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The government announced in the federal budget that it was booking a one-time $900-million saving this year for abolishing the existing sick-leave regime – along with millions of unused sick-leave days that public servants have banked – and replacing it with a new short-term disability plan.

That budget measure jumped to the top of the union’s agenda at its convention in Quebec City, with delegates passing a resolution condemning the government’s threat to collective bargaining rights. It called for a series of steps, from legal action to organizing and campaigning.

The budget move changes the character and even the pace of bargaining, now that the government has laid out the terms of the deal it expects – especially since Treasury Board President Tony Clement appears to want all contracts settled before a fall election.

The 17 federal unions and the government have been negotiating for a year. They are still dickering over non-monetary issues and haven’t touched thornier problems such as sick-leave benefits and wage increases.

“We won’t give up the sick leave in our collective agreements for one that will make our members go to work sick. They will have to choose between going to work sick or a paycheque. That’s the (government’s) proposal,” said Benson.

The government says it is willing to negotiate, yet it set the terms of a deal in the budget. The unions have refused to make concessions on the sick-leave provisions embedded in existing contracts, though they say they will talk about fixing the existing scheme.