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.
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.
“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.”
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.
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.
On October 31, join with other PSAC members across the country to deliver a strong message:
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.
Justin Trudeau said he’d fix public services and repair the relationship with the workers who deliver them. Now is the time for action.
Visit http://psacunion.ca/makegoodonyourword to listen to the radio ad and download a shareable meme for your social media pages.
Parks Canada has officially announced that it will no longer consider privatizing the operations of three of its most iconic attractions: The hot springs in areas around present town sites Banff, Jasper and Radium.
Parks employees and their union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Union of National Employees, campaigned and conducted town hall meetings in Jasper and Radium to bring awareness to both the public and the local business communities. Plans to continue those conversations – and expand them to Banff – were in the works prior to the announcement on September 2nd by the federal minister responsible for Parks Canada, Catherine McKenna.
”After years of campaigning, this is a huge victory for the union, its members and the public,” said UNE National Vice-President Kevin King. “This government has made a very meaningful decision and should be commended for listening to the requests of the workers and the people who visit these very special attractions.”
Eddie Kennedy, National Advisor on Parks Canada, is also proud to share this great news with everyone:
“This decision was in no small part influenced by the countless union members who met with elected officials, the general public and with parks management in explaining why these iconic locations are better served by staying under the umbrella of Canada’s national parks network , within Parks Canada.”
More than 300,000 visitors soak up the heat from these pools each year. The cost is very affordable – less than $10 – to visit the springs. The threat of privatization meant that prices could have soared, leaving many Canadians unable to afford what has become a landmark destination.
This victory to end a third-party commercialization attempt was made possible by a team of dedicated workers and endless lobbying, most notably Eddie Kennedy, Jurgen Deagle, Jaison Van Tine and Michael Power, with support from UNE and the PSAC Prairies Region.
We only know of these places because of First Nations peoples. The Stoney Nakota, the Ktunaxa Kinbasket, the Shuswap Nations and the Mountain Metis were the original inhabitants of Banff, Radium and Jasper, prior to railroad construction and tourism.
These special places belong to the people of Canada and should be enjoyed by ongoing generations of all peoples, from Canada or elsewhere.
A long-awaited decision was handed down by the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board (PSLREB) on July 4, 2016. It upheld the right to salary protection for members who transferred to the Department of Canadian Heritage from the National Capital Commission (NCC) in September 2013.
We now have confirmation that the employer has filed a judicial review of the decision before federal court. This is not an appeal, but rather the employer must prove that the PSLREB decision was unreasonable.
The PSAC will be fighting the judicial review and has retained the same legal counsel used to present the grievance. This win was especially important for defending the larger principle of salary protection for employees forced to change employer as a result of government restructuring.
In the meantime, the decision of the adjudicator stands, despite the review application. The PSAC will be working with UNE to ensure that affected members get answers to any questions they may have about the decision, the judicial review application and the implementation of salary protection.
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.
The PSLREB decision gave affected employees entitlement to full salary protection under the PSAC and Treasury Board collective agreements effective from the date of transfer.
The Union of National Employees is proud to welcome members from the newly created Local 00420 at Rouge National Urban Park in the Greater Toronto Area (Scarborough). The park is Canada’s first urban national park, officially created in May 2015.
Mary Anne Walker, regional vice-president for the Ontario region, recently chaired the local’s first annual general meeting in December.
“This is a unique attraction,” commented Walker. “Visitors don’t have to travel to the park; the park experience has been brought to the city. In addition to common Parks Canada practices such as ecosystem restoration and preservation, there are guided walks, species and ecosystem preservation, educational and special events – all nestled within the city.”
For more information, visit the website at http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/rouge/index.aspx and be sure to check out their twitter page for some truly stunning photos.
Twitter @RougePark – http://twitter.com/rougepark
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.
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.
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.”
On July 28, Lackie testified before the House of Commons Committee on Government Operations and Estimates about the working conditions at the pay centre.
Unfortunately, the arbitration hearing scheduled for August 29 to hear the outstanding contract issues for Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation workers at Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ottawa will have to be rescheduled as the arbitrator was called away at the last minute.
The hearing has been rescheduled for Sept. 13, 2016.
On August 28, the arbitrator advised he was unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances. He apologized to PSAC, acknowledging the issues are very important and members have already waited a long time for this hearing.
At the end of May, the union and the employer agreed to binding arbitration to resolve contract issues still in dispute after OLG locked out our members.
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.