Ottawa - "Employees of several federal agencies have waited long enough," said Public Service Alliance of Canada National President, Nycole Turmel during a noon-hour demonstration on Parliament Hill today.

"The time has arrived to push for action," said Turmel, as she announced that the union is pursuing legal action to force the full implementation of pay equity.

"While the Prime Minister is on the hustings trying to take credit for implementing pay equity for federal employees, the reality is that the PSAC spent 15 years fighting for pay equity - including six years against Chrétien’s Liberal government. And until all of our members get the pay equity they deserve, the fight isn’t over!"

At noon today the PSAC’s legal counsel filed a Statement of Claim in the Federal Court-Trial Division calling on the Court to direct Treasury Board or any other responsible party to increase wage rates and benefits in a manner consistent with the Orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal of July, 1998 and November, 1999. The Claim states that the failure to pay is in violation of section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The employers identified in the claim are the: Communications Security Establishment (CSE); Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS); Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), formerly the Medical Research Council; Office of the Auditor General (OAG); Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI); Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC); and the Statistical Survey Operations (SSO).

Treasury Board has indicated that it will consider giving these separate employers the funds to adjust their employees’ ongoing salaries - salaries which are based on discriminatory rates. However, they are not prepared to fund the payment of retroactive adjustments and interest, explained Turmel.

Members are still waiting almost a year after the PSAC signed an agreement with Treasury Board to implement the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision which ordered pay equity adjustments after determining that wages paid to federal employees in the Clerical and Regulatory (CR), Secretarial, Stenographic & Typing (ST), Data Processing (DA-CON), Educational Support (EU), Library Science (LS) and Hospital Services (HS) were discriminatory.

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