Submit Your Bargaining Demands, Get Involved!

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has the primary responsibility for collective bargaining.

However, the Union of National Employees (UNE) supports this process in several ways:

• Before negotiations begin, the UNE is responsible for soliciting bargaining demands from its members. This is your chance to have your say and address specific issues that require improvement in your collective agreement.
• Your PSAC bargaining teams, which include UNE members, negotiate with your employer to bring about the change that the members demand.
• This Input Call is your chance to make your voice heard and submit demands for the upcoming round of bargaining.

The primary purpose of this communiqué is to explain what you and your Local members need to do, to submit your demands and how local members can get involved in the process.

Key Dates

Deadline for Submission of Bargaining Demands to UNE – November 3, 2017.

Deadline for National Bargaining Conference Applications – October 20, 2017.

How Can I Submit Demands?

• Members are free to submit demands, through their local, that echo those found in the program of demands (POD) – or they can simply submit new demands if they feel the POD doesn’t reflect their particular needs.
• Locals should schedule a membership meeting to discuss their priorities and proposed bargaining demands.
• Once bargaining demands are agreed upon, the Local submits them online via theUNE’s bargaining demand form. Your bargaining demands must be approved by your Local during a meeting wherein quorum is met.
• The UNE will require access to a copy of the meeting minutes to confirm that the demands originated from a local meeting – upon request.
• The demands can echo those found in the POD – or they be entirely different if your Local identified a particular need outside the PSAC’s proposed demands.
• Your Local can only submit one proposal on each issue set out in the POD. In other words, you can only submit one demand regarding wage adjustments, one demand regarding compensatory leave, etc.

What Happens After I Submit My Demands?

• The UNE reviews all the demands submitted by Locals.
• The UNE is limited to a maximum of 20 demands that it can forward to PSAC (see POD).
• During this review process, the UNE ensures that the demands conform to the needs of the union.
• The UNE also conducts basic editing and establishes a priority list based on the bargaining demands submitted.
• Once the UNE’s work is done, the UNE submits the bargaining demands electronically to the PSAC.

How Does PSAC Prioritize Demands?

• PSAC holds a National Bargaining Conference (scheduled for March 26-29, 2018)
• It’s during this bargaining conference that delegates review bargaining demands, identify priorities and plan the upcoming round of bargaining.

How Can I Get Involved?

• National bargaining conferences are where members of the bargaining team are elected.
• If you attend this conference as a delegate, you may decide to run for a spot on the bargaining team.
• If you would like to attend this conference, please submit your name to the UNE for consideration.  Click here to access the bargaining conference delegate application form.
• The three UNE national officers will review all applications and select delegates to the bargaining conference.
• Space is limited! Therefore, selection is conducted with the goal of ensuring women representation, geographic, occupational and equity group diversity.

Background:

• On June 29, 2017, the UNE distributed the PSAC’s POD to all UNE Local Executive members (see attachment).
• The POD lists a series of suggested demands that have been identified as key priorities for the union.  The demands found in the program are derived in part from demands that remained on the table during the last round of negotiations. They can also be derived from new developments in collective bargaining, ongoing research or union priorities.