Section 7 of the By-Laws deals with the referral of subjects or items to the Council while Section 8 covers the input process for these subjects or items. It is agreed that for purposes of clarity, these sections would be applicable to matters subject to co-development only, including those identified by the Executive Committee at its yearly planning session and those matters subject to triennial review.
9.1 General
9.1.1 Within fifteen calendar days of the receipt of input, the General Secretary shall identify to all members of Council:
(a) the complete input on a new or existing subject, if any;
(b) the proposed items contained in the input of either side which are considered to be new in respect of a subject contained in the cyclical review schedule for an existing directive.
9.1.2 The period of opting shall be for a minimum period of two years or such greater period as agreed to by the Executive Committee and shall be specified in the General Secretary's letter. (see 7.4.4).
9.1.3 The General Secretary's letter shall request members to indicate either that they wish to participate in National Joint Council consultation of the subject and any new items proposed by the other side or deal with the subject or new items within that subject at the bargaining table rather than through Council consultation. Members failing to do so will be deemed to have opted in.
9.1.4 Opting does not apply to the following subjects or items which may be referred to Council for consultation:
(a) subjects or items which cannot be included in collective agreements;
(b) subjects or items which the Executive Committee agree are minimal provisions and may be improved upon through collective bargaining;
(c) subjects or items which the Executive Committee agree should not become part of collective agreements.
9.1.5 Employer members shall within 30 calendar days from the date of the General Secretary's letter (see 9.1.1) advise the General Secretary whether they opt to consult on the full subject at Council.
9.1.6 Bargaining agent members shall within 30 calendar days from the date of the General Secretary's letter (see 9.1.1) advise the General Secretary as follows:
(a) whether they opt to consult on the full subject at Council in respect of all bargaining units for which they are certified; or
(b) whether they opt to consult on the full subject at Council in respect of certain bargaining units for which they are certified.
9.1.7 Where an employer or bargaining agent member does not participate in Council consultation of an existing subject at the time the General Secretary's letter is sent (see 9.1.1), the employer or bargaining agent member shall be deemed to continue to opt not to participate in Council consultation of the subject. Where such an employer or bargaining agent member wishes to return to Council consultation, the provisions of section 13 (Return to consultation) apply.
9.1.8 When a bargaining agent member, other than a bargaining agent member to which subsection 9.1.7 applies, has not responded to the General Secretary's letter within 30 calendar days, it shall be deemed to have opted to consult at Council the subject and any new item proposed by the employer side in respect of all bargaining units for which it is certified.
9.1.9 When an employer member, other than an employer member to which subsection 9.1.7 applies, has not responded to the General Secretary's letter within 30 calendar days, it shall be deemed to have opted to consult at Council the subject and any new item proposed by the bargaining agent side.
9.1.10 In response to the General Secretary's letter in subsection 9.1.1, a bargaining agent may advise the General Secretary that it opts to consult at Council a subject in respect of all bargaining units for which it is certified, with the exception of a new item contained in the employer side input.
9.1.11 When one or more bargaining agents advise the General Secretary in accordance with subsection 9.1.10, the General Secretary shall notify the employer side.
9.1.12 When the employer side receives notification in accordance with subsection 9.1.9, the employer side may remove the new item from the input or agree that the new item be referred for consultation.
9.1.13 When the new item is referred to consultation in accordance with subsection 9.1.12, any agreement in regard to that new item shall not apply to any bargaining agent who opted out in accordance with subsection 9.1.10.
9.1.14 Bargaining agents opting in favour of Council consultation undertake to refrain from making a collective bargaining proposal concerning items contained in the current directive or policy under Council review. The period of opting shall be for the cyclical review period referred to in subsection 7.3.1.
9.1.15 In response to the General Secretary's letter in subsection 9.1.1 and in keeping with the provisions in subsection 9.1.5, the employer side shall have the right to refuse to consult on any new item identified by the general secretary and contained in the bargaining agent input for an existing directive. The item shall then be removed from the input prior to referral for consultation and bargaining agents shall be free to make collective bargaining proposals in regard to that item.
9.1.16 When the employer side or the bargaining agent side do not agree that an item identified by the General Secretary is new, or, is of the opinion that an item in the input for an existing directive should have been identified as new, they shall so inform the General Secretary within ten calendar days of the date of the letter (see 9.1.1).
9.1.17 When the General Secretary receives notification in accordance with subsection 9.1.16, the Executive Committee shall be advised and shall meet to consider the question.
