Government restructuring and program review
Questions and answers
Here are the first answers to the questions you asked us. Click
on the link below to go directly to the right section.
Conditions of Term Employment
Question 1
Under the government restructuring what happens to term
employees who are transferred from an agency like CCRA, CFIA or
Parks to a department whose workers are employed by Treasury Board?
Answer
We are pressing government to answer this question. To date they
have not.
Under the Treasury Board Term Policy, a term employee who has
been employed in the same department/agency as a term employee
for three years without a break in service longer than sixty calendar
days shall be appointed as an indeterminate employee.
Treasury Board has written the PSAC to say that employees transferring
from CCRA and CFIA to the portion of the Public Service for which
the Treasury Board is the employer will not be adversely affected.
The letter says that the employer is committed to the continuation
of their present terms and conditions of employment, including
classifications and salaries, as well as accrued benefits (i.e.
leave credits, recognition of continuous service and continuous
employment) subject to the transition period.
Question 2
The federal government announced a hiring freeze. Does
this mean that all term employment will be suspended at the end
of the fiscal year or at the culmination of their existing terms?
Answer
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.
Competitions can continue, and the decisions regarding competitions
will be made by managers from individual departments and agencies,
provided they can remain within their existing salary budget.
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. Click
here for the Qs&As from the federal government on the hiring
freeze.
The PSAC strongly believes that the federal government should
maintain existing term employment situations, and will monitor
government efforts to find savings on the backs of existing term
employees.
Special Operating Agencies
Question 3
The government announced that the Canadian Coast Guard
will become a Special Operating Agency. What is meant by a Special
Operating Agency in this instance and how will it affect my terms
of employment?
Answer
According to the federal government’s information, Special
Operating Agencies are operational organisations within existing
departmental structures which deliver services, as distinct from
providing policy advice to ministers. As part of their department,
they are accountable for their operations through their respective
deputy head and responsible minister. Each SOA operates under
a departmentally approved business plan. In addition, an accountability
relationship within the department is defined by its framework
document, which also lays out target commitments for service levels
and financial performance.
Each SOA negotiates administrative flexibilities tailored to
complement its operational requirements. Generally these flexibilities
relate to delegations within the authority of the department,
but occasionally special authorities or concessions may be acquired
from the Treasury Board. A key aim of establishing an SOA is to
give the opportunity, scope and freedom to managers and employees
alike to more effectively serve their clientele.
Unless specifically addressed in the charter proposal to the
Treasury Board, the employees' terms of employment remain unchanged
by the SOA designation. Accordingly, the relationships with the
bargaining units and the employees' access to work elsewhere in
the Public Service are unaffected.
An SOA is not a Separate Employer like Parks, the CCRA and the
CFIA. Workers will remain Part 1 Schedule 1 (Treasury Board as
the employer) employees and therefore will remain at their present
TB Tables for bargaining. Employees have no choice but to go along
with the SOA so do not have to "accept" any job offers.
Existing National Joint Council (NJC) agreements still apply.
In the case of the new Coast Guard SOA, it will have its own
independent budget separate from Fisheries and Oceans, but will
remain within the Fisheries and Oceans department. PSAC will remain
the Union and bargaining agent for all the operational groups
it currently represents. There are no changes in bargaining unit
structure.
PSAC’s Response
Question 4
What steps has the union taken to counter any negative
impacts on the membership of the program review and restructuring
announcements?
Answer
To date the PSAC and its components have taken the following
steps.
The PSAC has been monitoring on a regular basis all government
announcements and information.
We have issued press releases, organized one press conference,
and done numerous media interviews to articulate our position
on the restructuring and program review announcements.
We have written letters expressing our concerns with the announcements
requesting meetings with the Prime Minister, the President of
the Treasury Board, and the President of the Privy Council to
seek clarification on various aspects of the government’s
agenda and its impact on PSAC members. The meetings we have had
so far have provided minimal clarification. It appears to us that
the government’s consultation of its own bureaucracy has
been almost as limited as their consultation with the PSAC and
other bargaining agents. 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.
