On September 15, the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board (PSLREB) issued an arbitration award for CAPE members at the Library of Parliament. The decision provides them with wage increases of 1.75%, 1.5% and 1.5% effective retroactively to June 16, 2014, for a three-year contract.
CAPE requested arbitration on different issues, in December of last year, after reaching an impasse a month earlier. At the time, the employer had refused to increase its wage offer above 1%, after having tabled 0.5% for each year of the collective agreement.
According to National President Emmanuelle Tremblay, this decision demonstrates once again the importance of the arbitration route in the bargaining process – especially in the public service.
“Arbitration, which the government took off the table for bargaining with Treasury Board, ensures a level of stability in the public sector,” said Tremblay. “Parties must present solid arguments, which are reviewed with a great degree of scrutiny by the Board. The decision at the Library of Parliament demonstrates once again that this system is both fair to employees and to taxpayers. It’s unacceptable that the current government worked so hard to take away arbitration, all while stacking the deck in its favour by modifying the bargaining process.”
Collective bargaining at the Library of Parliament was immune from the legislative changes that the Conservatives ushered in by way of Bill C-4.
Last June, after having exchanged memoranda, which included arguments for their position, both parties informed the Board that they had reached an agreement on all outstanding issues except for rates of pay. CAPE proposed, in a two-year award, economic increases of 2.5% in each year as well as adding an increment to the Analyst level 3 (AN-3) classification in the first year. The employer proposed a three-year contract with increases of 0.5% in each year with no additional increments.
CAPE members at the Library of Parliament saw their collective agreement expire in June 2014. The parties tabled their proposals on September 25, 2014 and met on October 28 and 29 and November 18, 19 and 20, 2014. On June 19, 2015, the parties met at the PSLREB for the hearing.
You can read the arbitration award.