9.1.18 When the Executive Committee cannot reach agreement, the dispute resolution process outlined under section 11 shall be followed.
9.1.19 When there is agreement at the Executive Committee or a decision is rendered by an arbitrator, the General Secretary shall re-issue the letter (see 9.1.1) advising as to whether the item is new or not and establishing a new date for response.
9.1.20 When bargaining agents, in respect of all of the bargaining units for which they are certified or a single unit, opt not to take part in consultation, the resulting directive shall have no effect in regard to those bargaining units.
9.1.21 When bargaining agents, in respect of all or any of the bargaining units for which they are certified, opt out of Council consultation on a subject, the respective bargaining units shall continue to derive benefits and privileges from the Council agreement on the subject in effect at the time they opted out until a new collective agreement is signed, an arbitral award is rendered or until seven calendar days following receipt by the Chairperson of the PSLRB of a conciliation board report in respect of that bargaining unit or from the date the Chairperson of the PSLRB notifies the parties that a conciliation board will not be established.
9.1.22 When the employer side removes a new subject from consultation, the employer may proceed to issue a policy in regard to that new subject and bargaining agents shall be free to make collective bargaining proposals in regard to that subject.
9.1.23 Bargaining agents opting in favour of Council consultation undertake to refrain from making a collective bargaining proposal concerning:
(a) items contained in a new directive resulting from Council consultation; and
(b) items not contained in a new directive resulting from Council consultation, but which were identified in the General Secretary's letter in subsection 9.1.1, unless those items were removed from the directive because of an impasse at Council.
10.1 General
10.1.1 The General Secretary shall, within 35 calendar days from the date of the letter (see 9.1.1) notify the chairpersons of each side as to the status of Council members in respect to opting.
10.1.2 When, in accordance with the above, the General Secretary advises that all members have opted to consult, the subject will be deemed to have been referred to the appropriate committee by the Executive Committee.
10.1.3 When, in accordance with subsection 10.1.1, the General Secretary advises that certain members have opted not to consult a subject, the Executive Committee shall meet and consider the action to be taken.
10.1.4 When the Executive Committee meets, in accordance with this section, they may:
(a) agree to refer the subject to committee;
(b) agree that the subject shall not be referred to committee;
(c) agree that the subject shall be referred to committee following the removal of certain items;
(d) take such other action as deemed appropriate.
15.1 Redress Procedure
15.1.1 This procedure only applies to an employee in a bargaining unit where both the employer and the bargaining agent participate in Council.
15.1.2 All grievances as defined under the PSLRA presented under this grievance procedure shall be decided on the basis of the intent of the directive or policy being grieved.
15.1.3 An employee who feels aggrieved by the interpretation or application by the employer of any directive or policy which has been agreed to by the Council, and which has been approved by the appropriate executive body of the government, is entitled to present a grievance.
15.1.4 Where the directive or policy giving rise to the grievance has been deemed to be part of the employee's collective agreement, the employee must have the approval of and be represented by the employee's bargaining agent.
15.1.5 Such a grievance shall be processed by recourse to the following steps:
(a) first level - representative of the employer authorized to deal with grievances at the first level;
(b) second level - departmental liaison officer (DLO);
(c) final level - Executive Committee.
15.1.6 An aggrieved employee shall present the grievance to the first level of the procedure, in the manner prescribed in subsection14.1.7, not later than the 25th day after the date on which the employee is notified orally or in writing or on which the employee first becomes aware of the action or circumstance giving rise to the grievance.
15.1.7 The aggrieved employee shall transmit the grievance to the employee's immediate supervisor or local officer-in-charge who shall forthwith:
(a) forward the grievance to the employer representative authorized to deal with grievances; and
(b) provide the employee with a copy of the grievance stating the date on which it was received by that officer.
15.1.8 Subject to subsection15.1.19 the employer shall reply to an employee's grievance within 10 days after the date the grievance is presented at the first level. Where such reply is not satisfactory to the employee, the employee may present the grievance through the employee's immediate supervisor or local officer-in-charge, to the next level within 10 days after that reply has been conveyed to the employee in writing. If the employer has not conveyed a reply to the aggrieved employee, the employee may present the grievance, through the employee's immediate supervisor or local officer-in-charge, to the next level within 10 days after the last day by which the employer was required to reply to the grievance.
15.1.9 The DLO shall, within 15 days from the date on which the grievance is presented at the second level, reply to the employee's grievance.