We have established a special Government Restructuring and Review
Page on the PSAC website. We are updating it as quickly and efficiently
as possible. We have 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.
The PSAC and its Components are meeting regularly to plan a coordinated
and proactive approach to the government restructuring and program
review.
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 appear
to have specific information on what is happening.
Classification
Question 5
The government announced that classifications will be
frozen. What do they mean by this? Is it even legal to freeze
classifications?
Answer
On December 15th, the government announced an immediate freeze
on reclassifications.
Government officials have indicated that the freeze will continue
until the end of the current fiscal year, and is necessary to
provide stability as the major organizational changes announced
by the government on December 12, 2003, are implemented.
In order to justify the government’s position, Treasury
Board takes great efforts to delineate the differences between
the reclassification of a position as opposed to the appointment
to a position.
It is the position of the PSAC that all of our members have the
legal right to be paid for the work they perform. Where a position
has been improperly classified, the incumbent is being paid less
than what they are legally entitled to earn. A reclassification,
therefore, is simply an adjustment in wage scales to bring a worker
to the level which accurately reflects the value of the work they
are performing. As such, we do not believe that any government
can simply decree that they have the right to underpay their employees
by refusing to adjust positions which are found to be improperly
classified.
At best, the the government appears to be sending mixed messages
on the re-classification freeze. The following series of observations
it has made on the issue provides evidence of the apparent confusion
on the issue:
• Employees participating in apprenticeship or professional
development programs where prior legal commitments have been made
are exempted from the freeze.
• There is an obligation to appoint employees in an incumbent-based
system once the departmental promotion committee has approved
the promotion case.
• If the appropriate departmental authority has formally
approved/signed off on the classification decision before December
16, 2003, it is within the authority of the delegated Deputy Head
to decide whether or not to make an appointment.
• If a classification committee met before December 16,
2003 and made a decision to reclassify a position but it has not
been formally approved the government is advising its representatives
that no further action related to this position or its incumbent
may be taken at this time. The reclassification is affected by
the freeze.
Question 6
What will happen to classification grievances?
Answer
The government says that reclassification process is not intended
to interfere with due process insofar as statutory and legal processes
are concerned. Because the employer is bound to comply with the
legal obligations related to classification grievances stipulated
in the Public Service Staff Relations Act, reclassifications that
result from classification grievances are exempt from the freeze.
Question 7
What will happen to the classifications of members who
are being transferred from an agency to a department under the
auspices of Treasury Board?
Answer
We don’t know the answer to this question as of yet. Clearly
there are problems associated with the move.
Many agency members at similar classifications enjoy different
pay rates than their counterparts employed by Treasury Board.
There are classifications in the agencies that do not exist in
Treasury Board. Some members are represented by different bargaining
agents in the agencies than they would be at Treasury Board. Clearly
these differences are significant and will take a lot of work
to sort out.
Treasury Board has written the PSAC to say that employees transferring
from CCRA and CFIA to the portion of the Public Service for which
the Treasury Board is the employer will not be adversely affected.
The letter says that the employer is committed to the continuation
of their present terms and conditions of employment, including
classifications and salaries, as well as accrued benefits (i.e.
leave credits, recognition of continuous service and continuous
employment) subject to the transition period.
The PSAC interprets this to mean that members transferring from
agencies will maintain their present terms and conditions of employment,
including classifications and salaries and benefits that go along
with those classifications. We will continue to push for answers
to specific questions and will provide updates as the government
officials respond to our questions.
Union Structure
Question 8
The government has announced major restructuring. Will
the union be restructuring also to ensure that members are clearly
and efficiently represented?
Answer
PSAC and all its Components are working together to protect the
interests of all our members in the comings months.
To date, we have all focussed on the immediate impacts of the
announcements on collective bargaining and workplace rights.
