working on mitigation and they seem to think the issue is resolved. They told us they are keeping a close eye on it but, they still have not shared any further reports we have requested to prove the mitigation is working to improve the Radon levels.

We are deeply troubled by the lack of communication and continued secrecy surrounding this whole workplace relocation. These important health and safety issues are the latest in a long line of issues surrounding this move. The health and safety of our members is extremely important, and we will continue to ensure a safe working environment for all of our members in all work locations.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, you, our members, have been demonstrating incredible flexibility, creativity, caring, and dedication to your work helping Canadians. We have heard so many great examples of our members continually working hard on day-to-day duties, special projects, and adapting to the reality of the situation with amazing professionalism.

Some of our members have adapted their duties to work remotely, many have been involved in ensuring our safety when at the workplace, and everyone has remained completely dedicated to providing critical service to Canadians. We love hearing these examples and we need to hear about them to illustrate our critical work to the employer at the bargaining table.

During this time, we have been extremely engaged with management in both day-to-day activities as well as on several Divisional and National Committees.

Local Engagement

Our Stewards and Executive have been in contact with many of your managers throughout this pandemic response. Many of us sit on divisional committees and working groups and in many cases, the employer has been asking for our input when developing their local pandemic response and recovery plans. This engagement is possible because of the hard work and relationships being established by our Union officials.

National Occupational Health and Safety Committee Meetings

As you know, we have a seat at the table on both the RCMP Member and RCMP Public Service National Occupational Health and Safety Committees. Throughout this pandemic, we have been fully engaged in both committees; our President has been very vocal on issues related specifically to your health and safety. This has been especially important during the current pandemic because many of you, as critical workers, must attend the workplace. Some of you also must stay home for your children, families, or to protect yourself from the virus. Many of you brought up very serious concerns and these were all raised at these bi-weekly meetings, escalated, and addressed as necessary.

National Joint Council / Treasury Board Meetings

Joining the National Joint Council (NJC) has been extremely beneficial. When the pandemic issue hit hard in March, we were part of especially important conversations right from the beginning. As part of the NJC, National Union Presidents, including ours, spoke directly with Treasury Board (TB) and had daily meetings with them on how to proceed. We directly influenced the directives that were written up with the first-hand knowledge of how to best protect our own members rights. Treasury Board was great to work with on this by giving us this direct voice.

These directives were sent to the department heads by TB to enact. So, in essence, many of the COVID-19 related bulletins, directives, and broadcasts that you see on the InfoWeb or in your e-mail are a DIRECT result of the work our Union is doing. This is especially thanks to our President and the other Union Presidents working collaboratively with TB as part of the NJC.

This working group has been amazing and extremely productive. If, for some reason, one of the departments did not comply, we would bring it up to our own department first (i.e RCMP) and if they still went against the directives, we would simply mention it on our daily calls with the NJC and TB and it would be immediately resolved. It was incredible to see TB give us this direct opportunity to help drive the pandemic protocols and response. It really has showcased the incredible results that can be achieved through collaboration with the employer and the Unions.

Following the initial response, these meetings changed to twice a week and now they have been changed to once per week. This is a great sign that things are stabilizing. Plans to reintegrate employees to the workplace are being developed but that does not mean that those that are at home should go back to work. In fact, it is the NJC Bargaining Agents position that people should continue to work remotely as much as possible.

If your manager or supervisor is changing their approach with all of this “return to work” talk and it concerns you, please let your Steward know immediately. They will work with you and escalate to our Executive, as necessary. For example, we are seeing some members being asked for a medical certificate when they are already at home due to medical related COVID-19 concerns. Medical certificates, including 2135s, are not required and this has been confirmed with RCMP and Treasury Board. We are also seeing some members facing pressure from management about coming back to work, even though they are away from the workplace for COVID-19 reasons, such as childcare, and their situation has not changed. If something doesn’t smell right, please bring it forward to your Union immediately.

Bargaining Agent / Senior Management Committee Meeting

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard, the RCMP went into full force work mode. What they did not do was involve the Unions right from the start. This caused some issues because decisions were being made without input and consultation with the Unions which caused frustrations. It was a lesson learned and was rectified.

The RCMP Commissioner struck this Bargaining Agent / Senior Management Committee that included her, her senior staff, and Union Presidents. These meetings were held weekly and then became bi- weekly and are still occurring now. These meetings have been productive, and we have been vocal, representing your interests. We are able to get ahead of many issues before they impact our membership and it is critically important to keep your Stewards apprised of any issues so that we can continue to escalate and resolve these as well.

