Dear AFS Members,
As we communicated in our last update, the employer’s ratification process has become more complicated with the previous government’s introduction of Bill C-45. We’d like to explain the employer’s new ratification process in more detail so that everyone understands this long and frustrating process.
After our AFS members vote to accept a tentative agreement, CRA sends the tentative agreement to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) who reviews the changes in minute detail to ensure that there’s nothing in it that goes beyond the mandate that TBS has provided to CRA’s negotiator. Once this verification process is completed, and TBS determines that the mandate has not been exceeded in the slightest manner, TBS sends a letter of non-objection to CRA.
Following the receipt of the non-objection letter, CRA sends the tentative agreement for approval to the federal cabinet which meets when the House of Commons is in session.
The final step after cabinet approval is for the tentative agreement to be signed by CRA and AFS Group representatives. We have notified CRA that we will sign immediately following cabinet approval to bring our new collective agreement into force.
It’s our understanding that it’s now up to the federal cabinet to provide their approval.
We are aware that many of our AFS members have contacted their MPs and other federal politicians to express their concerns about getting this contract ratified by the employer. This support was instrumental in keeping the employer’s ratification process moving forward.
Thanks to our members for their support through this long process and we will continue to share any further news on our contract implementation as it becomes available.
In solidarity,
Doug Mason,
AFS President
On behalf of your AFS Negotiation Team