26 July 2007
The Foreign Service (FS) Group collective agreement expired June 30, 2007. We are currently in the process of establishing a bargaining calendar with the Treasury Board negotiator assigned to the FS group.
Negotiations for this round of bargaining have gotten off to a slow start due in large part to unforeseen circumstances on the employer’s side and the complexity of framing some of our proposals that will be discussed particularly around FSDP and pay issues.
For the record we did serve Notice to Bargain on March 6, 2007 and received an acknowledgement from the Treasury Board Secretariat March 20, 2007. The FS group continues to be on the conciliation with right to strike route in the event of an impasse in negotiations. We are currently engaged with the departments concerning a list of employees who in the event of a strike will not be allowed to withdraw their services (designated employees) because of safety and/or security issues.
Stay tuned for more news when it happens.