Sections 148 and 175 of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act give guidance relevant to the determination of compensation in the federal public service. The Act identifies five factors which should be taken into account:
A two-tier pay scheme for LPs has existed since 1990. Under that two-tier scheme, Toronto LPs are paid more than National LPs. The higher Toronto pay grid is sometimes referred to as the “Toronto differential.” The current situation is as follows:
As discussed above, the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act speaks of the need to achieve compensation which is comparable as well as fair and reasonable. Compensation specialists generally consider pay to be comparable if it is within 5-10% of a reasonable comparator. As discussed elsewhere, we believe that the compensation deal in the tentative agreement achieves comparability.
The AJC bargained hard with Treasury Board in an effort to get a compensation deal that would be retroactive to 2018. Numerous options were pursued with the Employer in order to accomplish this. While the Employer listened to and considered the AJC’s proposals on retroactivity, they were all rejected – primarily on the basis of the significant cost associated with this retroactivity. In the end, it became clear that the deal which was ultimately struck would have been jeopardized if the AJC had insisted on retroactivity to 2018.
Yes. LPs will receive back pay retroactive to May 10, 2022.
Yes. All LPs (Toronto and National) will receive pay increases totaling 12.5% (13.14% when compounded) over the four-year term of a new collective agreement.
National LP-02s and LP-03s at the top step may receive an additional increase based on their transition to a new step in the single national pay grid. It also possible that some National LP-04s could receive an additional increase if their current rate of pay is below the minimum pay rate in the new single pay grid.
The tentative agreement provides at p. 9 that the joint pay studies are terminated and will not proceed further. The transition to the new single pay grid (formerly the Toronto pay grid) and the pay increases totaling 12.5% have addressed market adjustment and pay concerns for this round of collective bargaining.
The implementation of the new collective agreement would be governed by the pattern MOU between the AJC and the Employer which can be found at pp. 13-14 of the tentative agreement. The new collective agreement would be implemented over the following time frames:
The AJC Negotiations Committee conducts negotiations and collective bargaining with the Employer. The Negotiations Committee consists of the President, who chairs the Committee, and other Governing Council members appointed by the Governing Council.