PSAC Scholarships advance education opportunities

Each year, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Union of National Employees (UNE) award various scholarships. Below is a list of this year’s PSAC winners. The UNE wishes to convey its congratulations to all winners for your accomplishments, and good luck with your studies. For more information on UNE scholarships and bursaries, please visit http://en.une-sen.org/what_we_do/hea.php.

PSAC 2016 Scholarship Winners:

National Awards

Charles-Antoine Barbeau-Meunier – $4,000 AGR-PSAC

Charles-Antoine resides in Sherbrooke, Quebec and is the son of Gisèle Barbeau from Union of National Employees, Local 10021.

Maxime Robinson – $4,000 Coughlin-PSAC

Maxime is from Gatineau, Quebec and his father, Paul Robinson, is a member of the Union of National Employees, Local 70130.

Julia Gaspar – $3,000 AGR-PSAC

Julia is from Dartmouth, Nova-Scotia and her mother, Helen Gaspar, is a member of the Union of National Employees, Local 80178.

Samantha Breckenridge – $3,000 Coughlin-PSAC

Samantha resides in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and her mother, Michelle Gola, is a member of Union of National Employees, Local 40195.

Members’ Awards

Patrick Thomson – $2,000 PSAC Members’

Patrick lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Union of National Employees, Local 40107.

Maude Éloïse Saulnier – $1,000 National Capital Region

Maude Éloïse is from Gatineau, Québec. She is the daughter of David Cardinal, member of the Union of National Employees, Local 70027.

2016/11/302016/12/06

Alert: Collection agency calls on Phoenix payments not legitimate

phoenixcollection

PSAC members have told us that they are getting phone calls from third parties identifying themselves as collection agencies. The caller says they are collecting Phoenix payments on behalf of the government. These calls are not legitimate.

Government not using collection agencies

The government has confirmed they are not using collection agencies to collect payments related to Phoenix.

Contact your department

If you receive a call about monies owing due to Phoenix from a collection agency, contact your department or agency immediately. Do not make any arrangements to pay money to a third party.

Report it

Make sure to also report the call to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

2016/11/212016/12/06

Parks bargaining team tables wage proposal with Agency

Our bargaining team met with the Agency November 16 – 17.

We tabled a wage proposal that calls for annual increases of 3% in each year of a three-year agreement.

Other proposals tabled

Proposal to return Parks Canada to the National Joint Council
New language to enshrine Leave with Income Averaging, Self-Funded Leave, and Pre-Retirement Leave into the collective agreement.
New language regarding the Joint Learning Program.

Short term disability

Back in June, the Agency tabled a revised Short-Term Disability proposal to replace our current sick leave provisions. We rejected this proposal in June and it was not discussed during this round.

Upcoming bargaining dates

Negotiations are tentatively set to resume on January 30, 2017.

Our bargaining team thanks you for your ongoing patience and support.

2016/11/212016/12/06

PSAC continues to hold the government accountable on Phoenix

On November 16, the government provided an update on the Phoenix pay system. We learned that there are still a lot of problems to deal with.

“Our priority remains getting public service workers paid correctly and on-time. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of work to be done,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC National Executive Vice-President. “The government should have listened to us from the beginning. We told them not to go ahead with the new pay system, but now, it’s time to move forward. We want to help the government fix Phoenix so that our members can be made whole.”

Public service workers waiting for changes

The government confirmed that it is two months – or 200,000 cases – behind in processing “pay transactions” under the new Phoenix pay system.

This means difficult financial consequences for some PSAC members.

“Pay transactions” refer to changes in an employee’s pay. This includes initiating pay for new hires, changing pay for promotions or leaves of absence, and final payments for employees leaving the public service.

No date for Phoenix fix

Lemay gave no date for when the system will be fixed, but said that “over the next several months, we will return to normal processing times.”

“PSAC is working with the government in every way we can to help fix Phoenix,” said Aylward.

Phoenix generated membership cards with incorrect surname

It has come to our attention that some of our members may have received a new membership card with an incorrect surname.

Typically, a new card is generated automatically when we receive an update to a member’s surname from the employer.

Updates produced by the new Phoenix system are received monthly along with union dues remittance information.

How to resolve issue

Review your last online Phoenix pay stub to ensure that the surname entered by your employer is correct.
If the surname appearing on your pay stub is incorrect, submit a Phoenix feedback form or call the call centre at 1-855-686-4729 to report the issue and to ensure a correction is made.
Once your employer makes the correction in the Phoenix pay system – and PSAC receives this new information – a new card with your correct surname will be generated and sent to you.

