Unitarian Services Committee of Canada and PSAC ratify new agreement, and members win financial and economic increases

After negotiations, members working at the Unitarian Services Committee of Canada ratified their new collective agreement on February 19, 2019.   

Marta Monaghan, local president, says: “We are pleased with the new wage increase provisions. And we’re also proud to have achieved leave for victims of domestic violence. Ensuring this new leave will set a standard and help other bargaining units win this as part of their collective agreement.”

Greg McGillis, Regional Executive Vice-President, PSAC-NCR, furthers: “We are pleased to have reached a deal that supports new financial and economic supports for members at USC. Our members are social justice workers, so provisions to assist with travel, working from home, and fair wage increases are important achievements for this sector. We’re proud to have secured wage increases to keep up with the cost of living in Ontario.”

Highlights include:

• Wage increases, as of May 2018- 1.8% and as of May 2019 and May 2020 respectively, 1.5 % or at the rate of the Ontario Consumer Price Index if higher (CPI 2.4% for second year and projected at 2.1% for third year)
• 1 week additional vacation leave for members with less than 6 years of seniority (all members will now start with 4 weeks of vacation)
• Members no longer need to choose between severance and recall rights, improvements to layoff language so no temporary layoffs
• 2 weeks of domestic violence leave along with additional workplace supports
• Extended maternity and parental leave with increased allowance maximum from $50k to $60k of salary coverage and no longer need to pay back if you leave
• New telework language
• Stronger harassment & discrimination language (inclusion of political affiliation, gender ID, etc.)
• Extended grievance timelines & unlimited timelines for harassment, discrimination and violence
• Improvements to sick leave (broaden scope & no sick notes)
• Improvements to seniority, joint consultation, bereavement and employee files
• Travel expenses language that protects members from being out of pocket for travel expenses and a commitment from USC to provide a per diem based on the Treasury Board Travel Directive
• Jet lag day included in collective agreement