The restructuring announcements will obviously have an impact
on the current Component structure and the relationship of Components
to government departments. Discussions will be held with the National
Board of Directors in January and February as to how we tackle
this complex issue, and ensure that our structure meets the needs
of PSAC members in the workplace.
Collective bargaining
Question 9
Will Collective Bargaining proceed on schedule?
Answer
No. Collective Bargaining is not continuing on schedule.
Originally Treasury Board and CCRA insisted that it would. They
have since reneged on their commitment and have postponed all
Collective Bargaining meetings until February. The employer is
saying that they don’t have a clear mandate to bargain.
The PSAC has voiced vigorous protest at this delay. Additional
bargaining dates have been secured for February. Our bargaining
teams have worked hard, and will do everything we can to accelerate
the bargaining process in order to secure good collective agreements
for all our members.
Question 10
Members are being transferred to new bargaining units
while collective bargaining is continuing. What has the union
done to ensure that their interests will be represented?
Answer
Here are the main ‘impacts' on bargaining for workers being
transferred from agencies to Treasury Board and what the PSAC
is doing about them.
The Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) came into operation
on Friday, December 12, and many PSAC members and others have
already received letters stating that they now work for and report
to the new Agency/Department. The creation of the CBSA will also
have a fundamental and far reaching impact on bargaining across
tables.
This reorganization has forced us to adjust our bargaining teams
and to assess the issues at each table over the next month. The
most dramatic changes are expected to be at our Treasury Board
Table 1 and our CCRA table.
Those transferred to the CBSA include:
All members in the Customs stream, including Customs Officers
and Inspectors, within the former CCRA (to be renamed the Canada
Revenue Agency);
Approximately 92 PSAC members employed by the CFIA;
Portions of existing Citizenship and Immigration Canada offices
in Canada that deal on a full-time basis with enforcement such
as removals, detention, investigations, pre-removal risk assessments,
hearings, appeals, interventions and war crimes and intelligence
Customs Officers on the PSAC/CCRA bargaining team are in an untenable
situation, since the CCRA as an employer will no longer address
Customs Officer issues at the bargaining table and Customs Officers
are currently not represented on the Table 1 Negotiating Team.
The PSAC immediately served notice to Treasury Board that we
intend to table the demands that are specific to Customs Officers
during the next face-to-face meeting between the government's
negotiators and our Table 1 negotiating team. As a result, the
government has agreed that Customs Officers and their issues will
be addressed at Table 1. The issues of the members formally employed
by CFIA will be addressed in the same fashion.
We will also convene a Table 1 caucus prior to the start of face-to-face
negotiations and invite the three CEUDA representatives on the
CCRA negotiating team to participate in the caucus and act as
a sub-committee of Table 1. One additional CEUDA representative
working as a Customs Officer in a border environment will be invited
to participate on the Table 1 Sub-Committee.
We will add one member of the CCRA negotiating team representing
the Customs stream to the PSAC/Treasury Board Table 1 negotiating
team. The member, to be named by CEUDA, will be appointed prior
to the start of the next Table 1 face-to-face negotiating session.
All three CEUDA representatives who were on the original CCRA
negotiating team were in the Customs stream (Customs Officers
or Customs Inspectors). They no longer have a role to play in
that set of negotiations since the CCRA will no longer address
any issues that are the responsibility of the CBSA. CEUDA/CCRA
members who work in areas outside the Customs stream will be represented
on the team by CEUDA President Ron Moran who has served as an
ex-officio member of the team and is now being appointed as a
full member of the team with full voting rights.
Similar arrangements will be made for members employed by CFIA
at the appropriate time.
It does not appear that the reorganization within the Coast Guard
and Parks Canada will require an amendment to the bargaining team
structure and process.
The government's reorganization took place during a strike vote
among our CCRA membership. In consultation with the PSAC National
President and the Presidents of both CEUDA and UTE, we have decided
to proceed with the vote.
