Government
must give 5 days'
notice for sick
leave changes
OTTAWA — A judge has ruled the federal
government must give five days' notice be-
fore implementing changes to its sick leave
plan ahead of a hearing slated for October.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice
decision comes in response to the Public
Service Alliance of Canada's (PSAC) re-
quest to stop Ottawa from implementing
its new sick leave plan in the current round
of collective bargaining, which would ef-
fectively replace the existing scheme for a
short-term disability plan.
The plan would reduce the current num-
ber of sick leave days from 15 per year to six,
and eliminate banked sick leave.
While the Treasury Board has been ea-
ger to settle the matter before the Oct. 19
election, the hearing will take place on Oct.
29. Should the government move to imple-
ment the changes before the hearing, it
must provide five days' notice.
"We're pleased to see the court direct the
government to provide advance notice if
they intend to proceed with changes to cur-
rent sick leave provisions before our motion
is heard. This will give the court the oppor-
tunity to move up the hearing date if nec-
essary," said PSAC's president Robyn Ben-
son. "The Conservatives last
budget imple-
mentation
act was a
direct assault on our members' constitu-
tional right to free collective bargaining and
it needs to stop."
This injunction is in addition to PSAC's
legal challenge against Bill C-59, legislation
that would allow sick leave and disability
plans to be negotiated outside of the collec-
tive agreement.
TWU-USW,
Shaw Cable
ratify collective
agreement
VANCOUVER — The Telecommunica-
tions Workers Union, United Steelworkers
(TWU-USW) Local 1944 recently ratified a
new collective agreement with Shaw Cable.
Unit 60 of TWU-USW Local 1944 rep-
resents more than 500 members across the
lower mainland in B.C. This agreement
follows the first round of bargaining for
the TWU members after merging with the
Steelworkers in December 2014.
The deal was reached following six
months of bargaining and will take effect
retroactively from March 24.
The new contract includes annual sal-
ary increases of 1.75 per cent. The deal also
includes 100 per cent paid sick days and
increases to both long- and short-term dis-
ability insurance.
Additionally, the agreement included se-
curity around scheduling for technical field
representatives as well as a new third-party
Internet account code and portal code.
"I am proud of our bargaining committee
members who worked extremely hard and
were committed to a respectful and trans-
parent process," said Tamara Marshall, lo-
cal union representative for Unit 60.
"They were effective in achieving a col-
lective agreement that benefits the mem-
bers and is reflective of their priorities."
The union's Shaw Vancouver members
voted 77.6 per cent and the Shaw Surrey
members voted 76.7 per cent in favour of
ratifying the three-year agreement.
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