For the most part, RCMP Senior Management has reacted positively to suggestions that we have made. This committee is another example of building communication and trust between us and management. These collaborative relationships are paramount to ensuring the best working conditions for our members. We continue to take every available opportunity to engage with the employer and management to represent our members.

2020-06-28

While COVID-19 did slow things down for a little bit, your bargaining committee is back at it, working hard on preparations. Your impassioned and energetic team has been meeting virtually and getting some great work done.

We previously made our position known to the employer that we are eager and want to get to the table immediately, this has not changed. The employer had a negotiator assigned to work with us but now, that person is retiring, and they are in the process of trying to hire someone else. Once they hire someone, it will take them a little bit to get familiar with our unique case.

We will keep at them on this. We need a collective agreement that will blend the CMs, PSs, IMs, and TOs and ensure that the disparity created by the employer is corrected while considering the unique needs of each group. There is no doubt, especially with what we have seen recently, about how critical to Canadians your work is. Our working conditions and contract must reflect this.

There is a perception that we are “ahead” of the National Police Federation (NPF) when it comes to who should sit at the table first because we certified before them. It does not work that way. Treasury Board, the employer, has several negotiators and they all work simultaneously. We are not assigned the same negotiators and each negotiation process proceeds at its own pace.

Comparing us with the NPF is like comparing apples and oranges when it comes to bargaining. While most of our working conditions and pay scales have historically been tied to the Regular Member in one way or another, we face the complexities of merging four different groups (CMs, PSs, IMs, and TOs) and correcting the disparity between the groups that was created by the employer. We need to be cautious and not rush. Preparation is paramount.

If the NPF negotiate or even complete their bargaining before us, it is not a bad thing for us. Since we have historically been linked to them, depending on what they work out, we may be able to more easily bargain some of the same items, using for example, “me too” clauses (really worth a Google).

The bargaining process is very complex and there are a lot of strategic considerations to ensure we get the very best contract. Even though we are not sitting at the table right now, every interaction we have with the employer is part of the bigger picture of bargaining. We are constantly negotiating one thing or another on your behalf and all of the points in the June Update message are examples of that.

We will keep everyone updated with the major milestones of the collective bargaining process. Please remember that bargaining in good faith involves a great deal of confidentiality. We cannot share specific points in the proposed agreement until it comes time for a ratification vote. We must also not publicly share priority items or negotiating strategies because then the employer would know what is most important to us.

If you have questions about the collective bargaining process or where we are at in that process, please contact your local steward.

2020-06-26

Our hearing at the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB) about the 2.3% market adjustment we were denied in 2016 was previously scheduled to occur this week (June 22-24). To our great disappointment, all FPSLREB hearings, including ours, were postponed due to COVID-19. A new hearing date has not been scheduled yet by the FPSLREB.

We are still very active on this case and the employer has not been cooperative with some pre-hearing disclosure. This was the cause of the delay back in December. We have been escalating this matter and our lawyers are working on this. We are ready and it is far from over. You can rest assured that if this is not resolved by the time we hit the bargaining table, it will be one the first items brought up. We are not done with this by any stretch of the imagination.

The Public Service Police Operations Support group (PO – TCO and IMA subgroups) is pay matched to the Civilian Member Law Enforcement Support group (LES – IM and TO subgroups). These groups are pay matched to the Regular Member (RM) pay and have been decades. This may change during the collective bargaining process; however, our position is that it has not changed yet and no changes to this pay structure has ever been communicated to us.

In 2016, RMs were given a 2.3% market adjustment pay increase and we were denied this same pay increase. Around the same time, we applied for union certification and the RCMP has been trying to re-write history after the fact.

We will not let this go. By all accounts, we should have been provided this same pay increase in 2016 and we will keep fighting to make sure that we get it.

To submit your name for the vacant position on the CUPE Local 104 Executive, download the form from the link below and submit it to elections@cupe104.ca.

East TO By-Election Nomination Form

Employee leave policy

Update #2

Vulnerable employees

Public health officials know there is an increased risk of more severe outcomes for some Canadians:
– aged 65 and over
– with compromised immune systems
– with underlying medical conditions

If you fall into one of these categories, we urge you to speak to your manager and work from home if able to, or if unable to telework, to submit “other leave with pay,” (leave code 699). At this time, public health officials have indicated there is insufficient evidence to say that pregnant women are at greater risk, however we encourage our pregnant employees to consult their health care providers and talk to their managers about working from home.