Once the votes are counted, the National President Nycole Turmel
will determine whether the vote is indicative of the views of
members who remain within the CCRA environment. If so, and if
members voted for strike action, in the event of a breakdown in
negotiations, the National President will exercise her authority
under the PSAC's Regulation 15 and authorize a strike without
conducting a second strike vote.
Question 11
Will the salary rates of workers who were employed by
an agency be protected if they are transferred to a department
for whom Treasury Board is the employer if their wages are currently
more than those offered in the department?
Answer
Treasury Board has written the PSAC to say that employees transferring
from CCRA and CFIA to the portion of the Public Service for which
the Treasury Board is the employer will not be adversely affected.
The letter says that the employer is committed to the continuation
of their present terms and conditions of employment, including
classifications and salaries, as well as accrued benefits (i.e.
leave credits, recognition of continuous service and continuous
employment) subject to the transition period.
Question 12
The government announced the formation of a number of
new departments or agencies. Does the union support the formation
of these new agencies?
Answer
The problem is that the Union was not consulted, even though
it is clear that the various employers involved had a legal contractual
obligation to do so. In that respect the PSAC has filed a number
of Section 99 complaints with the Public Service Staff Relations
Board. The Martin government needs to know right from the start
that they are not above the law.
Having not been consulted, there may certainly be portions of
the reorganization that if found to be detrimental to the membership,
the PSAC will most certainly object to them.
Question 13
The government created a number of new agencies. Will
they be separate employer agencies like CCRA, CFIA and Parks are
currently?
Answer
No. Although the government is calling the new organizations
agencies, they are not agencies in the same way that CCRA, CFIA
and Parks Canada are. They fall under Part 1 Schedule 1 of the
Public Service Staff Relations Act and as such have the same legal
standing as departments in the Public Service currently hold.
Treasury Board is the employer. For the purposes of Collective
Bargaining members are represented by one of the four bargaining
tables. This is the case of the Standing Operating Agency that
has been announced for what is better known as the Coast Guard
(see question 3.) In this case the SOA is almost like an independent
department within a department.
Question 14
What steps have
been taken to address the needs of employees at Communication
Canada?
Answer
The government has announced
that it will close Communication Canada at the end of the fiscal
year.
The Government Services Union (GSU), the Component of the PSAC
that represents workers at Communication Canada, has met with
the employer and is participating in a national committee that
is working to ensure that as little job loss as possible will
take place.
Management at Communication Canada were surprised by the announcement.
To date they have told the union that between 350 and 500 workers
will be affected. Approximately 350 workers are PSAC members.
The National Joint Career Transition Committee, a union management
committee that works nationally and regionally to facilitate job
mobility across departments and agencies has met with senior representatives
of Communication Canada and has taken steps to set up special
job matching websites, training if required and any other steps
to facilitate cross departmental staffing should it be required.
The PSAC advises all members to meet with their Human Resources
counselors and their local shop stewards to ensure that all of
contractual obligations are being met. If they are not being met,
please alert the PSAC or the Government Services Union to the
contractual obligation being violated.
Workforce Adjustment
Question 15
Is the transfer from agencies to new departments and
from one department to another a Workforce adjustment?
Answer
We have no doubt that the transfer from the agencies to the new
department is a workforce adjustment situation, and that the government
has not met its obligations under the Work Force Adjustment Directive.
For this reason, the PSAC has filed Section 99 complaint (XXX)
under the Public Service Staff Relations Act to address the government’s
violation of the Collective Agreement
The transfer from one department to another may or may not be
a work force adjustment situation. In some cases the restructuring
that was announced simply administratively changed reporting relationships
to cabinet. This would not be a WFA situation.
In other cases it might be. The WFAA defines Workforce adjustment
as a situation that occurs when a deputy head decides that the
services of one or more indeterminate employees will no longer
be required beyond a specified date because of a lack of work,
the discontinuance of a function, a relocation in which the employee
does not wish to relocate or an and alternative delivery initiative.
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