Update – Shelter Cost Differential

2023-11-12

Attention CUPE 104 members working and living in the Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

 

This is an update to our previous communication communication (https://104.cupe.ca/2023/10/03/shelter-cost-differential-for-cupe-104-members-working-and-living-in-the-yukon-territory-northwest-territories-and-nunavut/) about the employer discontinuing the Shelter Cost Differential (SCD) for employees who own their homes.

Thanks to pressure from the bargaining agents, including CUPE 104, the National Joint Council (NJC) Isolated Posts and Government Housing Committee (IPGHC) issued a communique confirming that the SCD is payable to employees renting or owning private accommodation, and to employees renting government housing.

This communique from the NJC IPGHC corrects and clarifies the application of the SCD for employees in private accommodations.

Read the full NJC IPGHC communique here: https://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/communique/27/890/en 

 

In Solidarity,
Your CUPE 104 Executive

 

Invasive Medical Questionnaire and Medical Examination

2023-10-31

 

Thank you to all our members for reaching out and alerting us to the highly invasive medical questionnaire sent to you by the employer. Some of you also received referral information to attend a medical examination. Over the past two days, we brought this to the attention of several senior managers of the RCMP, including the Commissioner, and we relentlessly demanded the process be halted immediately.

Until further notice, this process is on pause and, if you have received it, you do not need to submit the medical history questionnaire to the employer nor follow up with the medical appointment/referral should one have been sent to you.

 

We emphasized to the employer how unnecessary and invasive their request was and told them how it created more stress and uncertainty for us at a time when we are critically understaffed and under resourced. There is no need for them to be asking for this information right now. They have not explained why they need it, how it will be used, or what it will be used for. Except for the hearing and psychological components, there has never been a need for such detailed medical information to be provided and we do not see the need to do so now.

 

We had been asking for consultations with the employer about their plan for hearing and psychological testing to transition to Health Canada for some time now. Despite our repeated requests, we were not consulted. After our efforts over the past two days, we were finally able to set a meeting with them to talk about this issue. We have our CUPE health and safety and legal experts involved as well.

 

Please continue to reach out to your Stewards or Regional Chairpersons with any questions and concerns and we will update when we know more.

 

In Solidarity,
Your CUPE 104 Executive

Shelter Cost Differential for CUPE 104 members working and living in the Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

Attention CUPE 104 members working and living in the Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

 

Recently, the employer announced that they would be discontinuing the Shelter Cost Differential (SCD) for employees who own their homes. If you are affected by this decision, we recommend that you file an individual grievance, following the steps below, as soon as possible. You have 25 weekdays from the date of notification to file your individual grievance.

 

Steps to present an individual grievance:

 

Step 1. Download the pre-filled individual grievance template here: https://104.cupe.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/820/2023/10/Individual-Grievance-Presentation-340-55-nf-fillable.pdf

Step 2. Fill in Section 1, Part A with your personal details.

Step 3. In Section 1, Part B, insert the date you received notification from the employer that your SCD payments would be discontinued.

Step 4. In Section 1, Part C, insert the same date as Step 3.

Step 5. Review Section 1, Part D, sign and date.

Step 6. Sent the completed and signed individual grievance form along with a copy of the notification you received from the employer and any relevant notes, files, and emails to your CUPE Local 104 Regional Chairperson:

          For Telecommunication Operators the Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories, your Regional Chairperson’s email address is westto@cupe104.ca .

          For Telecommunication Operators in Nunavut, your Regional Chairperson’s email address is eastto@cupe104.ca .

Step 7. Your Regional Chairperson will review and sign the grievance form and return it to you.

Step 8. Present the signed grievance form to your immediate supervisor or manager. Once this is completed, advise your Regional Chairperson.

 

In Solidarity,

Your CUPE 104 Executive

Issue With Premiums

2023-09-30

We are aware of various messages coming from the employer about the prospective elements of our new collective agreement (e.g. weekend premium, language allowance, etc.). We have been working on this and we will let you know as soon as we have more information to share.

 

In Solidarity,

Your CUPE 104 Executive
Kathleen, Robbin, Myles, Robb, Cyrus, Marc-Étienne, Alex, Brandon, Randy and Ron.

Executive e-mail addresses: https://104.cupe.ca/contacts/
Main page: https://104.cupe.ca/
Membership Form: https://104.cupe.ca/membership/

 

Signed Collective Agreement

2023-07-19

 

Congratulations everyone on this historical day! It was a very long journey, but we finally got here!

Our first collective agreement has been signed today. 

You can download our first collective agreement here
<link collective agreement>.

