Public Service Alliance of Canada workers on the picket line in Medicine Hat (CHAT News File Photo)

By Brendan Miller

Traditional Indigenous Practices Leave part of federal workers collective agreement

May 15, 2023 | 4:58 PM

SUFFIELD, AB – The Union of National Defence Employees in Alberta and the North says its members will vote on a tentative collective agreement following the country’s largest strike involving federal workers.

The union represents civilian workers in support roles that assist the Canadian Armed Forces including administrative staff, ground crew, cooks, heavy machine operators and firefighters.

The new collective agreement also recognizes Indigenous members in a unique way.

Members will vote on the collective agreement that will see a wage increase of 12.6 per cent over four years. Most of the union members receive an annual wage between $40,000 and $65,000.

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It would be the first time the union has signed a four-year agreement. If the agreement is ratified most union members will receive retroactive pay dating back to June 2021.

Bryan Meakin, vice president of the union, says it also negotiated a new article called the Traditional Indigenous Practices Leave, which would give members who self-identify as Indigenous a five-day leave annually.

“This has never been in our collective agreements before and we negotiated a five-day leave for those who self-identified as an Indigenous person and it allows them to do land-based activities such as hunting, fishing and harvesting so that is fantastic for that group of members,” says Meakin.

Dates for the ratification votes have not been announced yet, however union officials expect them to begin in the next two weeks.