Bargaining 2024
Our Bargaining Committee (Kalvir Asahan, John Longley, Mark Gardner, Danielle Bartley, & Silvana Matias, with the expert assistance and advice from our USW Staff Representative John Catto) have reached a tentative agreement with Serco that we are recommending to the members. Below you will find the various components of the agreement. Voting to accept the agreement or to reject the agreement in favour of a strike will conducted through mail-in voting as usual. Voting packages have been mailed out, and members should be receiving them the week of March 25th.
Any questions about the bargaining items below or about the voting process should be sent to bargaining2024@usw9511.ca.
We have now compiled an FAQ that is available here!
(In no particular order, previous errors in numbering have been corrected)
1. Four (4) year collective bargaining agreement (CBA), making the term of the agreement April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2028. This slightly longer term is to be consistent with the current project agreement requiring Serco to have a labour agreement in place that will span all the possibilities related to the agreement with MTO (extension, transition period, etc).
3. Serco will be issuing a briefing note encouraging employees to adjust positions and take microbreaks throughout their shifts to combat musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and repetitive strain injuries (RSIs). This is particularly important for CSAs working at dispatch and in the test room where the workflow does not encourage movement (getting photocopies, etc).
4. When tests are cancelled at the start of the day before employees have arrived for work, employees will be contacted by their supervisor advising them whether tests have been cancelled for the whole day, or if tests may resume later on. If tests are cancelled for the entire day and there is no work for the employee to complete, they will be permitted to not report to work and still be paid their reporting pay. If tests are postponed, or if there is other work for the employee to complete at the DTC, the employee will be afforded reasonable time to arrive to work safely and not be docked reporting pay.
5. Displays for DTC cameras will be off whenever the supervisor is not in their office. The cameras will still be recording, but we have expressed members should not be under constant scrutiny and supervisors should be only using the monitors with purpose.
6. Where technological or operational changes may impact USW members, Serco will provide as much advance notice as practicable so that efforts can be undertaken to mitigate any negative outcomes for members.
7. When an employee is provided notice of layoff, their hours shall remain consistent with their hours prior to receiving the layoff notice. Employees should not see a reduction of hours after being issued a layoff notice.
8. Serco will make reasonable efforts to increase the hours for full-time employees who work in DTCs with lower “right-size” service hours. Priority to available work, which could include online Security Guard Invigilation, refund processing, CTS case management, etc, will be assigned to the employees with the largest reduction in hours. The intention is to supplement reduced hours for full time employees in “right-sized” DTCs.
9. Employees who are rehired by Serco or revert to a previous classification within twelve (12) months of departure will be placed back on the wage grid at the appropriate classification level and grade accounting for their previous experience in that previous classification.
10. The Seniority List shall be published quarterly instead of semi-annually, and be made available on the 7th day of January, April, July, and October each year.
11. Digital copies of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will be made available through CSA workstations, SGTI workstations, and the shared workstation in each DTC. Each office will also have a hard copy of the collective agreement available for use by members and management. Existing members will be afforded an opportunity to request a hard copy of the collective agreement. Once this opportunity has passed, members will be provided with electronic copies of the agreement.
13. Serco will pay wages and cover the cost of MELT training for sixteen (16) DE4 postings during the life of the collective agreement. Employees who receive MELT licence training who voluntarily leave Serco or opt out of conducting commercial testing within two (2) years of completing the training will be required to repay the pro-rated cost of the training course.
14. Serco will authorise up to ten (10) DE’s per year to take Motorcycle Safety Courses (MSC). Serco will reimburse employees fifty percent (50%) of the cost of the MSC upon obtaining their class M licence. Authorization will be prioritised to members who work at DTCs that offer M1/M2 Exit Tests, but other employees will be eligible if there are spaces remaining.
15. CSAs pursuing DE training shall be paid the higher of their current wage or the DE wage for the level they are training.
16. Employees whose shifts are reduced in length with less than forty eight (48) hours of notice before the start of the shift will still be paid for fifty (50) percent of the time lost.
17. Employees who are informed of the requirement to work “mandatory overtime” will be paid for a minimum of fifteen (15) minutes even if the additional hours are no longer needed at the end of the employee’s shift.
18. Lieu time will have explicit wording for how and when it may be used, aside from booking time off. This applies to situations where employees' hours are reduced (snow days, slow periods, etc). Lieu time may not be used for sick time, and any lieu time that is taken on Sundays is rate at regular time, not double time.
19. When DTCs are closed for a statutory holiday that falls on a Saturday, they will then be open on the following Monday. Serco will ensure eligible staff receive a vacation day in lieu as required by the ESA, as Saturday employees may likely be required to work the Monday instead.
20. Serco will run a pilot project to explore modified work weeks. The pilot is to be launched within six (6) months of ratification of the collective agreement. Serco will come up with possible locations to run the pilot, and final site selection will be made through discussion with the union. This pilot is to look at things like four-day work weeks, etc.
21. When Serco requires employees to travel to other DTCs to perform work, Serco still retains the ability to choose which DTC is operationally able to send employees from, but they must consider the overall hours for the week of the employees. If the work and/or travel will result in a junior employee getting more hours than a senior employee, the work must be offered by seniority order. In the event the travel assignment will not result in a junior employee having more hours, the company must offer the work assignment to employees in order of those living closest to the destination DTC, with the intent of minimising travel costs. If there are no volunteers in either case, the company will send employees in reverse seniority order.
22. The uniform policy will be adjusted to relax the colour requirements for shoes. Shoes will still need to be predominantly neutral coloured (black, brown, grey, etc), but logos and other accents are permitted as long as they are not excessive.
23. The pants/shorts/skirt reimbursement for all employees is increasing to $105.00 per year in the first year of the contract (2024). The reimbursement will increase again in the third year of the contract (2026) to $115.00.
