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Government restructuring and program reviewJanuary 26, 2004 PSAC's measures
Major areas of concern• The government’s communication about the reorganizations have not met the obligations of the Collective Agreement and have not been communicated in a way to ensure that each and everyone of our members can be represented to the fullest extent possible. This is unacceptable, and we will be making every effort in every forum to remedy it. • The memo from Brother Halabecki and Sister Benson before Christmas explains what we have done to address initial Collective Bargaining concerns caused by the reorganization. • Employers have agreed to the changes in team composition which required their agreement • Initially all employers have agreed to meet as previously scheduled. However, the PSAC was contacted on the 8th of January and informed that Treasury Board and CCRA have asked that all bargaining be postponed until February. They say they have no mandate to bargain. We have expressed our anger at this position. Treasury Board has committed to more sessions in February. • Clearly we are very concerned that the government may be positioning itself to implement restrictions on a free collective bargaining process although we have received no communication to this effect. The Finance Minister has said that any increases in government spending will be capped at 3%, the expected growth rate of the economy in 2004. • Press release on delayed bargaining. • The government is saying that the proposed move to PWGS will not be implemented until after this round of bargaining. Government advisories concerning the spending freeze are recognizing that additional monies may be spent to honour any collective agreements that will be negotiated. • The government’s benchmarks for review clearly support privatization of public services. The fact that the prime minister has appointed a parliamentary secretary for Private Public partnerships is on the face of it demonstrative of an ideological shift to further privatization. The finance minister has stated that the Martin government is looking at “spinning off some functions, either to the private sector or to arm's-length government bodies.” • The government has said that the freeze on the public service is a "freeze on the total size of the public service" i.e. the total salary budget. The freeze is on hiring, staffing or promotions within existing salary budgets. Organizations must plan for zero year-over-year growth in expenditures on human resources in fiscal year 2004-2005 as compared with fiscal year 2003-2004. The government has also said that the spending freeze is not a reduction exercise but instead an elimination of growth in the public service. They say that it is not expected to have an impact on existing employment situations. • Workers have a right to be classified for the work that they do. Departments have been given the authority to implement the freeze as they see fit. They seem to be authorized to apply it differently. • Furthermore, Cabinet Ministers aides have seen their wages rise dramatically because of reclassification. Public Service workers are being unfairly targeted. A double standard is being applied. • We must also be primarily concerned with members who are already experiencing workforce adjustment because of ongoing government reallocation initiatives. We understand that members employed by CIC, HRDC, CCRA and Fisheries and Oceans were already impacted by changes before these announcements. Communications Canada must now be added to this list. Collectively one of our primary goals has to be that the adjustment needs of these members are met. Actions• The PSAC has formed a staff working group with resources from each branch to evaluate every part of the government announcement. • The PSAC has been monitoring on a regular basis all government announcements and information and are aggressively looking into ways to increase our efficiency in doing so. • The PSAC has requested meetings with the Prime Minister and the President of the Treasury Board to seek clarification on the government agenda. The meetings we have had so far have provided minimal clarification. It appears to us that the government’s consultation of its own bureaucracy and cabinet ministers is almost as bad as their consultation with bargaining agents. The President of the Treasury Board when unable to answer our questions suggested we ask the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has yet to respond to our requests for a meeting. • The PSAC has filed Section 99 complaints against CFIA, CCRA and TB because of the clear violations to the workforce adjustment agreements we have negotiated. • PSAC National President Nycole Turmel has spoken to the press and we have received excellent press coverage in support of our concerns. • The PSAC has established a special Government Restructuring and Review Page on the PSAC website. We are updating it as quickly and efficiently as possible. • The PSAC has established a member question and answer link on that web site. We have received over 50 questions to date and have begun work on addressing those questions generically to the best of our ability given the information that we have to date. • Components have either met with their departmental counterparts or are in the process of meeting with them. To date all components are reporting that the departmental representatives do not have a very clear idea of what is happening. • Components have been providing the PSAC with as much information as they can give the unprecedented departmental ignorance of the government direction. • Components are advising their members as best as they can although clearly there are still more questions than answers. |