If you have questions, please contact PSAC Membership Administration Officer, Amélie Laviolette 613-560-2612 or Laviola@psac-afpc.com.

We apologize for this inconvenience.

2016/11/102016/12/06

Treasury Board bargaining: PSAC requests mediation

tbmediation

Contract negotiations have been ongoing for 10 days. While some progress has been achieved, there are still important issues of fairness and improving public services for Canadians that are yet to be resolved.

PSAC has requested that a mediator be appointed and that talks resume within two weeks.

PSAC and the Employer returned to extended negotiations from November 1-9, after the Liberal government promised to bring a new mandate to the table.

“We’ve gone as far as we can. This government promised to respect public service workers and restore the integrity of the public services Canadians rely on. They have not yet delivered on that promise,” said Robyn Benson, PSAC National President.

2016/11/092016/11/21

Treasury Board bargaining extended

Bargaining with Treasury Board continues for the PA, SV, EB, FB and TC groups.

Our bargaining teams have been negotiating since last week, and the schedule for bargaining has been extended.

PSAC remains focused on negotiating a contract which reflects fairness for public service workers and respect for the vital work that they do in providing services to all Canadians.

2016/11/032016/11/21

PSAC launches letter-writing campaign aimed at Trudeau

The largest union representing federal public service workers is launching a letter campaign urging Prime Minister Trudeau to make good on his word.

When Trudeau was elected, he said he wanted to be a “partner” to public service workers and not an adversary.

One year later, thousands of public service workers are either not getting paid, or being paid improperly, thanks to the government’s mishandling of the Phoenix pay system. And more than 90,000 PSAC members have spent the last two years trying to negotiate a fair contract with Treasury Board, to no avail.

“This is about fairness and respect – and this is what was promised to public service workers by Mr. Trudeau,” said Robyn Benson, National President of PSAC.

PSAC members work hard to deliver quality public services to all Canadians, but the government needs to support these workers properly so they can do their jobs.

“Teachers in First Nations communities have fewer resources than their provincial counterparts. This is unfair to Indigenous children, who deserve a quality education,” said Benson. “Service Canada workers don’t have enough resources to process EI and disability claims in a timely manner, leading to lengthy wait times for Canadians who depend on these services. These are only two examples.”

Send a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau today, and tell him to make good on his word to support public services and the people who deliver them.

2016/10/272016/11/03

October 31st: PSAC members to send Liberal government a message

On October 31, PSAC members across the country will be reminding Prime Minister Trudeau to make good on his word to respect public services and the people who provide them.

“Last year, Mr. Trudeau wrote to all public service workers promising to treat them with respect and restore the cuts made by Stephen Harper,” said Robyn Benson, PSAC National President. “It has been a year since the election. The tone has changed, but it’s now time for action.”

Liberal government, Conservative agenda

Instead of moving forward in bargaining, the government has continued to push the Conservative agenda.

“Under the Liberals, Treasury Board has had five meetings with us, and almost a year to improve their offer to reflect Mr. Trudeau’s promise to show respect for the public service,” said Benson.

Haunted by Phoenix

As negotiations with Treasury Board for over 90,000 PSAC members remains unresolved, Phoenix continues to haunt public service workers. The pay system, launched in January of this year, is still causing problems for thousands.

The government had promised that by October 31, the 80,000 case backlog reported in June would be cleared. However, the government announced on October 19 that it would not meet this deadline.

In addition to this backlog, many more PSAC members have had pay problems since June that are also outstanding. The exact number is not clear, as the government has been unwilling to disclose this figure.

Public service workers deserve to be paid correctly and on time for the work that they do.

Come out on October 31

On October 31, join with other PSAC members across the country to deliver a strong message:

Dump the Conservative bargaining agenda
Start talking to us about real change for a better public service
Make good on your word – Canadians are counting on us

We encourage all PSAC members in the federal public service to participate. Please contact your local, or the closest PSAC regional office, to find out how you can participate.

2016/09/012016/09/02

Phoenix taking its toll on workers at Miramichi pay centre

The Phoenix pay system debacle is being felt by public service workers across Canada, but nowhere more intensely than in the eye of the storm—the Miramichi pay centre.

That’s the message PSAC President Robyn Benson and Donna Lackie, President of the Government Services Union component, gave Minister Judy Foote at their August 19, meeting.

