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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                      October 24, 2002

CEIU REJECTS GOVERNMENT
DECISION TO CUT JOBS

OTTAWA - The Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU), a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), deplores the decision by the departments of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) to let contract workers go at their end of their contracts.

            “Contract, or term, employees are the lifeblood of the federal public service.  According to a joint study carried out by the Treasury Board and the Public Service Alliance of Canada, fully 15% of the public service, or about 25,000 people, are term employees of the federal government.  These individuals have no employment security with the government, fewer benefits and little opportunity for advancement with the employer.  Term employees must re-qualify for their positions, sometimes as often as once a year, regardless of their performance in the job,” explains Jeanette Meunier-McKay, CEIU National President.

            The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) agrees.  In 2001, the OAG reported that term employment is used by public service managers “as a response to flaws in current practices and systems.”  The joint study on term employment found that “years of downsizing under Programme Review have created a climate in which hiring temporary staff has become a fast, convenient way to meet deadlines, minimize workforce adjustment risks and maintain service standards” and concluded that “continued short-term hiring will have major long-term repercussions within the Public Service.”

            Not surprisingly, the most important recommendation of the study is to grant permanent status to term employees who complete two years of unbroken service with the federal government.  We, the Union, support this recommendation wholeheartedly.  Yet, how has  the employer responded to the study?

They have done the opposite.  Claiming budgetary problems, HRDC and CIC have opted to release term workers as their contracts expire.  In so doing, these two departments have chosen to ignore not only the advice of their own managers to the study group, but also the actual findings and recommendations of the joint study.

            The question is why.  At a time when audits have revealed that previous staff reductions in HRDC contributed directly to the misuse of social insurance numbers and cards, the mishandling of grants and contributions and the subsequent waste of millions of dollars, it is inconceivable that the department would contemplate releasing the very employees who have been relied upon to pick up the pieces and restore public confidence.

            In CIC, the decision to not retain term employees, again for budgetary reasons, could have disastrous consequences.  Since the September 11^th attacks, Canadians have clearly expressed their desire for more resources devoted to enforcing the Immigration Act so that Canadians can feel safe from the threat of terrorism while continuing to support diversity and population growth through a rigorous application of the legislation.

            The decision to release term employees in HRDC and CIC, rather than acknowledge their very real contributions to public service, demonstrates that the federal government does not take the concerns of Canadians seriously.  Canadians want and deserve a true commitment from their government to protect their well-being and spend their tax dollars wisely.  However, this government is not listening.

            That is why the CEIU and the PSAC demand that these two departments take the lead in recognizing the intent of the term study by immediately converting all term employees with two or more years of unbroken service to permanent status, extending the employment of other terms until the recommendations of the joint study are officially implemented and engaging in long-term planning and budgeting and adding permanent resources as required.

            “The government cannot afford to lose the workers who deliver the very services Canadian need and want.  Without the workers, there is no service,” concludes Meunier-McKay.

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For additional information, contact Jeannette Meunier-McKay at (613) 236-9634

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