Sick leave is and will continue to be a very important issue in the news and in the next rounds of collective bargaining. As you are aware Treasury Board and Minister Tony Clement have proposed significant changes to the existing Public Service sick leave provisions.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/clement-wants-to-cut-public-servants-sick-days-to-five
The RCEA, along with all 17 other public service unions, oppose these changes. We believe that the existing system, with some modifications is sufficient to manage the sick leave plan at NRC. The value of outstanding sick leave across the public service, over $5.2 billion, is evidence that the claims of abuse by Treasury Board are simply not true. In a published article from the Parliamentary Budget Officer it was proven that the government’s new sick leave system would not save costs.
http://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/files/get/publications/296?path=%2Ffiles%2Ffiles%2FSick+Leave+II+_EN.pdf
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/federal-sick-leave-doesnt-cost-extra-budget-watchdog-says
We also believe that sick leave is an integral part of all collective agreements and any changes must be properly negotiated and not simply announced by Treasury Board president Tony Clement.