[Tb-bargaining] TB Bargaining update: EB group

[Patrick Bragg]

EB negotiations: more frustrations

The EB bargaining team had another long and frustrating negotiating
session with its Treasury Board counterpart the week of March 3rd.

Your team returned, as the lead table, to the issue of adding *gender
identity* and *gender expression* to the no discrimination
language in all Treasury Board agreements. The Employer has previously
denied this proposal because a small number of cases that have been
adjudicated suggest that *gender identity* is already covered by the
word *sex.* We have made the point to Treasury Board that if
discrimination on these grounds is already prohibited, we should write
it into the Collective Agreement for all to see. The team was assisted
by PSAC legal counsel Shannon Blatt and a Treasury Board employee, both
of whom are members of the trans community. Despite a major and
incredibly moving presentation by the two women, the Treasury Board
negotiating team took the position that it has to *conduct more
research* into our proposal. We are hoping this will result in a
positive response when we bargain the week of April 28.

Your bargaining committee also made major presentations on our demands
for early retirement for teachers in high stress situations and with
respect to hours of work for teachers in the federal prison system. We
also exposed the unacceptable level of contracting out of teaching jobs
at the Correctional Service of Canada to support our demand to end the
contracting out of quality public service jobs and to bring
contracted-out jobs back into the bargaining unit. Again, the Employer
was unable to respond within the same week.

Among the large number of operational demands at the EB Table is one
for a year of sabbatical partly funded by the Employer, a not uncommon
consideration for a bargaining unit consisting of teachers and
librarians. The Employer responded with a flat rejection, pointing to
Treasury Board policies that allow for a variety of leaves without pay.

At the same time, Treasury Board is seeking to delete a clause in the
Collective Agreement (Article 43.02) that requires them to reimburse
employees for correspondence courses and other training that takes place
outside normal working hours, because they have unilaterally
discontinued the policy to which that obligation is attached. The irony,
however, seems to be lost on the Employer*s bargaining team.