If you have questions regarding the RCMP’s official and current procedures regarding COVID-19 and its various issues, please ensure you consult the “COVID-19 – Addressing Important Topics for Employees” page on the Infoweb.  If you do not have access to the Infoweb, please reach out to your manager or check the RCMP’s public website for information.   If you have specific workplace concerns that are not being addressed by management, don’t forget to contact your steward or Regional Chairperson for assistance.

We wish to thank everyone for your amazing work and dedication during these difficult times.

Our President has been involved in daily teleconferences with senior members of the Treasury Board and the RCMP. There are several key topics including working conditions and occupational health and safety. As part of the National Joint Council (NJC), our Union has a voice at all of these meetings along with other bargaining agents currently representing employees of all federal government departments, which includes the RCMP.

As part of the NJC and also as part of the RCMP National Occupational Health and Safety Policy committees, we have been advocating on many fronts.

• We have raised concerns about the lack of communication from RCMP management as well as the inconsistent application of Treasury Board and RCMP directives. We are pleased to see that this is improving.
• We are continuing to push to ensure that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is ready and available to our members, if needed.
• We are trying to ensure availability of high demand hygiene items such as hand sanitizer and wipes.
• We are ensuring Telecom Operators and Intercept Monitors are included in Business Continuity Planning at all levels because disruptions to the critical functions performed by our members would have significant impacts on public safety and emergency response.

It is very important that everyone follows the guidance and advice from federal / provincial / territorial health authorities. The Public Health Agency of Canada has excellent information and updates available on its website – https://www.canada.ca/covid-19.

Anyone who has travelled out of the country needs to self isolate for 14 days. This includes all of our members. We are not exempted from this. If your manager is telling you to come to work anyway, please contact your Steward and/or Regional Chairperson for assistance.

We are all driven and dedicated to our work and often feel compelled to go to work when sick so that we do not “let our co-workers down” or “have them run short”. Please consider the bigger picture and try looking at it from another perspective. If one person goes in sick, the potential is there to make others sick, and so on. Although the intention may be good, this has the possibility to significantly decrease available staffing resources or even wipe out an entire workplace. Staying home when you are sick will actually help the staffing and workload situation.

At this point, management should be providing extra hand sanitizer, wipes, and tissues. They should be arranging your work site so that you are all working a safe distance away from each other.

These are some examples of management actions that are reasonable and encouraged:

• Reduce or restrict communal items, such as magazines.
• Reduce staffing levels to the minimum required to maintain critical operations.
• Have employees work from home, if they are able and it makes sense.

The following are examples of actions that, at this point in time, are not reasonable:

• Restricting employees from eating at their workstations.
• Advising sick employees to come to work.
• Advising employees in self-isolation to come to work if they are feeling fine.
• Asking employees to provide a doctor’s note.

Things are changing on a daily basis. It is possible that some of us may be redeployed to ensure critical operations across the country. It is also possible for leave to be cancelled and / or restricted further. There are provisions in RCMP policy and the TC collective agreement that deal with re-deployments as well as leave cancellations. If you have travel plans or have booked / paid for vacations over the next while, now is the time to review the applicable policies and articles in the collective agreement to be aware of your responsibilities as well as the responsibilities of the employer in these situations.

Please continue to let your Steward or Regional Chairperson know of any issues at your work site. If there are unreasonable requests or directives coming from management, we will work to resolve them.

These are uncertain times and things are changing on an hourly basis. Thank you all for your flexibility and dedication to keeping Canadians safe. We will get through this together.

Executive contacts – https://104.cupe.ca/contacts/

Contact us – https://104.cupe.ca/contact-us/

We have been in contact with the Treasury Board to reaffirm our desire to move ahead with bargaining as soon as possible. They have advised that they are not yet ready. Meanwhile, our bargaining team continues to work hard on preparations. It is important to note that deeming does not affect bargaining and we are all eager to get to the table.

We do not know if the Regular Members (RMs) will go to the bargaining table before us but it is important to know that their situation is not the same as ours. We are not in the same position as them. We have two different categories of employees as well as two completely different sets of terms and conditions of employment and various employer policies that we are bringing forward into one single contract.

We are eager to get this formally going but we also do not want to rush this very important process of bargaining our first contract. We have a different negotiator than the RMs and we are not queued up in front or behind them.

We have CUPE National’s support and immense experience behind us and they continue to actively assist us with researching other contracts, benefits, and precedents to support our position when bargaining.