“Workers there, who are working long hours struggling to deliver pay, are carrying the weight of the entire public service on their shoulders,” says Lackie.

Pay centre workers tell their stories at a union town hall meeting

Members spoke about poor working conditions, lack of support resources, and problems with failing technology at a recent town hall meeting with Benson and Lackie. Compensation advisors are frustrated that they do not have the help they need to get all of the work done, while feeling a lot of stress because of the heavy workload and pressure to deal with more cases than they can handle.

“It’s heartbreaking to see someone at their wit’s end when they can’t do their job,” one worker said. “We used to be able to do our job and be confident in it and efficient.”

Another worker spoke about seeing “people crying at their desks, people calling in sick, and people crying in the bathrooms” because of the stress.

“You have a group of members that are working so hard to ensure that everybody gets paid and gets paid properly but they’re faced with a system that isn’t capable of doing it all,” said Benson.

The union is bringing the concerns voiced by the Miramichi workers directly to Deputy Minister Marie Lemay.

“Morale in Miramichi is at its absolute lowest,” said Lackie.

The union has asked the government to bring in mental health experts on site at the pay centre.

Miramichi workers’ messages to affected public service workers

Compensation advisors in Miramichi also had messages to share with other public service employees.

“Remember, the people that work at the pay centre are employees too. We also experience pay problems,” said one worker.

“Hang in there,” said another, “We are working as hard as we can. We are trying our best.”

PSAC tells Parliamentary committee about pay centre conditions

On July 28, Lackie testified before the House of Commons Committee on Government Operations and Estimates about the working conditions at the pay centre.

Most of the compensation advisors are recent hires and new to government.
Public service pay is complicated, involving 27 collective agreements and tens of thousands of rules.
Compensation staff were not given consistent or adequate training before the system went live.
Before Phoenix was rolled out, PSAC warned the department of problems and repeatedly asked that the project be slowed down.
When the system was rolled out, staff could not keep up with the files coming in while trying to fix the huge number of errors.
Throughout the training and testing, the compensation advisors could not rely on the technology, and had nowhere to go for answers to their questions.
However, the advisors have been very resourceful and creative, devising “work arounds” and sharing solutions to problems among their co-workers.
The union gets calls on a daily basis from “broken compensation advisors” who fear losing their jobs.
The workers are proud to work for the Government of Canada, but the pressure is becoming intolerable.

2016/07/222016/09/01

Huge Victory for members of UNE and PSAC

The Union of National Employees and PSAC are proud to announce a great victory for members who transferred to the Department of Canadian Heritage from the National Capital Commission (NCC) in September 2013. A long-awaited decision was handed down by the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board (PSLREB) on July 4, 2016 which upheld the right to salary protection for the transferred workers.

The policy grievance, filed by the PSAC on December 12, 2013, involved 44 members who were transferred by government order and then told they would be paid under the Treasury Board’s classification system, meaning that they would see their salaries reduced by up to $12,000 per year. PSAC successfully argued before the PSLREB that the employees had been reclassified and therefore should be covered under the salary protection clauses. The PSLREB decision means that all of the affected employees will be entitled to full salary protection under the PSAC and Treasury Board collective agreements effective from the date of transfer.

“This is a significant win for our members and sets an important precedent for all government employees who will be transferred in the future. We fought the employer’s decision to reduce our members’ salaries and the PSLREB ruled that the employer had violated the collective agreement,” said Doug Marshall, UNE National President.

After UNE’s informal requests for consultation were ignored, PSAC wrote in May 2013 to both Canadian Heritage and the National Capital Commission to create a joint committee. The purpose of the committee was to ensure members’ rights were protected under the collective agreements and to institute a transfer process that was transparent to them. Both Heritage and NCC, however, continued their refusal to consult. Instead of consultation, in November 2013, after the transfer took place, the employer proposed a Memorandum of Agreement, which we rejected because it still denied salary protection.

Shortly after the transfer took place, the UNE filed 87 grievances dealing with job content and classification. When the grievances were being presented to Heritage, they were denied, regardless of members being classified downward or their pay reduced.

As with any decision involving retroactive salary increases, members should expect that it will take some time before the proper amount of retroactive pay is calculated and the new salary rates are implemented. PSAC, UNE and Local leadership will work with Treasury Board to discuss implementation of the decision by the end of the summer.

Also affected by the decision were PSAC members who were transferred from the Canada Revenue Agency to Shared Services Canada.