Your Collective Agreement defines paid holidays in Article 29.
When you look at the list of paid holidays in Article 29, you won’t see the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR) listed.
Listing the NDTR in the Collective Agreement as a paid holiday was—and remains—a priority for AMAPCEO. The employer, however, strongly resisted our efforts in the last round of bargaining.
Similarly, the employer refused to include the NDTR as a paid holiday in all other Ontario Public Service collective agreements.
Nevertheless, the NDTR is a paid negotiated holiday under the Collective Agreement.
How does this work?
The NDTR falls under the “Special Holiday” language of Article 29: “An employee shall also be entitled to any special holiday as proclaimed by the Governor General or Lieutenant Governor.”
This means that the NDTR is recognized as a “special holiday” under the Collective Agreement. AMAPCEO, as part of a multi-union OPS coalition, took the matter to arbitration—and the arbitrator agreed with the unions. The NDTR is a “special holiday,” and therefore a paid holiday, under the Collective Agreement.
You can read the full arbitration decision here: https://canlii.ca/t/jz5lt
What does this mean for you?
As a result of this decision and the efforts of the union coalition, the NDTR continues as a paid holiday for AMAPCEO-represented employees. All Collective Agreement rules around paid holidays apply, including overtime for working on a holiday.
AMAPCEO encourages members to take time on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to reflect on the day’s significance by reading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and to consider the history and ongoing legacy of colonialism.