June 11, 2019
We are proud to announce that after several days of joint bargaining, the RCEA has reached tentative agreements with the NRC for five bargaining units: the AD, AS, CS, PG, and TO units.
These agreements will see salary increases of 8% over four years.
The increases are as follows: (Note: specific dates will be identified in the ratification packages)
Year 1 – economic increase – 2%
Year 1 – wage adjustment – 0.8%
Year 2 – economic increase – 2%
Year 2 – wage adjustment – 0.2%
Year 3 – economic adjustment – 1.5%
Year 4 – economic adjustment – 1.5%
In addition to these strong salary increases, other changes include:
- (All units) New Caregiver leave provisions for members who qualify for EI Compassionate Care benefits (up to 26 weeks of leave without pay), Family Caregiver Benefits for Children (up to 35 weeks of leave without pay) and/or Family Caregiver Benefits for Adults (up to 15 weeks of leave without pay)
- (CS and PG only) Change to the calculation of continuous/discontinuous service for annual leave purposes – now all prior Public Service will count toward this calculation (already in AD, AS and TO agreements)
- (AD and AS only) The one time 5-day allotment of annual leave to each employee after 2 years of service will now be excluded from the cap on carry-over and liquidation of annual leave (already in CS, PG and TO agreements)
- (All units) Eligible to take Leave without Pay for Care of Immediate Family and Leave with Pay for Family Related Responsibility to care for a person who is not a blood relative but who stands in the place of a relative.
- (All Units) Eligible to take Bereavement Leave for the death of a person who is not a blood relative but who stands in the place of a relative. Bereavement leave for a non-blood relative can only be taken once in an employee’s public service career.
- (All units) Improvements to Maternity Allowance, Parental Leave without Pay and Parental Allowance
- (All units) New Domestic Violence leave with pay – up to 10 days per year for members who themselves are victims or whose children are victims of domestic violence
- (AS, AD and PG only) New Article on Education Leave without Pay and Career Development Leave with Pay (TO and CS already have Career Development language)
- (All units) New MOU on the Reduction of the Probationary Period for RCEA members from two years to one year
- (All units) New MOU on the implementation of the collective agreement that gives the Council more time (up to 180 days and more in some complex compensation cases) to implement changes to the agreement, including the processing of retroactive pay and other pay adjustments. In return all members will receive a lump sum payment of $400 (less any statutory deductions) and up to an additional $450 should implementation timelines not be met.
- (All units) Renewal of the Memorandum of Agreement on Employee Wellness
A ratification package is currently being prepared and will be sent out shortly. If there are questions please direct them to office@rcea.ca
Your bargaining team:
Michael Baldwin – CS
Derek Foote – TO
Blair Harrison – TO
Bernard Holbrook – TO
Cara Pelletier – AS
Nancy Ross – AS
Marvin Zaluski – CS
Joan Van Den Bergh – RCEA
Thank you to the members of the Bargaining Committee that worked on the preparation for this round of bargaining.