Message from Treasury Board Secretariat to Labour Relations Units in Departments and Agencies

Date: 20 June 2008

The Treasury Board Secretariat sent the following e-mail to labour relations units in departments and agencies on June 12, 2008.

"The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has called for a day of action on June 19, 2008 with activities to be held across the country to support their demands at the various bargaining tables. The Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) has not received any details of the type of actions planned or on the locations where these are to be held.

This message is to remind you that:

• Peaceful picketing by employees for the purpose of obtaining or communicating information is permitted by law;
• However, when employees are not in a legal strike position, they can only picket on their personal time;
• At present, no employees in the bargaining units represented by the PSAC or any other bargaining agent are in a legal strike position;
• Employees are expected to report to work as scheduled on June 19 and to be present at their prescribed time and place of work unless they are on approved leave;
• Employees who fail to report to work should be considered as being absent without authorization and not entitled to pay. These employees may also be subject to disciplinary action.

Departments and agencies may wish to inform employees of the steps to follow in the event that they encounter demonstrations or protests of a sufficiently serious nature to arouse concerns over their personal safety when entering or leaving their work location. If such situations arise, employees should be advised to contact their manager from the nearest location so that arrangements can be made to ensure their safe passage into the workplace.

Please also note that any media questions on the state of collective bargaining for the Core Public Administration will be handled by TBS.

Departments and agencies are asked to report any activities or disruptions to operations related to this day of action."

Regular updates on collective bargaining are posted on the Treasury Board Secretariat Web site.

- 30 -