15.1.10 Where the DLO's reply is not satisfactory to the employee, or the DLO has not replied, the employee may, within the next 10 days, present the grievance to the final level through the employee's immediate supervisor or local officer-in-charge. The DLO shall be responsible for bringing the grievance to the attention of the Executive Committee through the General Secretary.
15.1.11 The General Secretary of the Council shall bring the grievance to the attention of the Executive Committee before its next meeting. The Executive Committee shall either:
(a) review and decide on the grievance; or
(b) refer the grievance to the appropriate Council committee for review and a statement of intent with regard to the subject matter of the grievance.
15.1.12 Where the grievance is reviewed by a Council committee, the chairperson shall inform the Executive Committee, through the General Secretary, of the intent.
15.1.13 Based on that intent, the Executive Committee shall review and decide on the grievance.
15.1.14 The General Secretary shall forthwith advise the DLO of the Executive Committee's decision in regard to the grievance.
15.1.15 On receipt of the decision of the Executive Committee from the General Secretary, the DLO shall forthwith transmit the decision as the final level reply to the aggrieved employee with a copy to the bargaining agent.
15.1.16 The Chairperson of the Executive Committee shall, at the next regular meeting of the Council, report on the decision.
15.1.17 Where an employee has presented the grievance up to and including the final level of this redress procedure and the employee's grievance has not been dealt with to the employee's satisfaction, or the DLO has not conveyed the final level decision to the employee within 30 days from the date of the General Secretary's letter, the employee may, with the approval of the employee's bargaining agent, refer the grievance to adjudication in accordance with the provisions of the PSLRA, if the grievance relates to a directive or policy which has been deemed to be part of the grievor's collective agreement according to the Memorandum of Understanding.
15.1.18 The bargaining agent and the employer shall have the right to consult with respect to the grievance at the first two levels and to make representation to the Council committee considering the grievance at the final level.
15.1.19 The time limits specified in this section may be extended by written consent of both the bargaining agent and the employer. The time limits are exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and designated paid holidays.
15.1.20 A grievance may be referred directly to the second and/or final level of this procedure upon the written consent of both the bargaining agent and the employer.
16.1 Procedure
16.1.1 A bargaining agent or a department or agency may seek an interpretation or clarification of any directive or policy, which has been agreed to by Council and approved by the appropriate executive body of the government, by making a request through the General Secretary.
16.1.2 All interpretations and clarifications made under this procedure shall be based on the intent of the directive or policy being interpreted.
16.1.3 Requests for interpretation or clarification shall concern the application of a directive or policy in respect of a number of employees. Requests for interpretation or clarification shall not take the place of a grievance.
16.1.4 The General Secretary shall bring the request to the attention of the Executive Committee before its next meeting. The Executive Committee shall either:
(a) review and decide on the request;
(b) refer the matter to the appropriate committee for review and a statement of intent.
16.1.5 Where the request is reviewed by a Council committee, the chairperson shall inform the Executive Committee, through the General Secretary, of the intent.
16.1.6 Based on that intent, the Executive Committee shall review and decide on the request.
16.1.7 The General Secretary shall forthwith advise the bargaining agent or the department or agency making the request of the Executive Committee's decision.
16.1.8 The Chairperson of the Executive Committee shall, at the next regular meeting of the Council, report on any decision.
Principles and Objectives
The parties hereunder agree that National Joint Council agreements on subjects or items, which may be included in a collective agreement, will form part of all collective agreements to which Treasury Board, Separate Agencies participating in the Council and Bargaining agent side organizations are parties if they have endorsed the subjects or items.
Council agreements will contain the following clause and be signed by the Chairperson of the Employer side, on behalf of Treasury Board, a representative of each Separate Agency endorsing the agreement and a representative of each participating bargaining agent side organization on behalf of their bargaining units participating in consultation on that subject or item. Where a bargaining unit has not opted to participate, the exclusion of that bargaining unit from the agreement shall be noted in the signing document.
"The parties hereunder endorse this Council agreement and recognize that this agreement is part of the current collective agreements reached between them."
The parties hereunder agree to be bound by the Council constitution and By-Laws for all matters that they agree are to be dealt with at Council.
The parties hereunder agree that when notice to bargain is given, Council endorsed agreements shall constitute a term of employment applicable to employees represented by the bargaining agent side organizations who are parties to the Council endorsed agreement, as if such term or condition of employment was embodied in the collective agreement prior to giving notice to bargain.
