Tentative agreement reached for public service FIs

Dear Colleagues,

We are proud to share that thanks to the hard work of your bargaining team we have secured a strong tentative collective agreement that will see salary increases of 8.0% over four years, including 5.0% in the first two years.

November 7, 2018 – increase to rates of pay: 2.0%
November 7, 2018 – wage adjustment of 0.8%
November 7, 2019 – increase to rates of pay: 2.0%
November 7, 2019 – wage adjustment of 0.2%
November 7, 2020 – increase to rates of pay: 1.5%
November 7, 2021 – increase to rates of pay: 1.5%

This is the final agreement for the FI Group and positions us well leading into negotiations for the new CT Group once ACFO-ACAF is certified to represent the broader comptrollership community.

Your negotiating team and Board of Directors unanimously recommend ratification of the tentative agreement. We are heading into an uncertain future politically and this is a strong deal that ensures the FI Community is respected and fairly compensated for the work we do on behalf of all Canadians.

Read more: Contract deal reached with 30K federal public servants (CBC Ottawa)

In addition to the 8% salary increase your bargaining team has negotiated:

stronger leave provisions for the volunteer union representatives that serve as Departmental Representatives, committee volunteers and bargaining team members (Article 6);
a 20% increase to the overtime meal allowance, increasing it to $12 (Article 19);
entitlement to call back pay while on standby, now the greater of the time worked at the applicable overtime rate or 1 hour (once per eight-hour period) (Article 20);
a 25% increase to the cap for overtime travel, increasing it from 12 to 15 hours (Article 24);
increased right to access leave balance information (Article 28);
clarification that former severance-pay payouts do not reduce service calculations (Article 29);
improvements to the Maternity Allowance (Article 33) and Parental Leave and Parental Allowance (Article 35) that increase entitlements in several circumstances;
a definition of family that includes a person who stands in the place of a relative for the employee but is not a blood relative for Leave Without Pay for the Care of Immediate Family (Article 36);
new Caregiver Leave provisions for members who qualify for EI Compassionate Care Benefits of up to 35 weeks (Article 36);
coverage for a member’s son-in-law, daughter-in-law and a person who is not a blood relative but stands in the place of a relative for Leave with Pay for Family-Related Responsibilities (Article 37);
the ability to split bereavement leave to allow bereaved members to attend both a ceremony and a burial and coverage for a daughter-in-law, son-in-law and a person who stands in the place of a family member, whether or not there is any degree of consanguinity between said person and the employee, for full bereavement leave (Article 40);
paid Domestic Violence Leave of 75 hours (10 days) should a member or their child be subject to domestic violence (Article 44);
the expansion of eligibility for the Correctional Services Specific Duty Allowance and clarification of the eligibility period (Article 48);
improvements to the agreement on Supporting Employee Wellness (MOU); and
a new MOU regarding Implementation of the Collective Agreement timelines that provides for a lump sum payment of $400 to each member on signing, to reflect longer-than-normal timelines for some retro payment, and up to a further $450 should implementation timelines not be met.

An informational teleconference will be held on Wednesday, May 29, to go over all the details and to answer any questions you may have. Call information has been sent to your email address on file.

Questions to be addressed during these calls should be directed to your negotiating team at negotiations@acfo-acaf.com.

The online ratification vote will open at 1:00 pm ET on Tuesday, May 28, and close at 5:00 pm ET on Monday, June 3. Instructions will be sent via email by our third-party voting system when voting opens.

Sincerely,

Dany Richard, MBA, CPA, CMA, ICD.D
President and Chair of the Board of Directors
ACFO-ACAF