Have a look at the general document about the provisions included in the tentative agreement: Download the PDF
Ottawa - The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) announced today that a tentative agreement has been reached with the Treasury Board Secretariat for the Translation group, also known in the federal public sector as the TR group.
Close to 850 CAPE members belong to the TR category and stand to gain from this new agreement.
The bargaining team had been negotiating with the Employer since March 14, 2022. Negotiations had come to an impasse in June 2022 and mediation had begun in October 2022. Both parties continued to meet, and earlier this week they were able to reach a deal.
The agreement brings improvements to the TR collective agreement, refining benefits in areas such as pay, leave and working conditions. Regarding interpreters, however, CAPE was not able to include the remote interpretation standards in the collective agreement as the Association and the Translation Bureau failed to find common ground at the table. CAPE is committed to continue defending the health and safety and protecting the working conditions of interpreters.
“CAPE is pleased with the many advancements we achieved in this tentative agreement such as the early increment of vacation leave, the increase of shift premium, in particular for those who work in the Meteorology Unit, and the codification of the sign language interpretation in the collective agreement, among others,” said Camille Awada, CAPE President. “However, the health and safety risks to which interpreters are exposed continued to be a point of disagreement during negotiations and we will need to explore more avenues to hold the Employer accountable so it takes serious steps to protect its employees.”
As required by CAPE’s by-laws, TR members will be voting to ratify or reject the tentative agreement in the coming weeks. Webinars with more information will be scheduled prior to the vote to explain more details of the tentative agreement and give members a chance to ask questions. On Monday, May 15, the collective bargaining committee met and voted to recommend the terms of this tentative agreement to the membership.
General highlights of the agreement:
The new agreement includes the following pay adjustments:
3.50% effective April 19, 2022;
1.25% wage adjustment effective April 19, 2022;
3% effective April 19, 2023;
0.5% pay line adjustment effective April 19, 2023;
2% effective April 19, 2024;
0.25% wage adjustment effective April 19, 2024;
2% effective April 19, 2025;
This represents an immediate increase of 8.25% and a total increase of 12.5% over four years (13.14% compounded).
The bargaining team also secured a $2,500 pensionable allowance for all our members, no matter if they are part-time or full-time employees.
The bargaining team was also able to secure the following provisions:
- The threshold for accessing four weeks of vacation now drops from eight years of service to seven;
- Shift premium has been increased to $2.25 per hour and translators from the Meteorology service would, in addition, receive a $20 premium to balance the gap with other services.
- Medical certificate is now reimbursed up to a maximum of $35 for periods of absence of three consecutive days or less.
- Letter of Agreement on Telework: better protection of members from arbitrary decisions about remote work, through the creation of a joint departmental panel which, within 90 days, will submit recommendations on grievances to the deputy head for decision. The Association and the Employer have also agreed to create a joint committee to review and update the Directive on Telework.
- Addition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to the designated paid holidays and adjustment for part-time workers.
- Bereavement leave is expanded to include the deaths of aunts and uncles.
- The definition of technical changes now includes software and system.
- 15 hours paid and 22.5 hours unpaid leave per fiscal year for Indigenous employees to engage in traditional Indigenous practices.