The parties hereunder agree that:
(a) the redress procedures provided in Part 14 of the Council By-Laws shall be followed;
(b) the following clause shall be included in the grievance procedure of a collective agreement in such a manner as to ensure conformity with Council redress procedures:
"In cases of alleged misinterpretation or misapplication arising out of agreements concluded by the National Joint Council on subjects or items which may be included in a collective agreement and which the parties to this agreement have endorsed, the grievance procedure will be in accordance with Part 15 of the Council By-Laws."
This memorandum of understanding shall remain in effect until amended or cancelled by mutual consent of the parties hereunder.
This memorandum of understanding amends the memoranda of understanding signed on December 6, 1978, March 5, 1980 and March 4, 1987 and takes effect as of May 5, 1994.
SEPARATE AGENCY ADDENDUM
1 General
1.1 The following Addendum to the By-Laws of the National Joint Council shall be applicable to a Separate Agency who participates in the National Joint Council, and to the Bargaining Agents for the bargaining units for which the Separate Agency is the employer, providing both agree to participate as members of the National Joint Council.
1.2 Definitions
Bargaining agent (Agent négociateur) as used herein, refers to the Bargaining Agent for any bargaining unit of a Separate Agency.
Separate Agency (organisme distinct) as used herein, means Separate Agency as defined in Schedule 5 of the Public Service Modernization Act.
1.3 By virtue of their membership in the National Joint Council, the Separate Agency and the Bargaining Agent agree to accept in substance all recommendations of the National Joint Council and the policies, directives or guidelines, as applicable, deriving there from, subject only to such modifications as are necessary to apply to the Separate Agency's organizational differences. Such modifications shall be made as a result of consultation between the Separate Agency and the Bargaining Agent and shall form part of the appropriate National Joint Council recommendation.
2 Agency Liaison Officers
2.1 The Separate Agency shall identify an Agency Liaison Officer to act as the Departmental Liaison Officer referred to in the National Joint Council By-Laws.
3 Committees of the National Joint Council (other than Executive Committee)
3.1 The Separate Agency and Bargaining Agent shall be eligible to be named to National Joint Council Committees.
4 Referral Procedures (Opting in and Opting out)
4.1 The Separate Agency and Bargaining Agent shall be entitled to refer subjects or items to the National Joint Council under section 7 of the National Joint Council By-Laws.
4.2 The Separate Agency and the Bargaining Agent shall consult prior to the time limit set out in subsection 9.1.5 of the National Joint Council By-Laws to determine whether or not the Separate Agency is prepared to consult in National Joint Council on a subject or item.
4.3 If the Separate Agency agrees to consult on the subject or item, it will agree to National Joint Council consultation within the time limit set out in subsection 9.1.5 on the condition that the Employer Side declares in favour of National Joint Council consultation.
4.4 The Bargaining Agent shall have the option of opting out of National Joint Council consultation on a subject or item within the time limit set out in subsection 9.1.6.
5 Resolution of Impasses in the Consultation Process referred to in Subsection 1.3
5.1 When an impasse arises during the consultation process referred to in section 1.3 concerning modifications necessary to apply to the Separate Agency's, organizational differences, such an impasse will be dealt with in accordance with the procedures established by the Separate Agency's and the Bargaining Agent.
5.2 If the impasse is still not resolved, the matter will be referred to the Executive Committee, National Joint Council, for review and recommendation. With the agreement of the Separate Agency and Bargaining Agent, the Executive Committee may refer the impasse to third-party mediation and/or binding third-party arbitration in accordance with section 11.2 of the National Joint Council By-Laws.
5.3 If an impasse still exists after exhausting the procedure outlined above, the subject or item shall be deemed to have been removed from National Joint Council consultation (insofar as the Separate Agency is concerned) and the Separate Agency and Bargaining Agent shall be free to take such course as they individually deem appropriate.
6 Resolution of Grievances
6.1 Resolution of a grievance shall be based on the directive developed in National Joint Council consultation, subject to any modification agreed to by the Separate Agency and the Bargaining Agent.
6.2 A grievance shall be resolved in accordance with section 14 of the National Joint Council By-Laws, except that the steps in the grievance procedure shall be as determined by the Separate Agency and its Bargaining Agent with the final level being the National Joint Council Executive Committee.
7 Requests for Interpretation and Clarification
7.1 Requests for interpretation or clarification shall be resolved based on the directive developed in National Joint Council, subject to any modification agreed to by the Separate Agency and the Bargaining Agent.