{"id":7704,"date":"2020-02-26T12:10:31","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T17:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.une-sen.org\/press\/?p=7704"},"modified":"2020-02-26T12:10:31","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T17:10:31","slug":"phoenix-damages-everything-you-need-to-know-about-what-we-are-negotiating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/?p=7704","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix damages : everything you need to know about what we are negotiating"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Much of what PSAC members have heard about Phoenix damages focuses on the government\u2019s\u00a0general damages\u00a0offer of five days of leave for the last four years of hardships. You may not know that we’re negotiating more than just compensation for general damages. Here\u2019s the breakdown:<\/p>\n

A\u00a0three-part\u00a0settlement<\/h2>\n

The Phoenix compensation agreement we are seeking has three main elements:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. General damages compensation for all<\/strong>:\u00a0This is universal compensation\u00a0for everyone, regardless of their circumstances. Unlike an out-of-pocket expense, or a direct financial impact, this will cover all the general hardships suffered throughout the public service such as: personal time lost trying to resolve pay issues, delays in career advancement (forced to avoid acting assignments, transfers, etc.), high levels of anxiety and stress, cancelling of parental and other personal leave to avoid being\u00a0Phoenixed, reduction in support of family members, delayed retirement \u2013 to name a few.<\/li>\n
  2. Strengthening the current expense claims process<\/strong>:\u00a0This is largely for\u00a0out-of-pocket expenses<\/a>\u00a0caused by Phoenix pay problems, such as interest on lines of credit, bank charges, etc. We successfully negotiated this claims process years ago for our\u00a0members\u00a0but we intend to legally enshrine this claims process moving forward and strengthen key language in order to ensure our members can continue to get the reimbursements they are owed.<\/li>\n
  3. Expanding the expense claims process to include greater financial hardships<\/strong>:\u00a0Many thousands of PSAC members experienced far more than general damages, or out-of-pocket expenses \u2013 this would allow them to claim those specific damages. This includes things like major financial losses (cars, homes, investments etc.), and longer-term impacts like ruined credit ratings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Why PSAC still doesn\u2019t have a settlement<\/h2>\n

    We are largely satisfied with our negotiations surrounding the strengthening of the current expense claims process and expanding it to include more significant financial\u00a0hardships. Therefore, two of the three parts of the proposed settlement are not a problem. The major stumbling block is the government\u2019s offer on compensation for general damages.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Let\u2019s look at why we rejected this part of settlement:<\/p>\n

    The Liberal government has offered what amounts to 1.25 days of leave per year for each member who has worked for the federal government since 2016. Entitlement to that leave would be the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    2016\/2017<\/td>\n2 days leave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2017\/2018<\/td>\n1 day\u00a0leave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2018\/2019<\/td>\n1 day\u00a0leave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2019\/2020<\/td>\n1 day\u00a0leave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    All members\u00a0would be\u00a0entitled to the above leave if they worked for any part of the relevant year. Both full time and part time employees\u00a0would\u00a0qualify for the full amount.<\/p>\n

    Former employees and retirees\u202fwould need to apply<\/strong>\u202ffor this compensation directly and would receive it as a cash payment according to the value of the days of leave they would have been entitled to.<\/p>\n

    This offer is unacceptable\u00a0for\u00a0two\u00a0key reasons:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Five\u202fdays\u202fof leave\u202fis far too little to compensate\u00a0for\u00a0over\u00a0four years of general damages across the entire public service.<\/li>\n
    2. Most importantly, it\u2019s not an equitable solution. It rewards the highest earners because their days of leave are worth more when cashed-in, punishing lower paid employees, many of whom have suffered the most.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Why should a Program\u00a0Manager\u00a0receive\u00a0double\u00a0the\u00a0compensation\u00a0compared to\u00a0an Administrative Assistant?\u00a0And why should that same Administrative Assistant get a third of what a diplomat in the public service would\u00a0receive?<\/p>\n

      It\u2019s completely unjust and there\u2019s no reason for it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

      The general damages portion of this agreement is going to be our one chance to account for all the impacts of the last four years that can\u2019t easily be demonstrated through receipts, invoices, bank statements, etc. The final amount\u00a0has to\u00a0be better than what the government put on the table, and it must be equal for everyone.<\/p>\n

      We are using our bargaining strength to win\u00a0Phoenix\u00a0damages<\/h2>\n

      At the start, PSAC and other federal public service unions sat down together with the federal government to discuss compensation for the harm done by Phoenix. However, these discussions took place outside of the collective bargaining process giving the unions little leverage to get a fair deal. When the other unions accepted the\u00a0Phoenix\u00a0compensation offered by the federal government, PSAC made it clear that agreement on Phoenix damages is one of our priority demands in collective bargaining.<\/p>\n

      The union did this for\u00a0two\u00a0main reasons:<\/h3>\n
        \n
      1. It would\u00a0strengthen\u00a0our ability to get a better Phoenix damages deal.<\/strong>\u00a0While we\u2019re bargaining for new collective agreements the union has the most leverage and power.\u00a0If we were to settle\u00a0our collective bargaining\u00a0first, we would have few mechanisms\u00a0left to get a fair Phoenix damages settlement.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Trying to negotiate\u00a0Phoenix damages\u00a0separate from bargaining\u00a0has already\u00a0been\u00a0proven unsuccessful.\u00a0<\/strong>PSAC was\u00a0originally part of the group of 15 federal public service unions\u00a0that negotiated\u00a0for years to get to the current offer of\u00a0five\u00a0days of leave.\u00a0Without being tied to a formal process where\u00a0unions\u00a0have\u00a0some\u00a0leverage,\u00a0the government\u00a0refused\u00a0to improve their meagre offer.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Why\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0PSAC filed\u00a0a class action lawsuit?<\/h2>\n

          Unlike non-unionized workers who might have to rely on a lengthy and expensive class action lawsuit, PSAC members are already part of a certified class \u2013 their union \u2013 and can seek a resolution directly with the government. Unlike a lawsuit that would wind its way through many years of the legal system with an uncertain outcome, we can negotiate more quickly with the government and ensure we only settle for the best deal.\u00a0 In addition, PSAC members will not have to pay a significant percentage of their settlement to a law firm as they would if they were forced into a class action lawsuit.<\/p>\n

          Source: http:\/\/psacunion.ca\/phoenix-damages-everything-you-need-know-about<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Much of what PSAC members have heard about Phoenix damages focuses on the government\u2019s\u00a0general damages\u00a0offer of five days of leave for the last four years of hardships. You may not know that we’re negotiating more than just compensation for general damages. Here\u2019s the breakdown: A\u00a0three-part\u00a0settlement The Phoenix compensation agreement we are seeking has three main … <\/p>\n

          >> “Phoenix damages : everything you need to know about what we are negotiating”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,12,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7704"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7704"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7706,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7704\/revisions\/7706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}