How the AJC is working for you!

Dear AJC Members,

We write to update you on the ways in which your union has been upholding your collective agreement rights and challenging Treasury Board through the grievance and other processes.

Pay implementation – ongoing unnecessary employer delays

As many have observed, this has been the worst implementation of a collective agreement that AJC members have experienced. In response to the employer’s inaccurate pay calculations and unnecessary delay to implement our new pay structure within the negotiated 180-day timeline, the AJC has taken the following steps:

1. In August 2024, the AJC filed a policy grievance when the employer failed to implement the pay provisions of the collective agreement accurately and failed to consult the AJC on the format of the breakdown of pay records. In light of consultations that the employer agreed to undertake, the policy grievance was put into abeyance. We expect to have more to report on this soon.

2. Also in August 2024, individual grievances were filed for members who had not received the lump sum or who had received inaccurate retro pay. While a number of grievances have been resolved to the satisfaction of members, there remain over 200 outstanding individual grievances on this issue.

3. In November 2024, the AJC filed a policy grievance when the employer failed to implement the pay provisions in the collective agreement within 180 days. In this grievance, the AJC takes the position that most members’ pay implementation should not have required manual implementation (which would allow the employer up to 460 days to implement).

4. Because individual remedies are not necessarily awarded in a policy grievance, the AJC concurrently encouraged affected members to participate in a group grievance on the issue of implementation within 180 days. Over 600 members consented to be part of the group grievances on this issue, which are currently being held in abeyance, pending the outcome of the policy grievance on the same issue.

5. In January, the AJC filed an Unfair Labour Practice (the association’s first) regarding the Treasury Board’s failure to implement the new pay structure within the negotiated 180-day timeline. We take the position that Treasury Board failed to bargain in good faith by not informing the AJC that most members’ pay would not be implemented within the 180 days, as is past practice.

We will continue the strong AJC advocacy our members deserve and hold Treasury Board to account.

Return to Office – the employer’s continued lack of consultation

In September 2024, Treasury Board implemented its Directive on prescribed presence in the workplace

that required members to return to the office for three days per week. The AJC filed a policy grievance asserting, among other things, that the new Directive was adopted in a manner that was unreasonable, arbitrary, and in bad faith in the application of management rights. The employer denied the grievance in January 2025 and the AJC has referred the grievance to adjudication at the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.

More recent AJC advocacy – Law Society Fees

In November 2024, the employer unilaterally changed its practice of paying law society fees for members to members having to pay for their fees and get reimbursed. The AJC strongly opposed this change and advocated for its reversal, including through a grievance. Our advocacy proved to be successful, as the employer agreed to revert back to its past practice and the AJC agreed to withdraw its grievance without prejudice.

The above is snapshot of the many ways in which the AJC is working for you. Your union is here to represent you and safeguard your working conditions.

 

Sincerely,

Gregory Harlow
President, Association of Justice Counsel