FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE             January 15, 2001  

OTTAWA - Just days after announcing that senior executives in the federal public service would receive an 8.7% retroactive increase, Treasury Board has offered a mere 2.0% wage increase to 67,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

"Treasury Board’s offer to our members employed in program and administrative services in the federal government is both insulting and demeaning," according to National Executive Vice-President John Gordon.

"While Treasury Board couldn’t wait to accept the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Senior Level Retention and Compensation which proposed that executive salaries rise by 8.7% retroactive to April 1, 2000," says Gordon, "they’re in no hurry to offer a fair increase to our members.

According to Gordon, the government has practiced a double standard since collective bargaining resumed three years ago. A federal government executive at the DM 03 level received pay and performance bonus increases of 40.3% between 1997 and 2000. Salary increases for other federal employees averaged less than 10% over the same three-year period.

"In the last several years the government has established commissions and the like to justify significant wage increases for the military, the judiciary, the RCMP and now federal executives," says Gordon. "On January 12^th, the government quietly announced the establishment of another commission to review pay and benefits for Members of Parliament, including their tax-free expense allowances. At the same time, the government has treated its front line workers very differently. Back-to-work legislation and the imposition of minimal wage increases has been the government’s response to PSAC members’ attempts to improve their salaries and working conditions."

"A month ago, PSAC members employed by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) voted 80% in favour of strike action after CCRA put an offer on the table that was slightly better than the one Treasury Board has put forward," says Gordon. "We don’t expect our members in this bargaining group to be exactly overjoyed with what Treasury Board has offered, nor will our operational, technical and other members, who are also in negotiations, if Treasury Board persists in offering its meager 2%.

"We’re considering what action will be taken next," concludes Gordon. "We’re going to do everything we can to break the double standard of treatment that exists, including making it a political issue."

The PSAC represents approximately 67,000 employees in the federal government Program and Administrative Services Group which includes Administrative Services (AS), Information Services (IS), Programme Administration (PM), Welfare Programmes (WP), Communications (CM), Data Processing (DA), Clerical and Regulatory (CR), Office Equipment (OE), and Secretarial, Stenographic and Typing (ST). Their agreement expired on June 20, 2000.

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For information: Nancy Mitchell, PSAC communications officer, (613) 560-4235

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