Timelines in the Collective Agreement

It is now in effect and the clock has started today on the timelines in the collective. RCMP management will be communicating with you about any changes to be made to their processes in order to implement the agreement. If you have any questions about that, please ask your manager.

Questions

For questions not related to the employer processes, you can contact your regional chair. You can find their emails here:
<contacts page>

 

 

In Solidarity,

Your CUPE 104 Executive
Kathleen, Robbin, Myles, Robb, Cyrus, Marc-Étienne, Alex, Brandon, Randy and Ron.

Executive e-mail addresses: https://104.cupe.ca/contacts/
Main page: https://104.cupe.ca/
Membership Form: https://104.cupe.ca/membership/

Reduction of tax withholding on lump-sum employment income payments

In certain cases, the Income Tax Act allows lump-sum payments to be issued without tax withheld, or with a reduced amount of tax withheld. To take advantage of this, an employee must send a request to Revenue Canada to obtain a Letter of Authority. This letter will specify the maximum amount of the payment on which tax is not to be withheld.

 

Employees who want a reduced amount of tax withheld on a payment must submit a written request to Revenue Canada, or complete a request for reduction of tax deductions at source form. These forms are available from local tax services offices. Once completed an employee’s written request or completed form is to be sent to the employee’s local tax services office for processing. These offices will ordinarily process the request within 4 to 6 weeks of receiving it. Employees should expect this timeframe to be longer if the request is made during a peak income tax period. After Revenue Canada processes the request, the employee will be issued a Letter of Authority or a refusal letter that explains why the request was denied.

 

If an employee receives a Letter of Authority from Revenue Canada, the employee must then submit it to their pay office.

 

It is then the employee’s responsibility to make the RRSP contribution, or other expenditure upon which the Letter of Authority was issued.

 

The Letter of Authority is only valid for the calendar year for which it is issued. The letter must be received before departmental compensation specialists request a payment. A Letter of Authority cannot be applied retroactively to a payment that has already been issued with tax withheld. In addition, under no circumstances will a request for reduced tax withholding be processed without Revenue Canada’s Letter of Authority.

 

If you who work and reside in the Province of Québec you must obtain or provide two waiver letters. For a reduction of federal income tax, you must provide your compensation specialist with either a Letter of Authority issued by Revenue Canada or an approval letter as detailed below. For a reduction to your provincial income tax, you must obtain approval from Revenu Québec.

 

You can find the forms and instructions at the following links:

 

T1213 – Request to Reduce Tax Deductions at Source (link = https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/t1213.html)

 

TP-1016-V – Application for a Reduction in Source Deductions of Income Tax (link = https://www.revenuquebec.ca/en/businesses/source-deductions-and-employer-contributions/calculating-source-deductions-and-employer-contributions/source-deductions-of-quebec-income-tax/change-in-income-tax-deductions-requested-by-individuals/application-for-a-reduction-in-source-deductions-of-income-tax/)

 

For more information on purchasing RSP’s, their deadlines and impacts to your taxes, please contact your financial advisor.

Tentative Agreement Ratified

2023-06-15

 

Congratulations! You have voted and the results are in.

CUPE 104 has ratified our very first collective agreement!

 

Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to attend the town hall presentations and who voted on this historic agreement.

The next step is for Treasury Board to complete their approval process and then we will sign the agreement. It will come into effect on the date of signing.

We will keep you updated! Keep watching for our emails.

 

In Solidarity,

Your CUPE 104 Executive
Kathleen, Robbin, Myles, Robb, Cyrus, Marc-Étienne, Alex, Brandon, Randy and Ron.

Executive e-mail addresses: https://104.cupe.ca/contacts/
Main page: https://104.cupe.ca/
Membership Form: https://104.cupe.ca/membership/

 

The VOTE on the Tentative Agreement has now started.

2023-06-13

 

The VOTE on the Tentative Agreement has now started.

Voting is open until June 14th 2023 at 23:59 EDT.

 

Active members should have received an email with YOUR VOTING INFORMATION. If you haven’t, please contact us at Secretary@cupe104.ca

The vote is only one question and will only take a moment of your time, so please vote now. Your CUPE 104 executive is unanimously recommending that you vote YES to ratify this Tentative Agreement. Every vote is important.

 

In Solidarity,

Your CUPE 104 Executive
Kathleen, Robbin, Myles, Robb, Cyrus, Marc-Étienne, Alex, Brandon, Randy and Ron.

Executive e-mail addresses: https://104.cupe.ca/contacts/
Main page: https://104.cupe.ca/
Membership Form: https://104.cupe.ca/membership/