24. The travel meal reimbursement amounts are increasing in the first year of the contract (2024) to $55.00 when an overnight stay is required, and $20.00 when not requiring an overnight stay. In the third year (2026), the amounts will increase to $60.00 and $22.00 respectively.
25. The boot allowance for DE4s has been increased in both frequency and reimbursement amount. DE4s will be eligible to claim reimbursement up to three hundred dollars ($300.00) every two (2) years. This is up from $280.00 every three years.
26. The glove allowance for DEs increases to $40.00 every two (2) years for classified examiners, and to $20.00 every two (2) years for passenger car examiners.
27. DE4s who are entitled to the DE4 stipend for use of their personal vehicles when working at offsite locations who do not have break facilities, the sites have been clarified to all DTCs who fall under the definition in the CBA. DE4s at Brockville, Chatham, Pembroke, Renfrew, Sault Ste. Marie, and Timmins are also eligible for the stipend.
28. Part time employees will still use a four-week average hours calculation for their float day pay, however the pay now has a five (5) hour minimum. If your weekly average is less than five hours for your float pay, you will be paid five hours instead.
29. Members who will have vacation days in excess of the five (5) days that are permitted to be carried over each year, will be required to book those days before the end of the current year. Members are required to submit Time Off Requests (TORs) for the days in excess of five by September 15th. If days are not selected by the employee, management will assign those excess vacation days to the employee before December 31st.
30. A new article will be added to 23.1 for members how identify as First Nations, Inuit, or Métis permitting them to use earned vacation, float days, lieu time, or an unpaid leave of absence up to five (5) days for the purpose of traditional indigenous practices including hunting, fishing, harvesting or any other practice prescribed by regulation.
31. Serco is to review and amend the Attendance Management Program to ensure compliance with provisions of the Employment Standards Act (ESA), so medical notes are not being requested in contradiction to the act, and any required documentation is appropriate (i.e. medical notes are not applicable to all absences, etc).
32. The overall dental coverage for all covered individuals has increased to $1650 each year.
33. The vision coverage will be increasing twice during the collective agreement, from $300 every two (2) years, to $340.00 every two years in the first year of the agreement (2024), and to $380.00 every two years in the third year of the agreement (2026).
34. The overall massage therapy coverage for all covered individuals has increased to $630.00 per year.
35. Serco will now be matching RRSP contributions for members who work on average twenty five to thirty (25 =< 30) hours per week. The contribution match will be up to one percent (1%) of earnings starting in the first year of the contract (2024), and increase to up to two percent (2%) in the third year of the contract.
36. Employees who work on average twenty five to thirty (25 =< 30) hours a week will receive one (1) Sick Day in addition to the two (2) Personal Emergency Leave days they qualify for each year.
37. EQUALISATION OF HOURS
Part time employees will no longer be scheduled using traditional “equalisation of hours.” Part time hours will now be scheduled within tiers of hours, with senior employees having more hours than junior employees, but with all part time employees of the same classification and level being within the same tier. The three tiers will be:30.0 - 37.5 hours
25.0 - 30.0 hours20.0 - 25.0 hours
These scheduling tiers will permit some variability of hours within the tiers, with hours maximised for senior part time employees, while maintaining hours for junior employees at similar, though potentially lower, amounts each week. When hours need to be increased week over week, the increased hours will be scheduled to the most senior person until they reach the top of the tier. If there are more hours, then the next senior person will be scheduled those hours until they reach the top of the tier. This continues until there are no more hours to be distributed. The reverse would happen in the case of hours decreasing week over week. Hours will be reduced for the most junior part time employee first, until they reach the minimum of that tier. If hours continue to drop, then the next most junior part time employee would have their hours reduced. In each tier, employees with the most seniority would see their hours increase sooner, and decrease later than employees with the least seniority. This scheduling system will be implemented within six (6) months of ratification of the contract.
38. The layoff threshold has been increased from 15.0 hours to 20.0 hours.
39. Part time employees must provide a minimum of thirty (30) hours of availability. Current members who have less availability will be permitted to keep their current restrictions.
40. WAGE INCREASES
Year 1: 5.00%Year 2: 3.00% (effective 8.15%)
Year 3: 3.00% (effective 11.39%)
Year 4: 3.00% (effective 14.73%)
41. Training and Shadowing premiums are now each set at $1.00 per hour.
42. “Runners” will be paid a premium of $1.00 per hour while designated as a runner. The definition of “runner” will also be clarified, as many runners are currently performing supervisory functions, and they should not be.
43. Bankers will now be paid an hourly premium of $0.75.
44. Between October 1 - December 31, 2025 either party may request to reopen specific matters related to scheduling and increasing part time hours. These specific matters are the layoff threshold of twenty (20) hours, scheduling of staff on Saturdays (seniority vs rotation), and weekly schedules. The current Bargaining Committee remains seized to address any reopener discussions.
45. LANGUAGE CLEAN UP
Clean up any language related to the removal of “Roll Over” which has not been a part of the CBA since 2019.
Modify agreement to reflect change of “Relationship Manager” to “Regional Manager”Remove requirement for written authorization to carry over up to five (5) vacation days to reflect practice of it just happening.
Add reference to Article 28 in Article 14 regarding loss of seniority in the case an employee is unable or unwilling to maintain their certification after appropriate additional training.
Make it a requirement for the employees to update their own contact information (address, phone number, email) through the self-service portal, and require it to be done promptly.
Adjust language to reflect current modern practice of contacting employees via email, and not just telephone or registered mail. Registered/couriered mail would still be required in situations where Serco has not received a response via other methods.
Updates to arbitrator list to reflect retirements, etc. Addition of two new names to our list: Eli Gedalof and Matt Wilson.
