Your CS bargaining team is at Public Interest Commission (PIC) hearings today and tomorrow. We begin the meetings with the employer taking a disrespectful and unacceptable position.
The employer is offering us a pay increase that falls short of what other PIPSC groups received. All other PIPSC groups were offered a pay increase of 8% over four years. The employer’s opening position today is 5.6% over 3 years.
They also want to reduce the protection against contracting out, a last-minute concession that they’ve just introduced. After 3 years of failing to take action to reduce the abuse of contracting out, they now want to just forget about the problem.
“We have put the employer on notice: we will fight tooth and nail against such an unfair offer,” said PIPSC President Debi Daviau. “Instead of thanking our members for their hard work and dedication during the pandemic, and after months of bargaining, the employer has decided to make an offer that shortchanges our members on their pay.”
“Is this the recognition that the Prime Minister and the employer give our members after weeks of praise and commendations?” said CS Group President Stan Buday. “Here’s my message to our members: you deserve a fair deal. We are all in this together and we will not back down until the employer is prepared to take our demands seriously.”