FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 2, 2001
Executive increases ‘icing on the cake’ for 130,000OTTAWA …Following fruitless efforts to negotiate collective agreements for some 130,000 federal government workers, the Public Service Alliance of Canada on February 1st requested that the Public Service Staff Relations Board proceed with the establishment of conciliation boards and/or appoint conciliation officers in an attempt to settle the outstanding issues.
"Following two weeks of bargaining for each of the Treasury Board Tables - 1, 2, 3 and 5 - it is clear that further face-to-face negotiations will not result in the achievement of fair and equitable collective agreements for these workers," says PSAC National President Nycole Turmel. "This became very evident when the federal government announced 8.7% increases for the Executive cadre and full-time Governor-in-Council appointments retroactive to April 1, 2000, at the same time as our members were being offered 2%."
"We would hope that with the assistance of a conciliation officer, we may be able to reach agreements. And, if that is not possible, at a minimum an officer should be able to assist in reducing the number of issues to be dealt with by the Conciliation Boards.
"Our members, as well as all unionized federal public sector workers who work directly and indirectly for the federal government, have been victimized by a double standard that sees the elite of the government’s workforce receive substantial real wage and perquisite increases while they are subjected to increases at or below the inflation rate," adds Turmel.
Turmel says that the cycle for these Executive increases is anything but over. "The Advisory Committee, which recommended the 8.7%, established a procedure that will ensure that federal public sector executives receive regular increases for the next 10 years, and that the increases reflect what is happening in other areas of the economy. However, when our negotiators attempt to bargain for front-line workers, Treasury Board consistently resists comparisons with the rest of the economy for these workers."
"These latest Executive increases have put the icing on the cake for our members. They have said enough is enough and unless the federal government puts forward a more realistic package which more closely mirrors the wage pattern that is emerging for the ‘elite’, we are on a collision course headed for a showdown. No one wants a strike - not the government, not the workers involved, not the PSAC and not the public. However, with the federal government’s double standards and antagonistic method of negotiating, they are setting up the framework for such actions."
In a January 23rd letter to the President of the Treasury Board, Turmel requested a meeting between the parties to discuss the issue of how wages and wage mandates are determined. "This meeting is both necessary and desirable," concludes Turmel. In addition, on January 30th the PSAC President wrote to the House of Commons and Senate Party Leaders urging them to establish a parliamentary process to review the double standard.
The groups affected are the Program and Administration Services (Table 1), Operational Services (Table 2), Technical Services (Table 3) and Education and Library Services (Table 5).
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Spokesperson: PSAC National President Nycole Turmel - (613) 560-4330
For information: Pierre Lebel, communications officer - PSAC - (613) 560-5482
04-020201