Pay equity
Treasury Board wants input on flawed regulations for a bad law
Treasury Board is asking for comments in an online form about proposed regulations to the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act (PSECA).
PSECA removed the right of federal workers and their unions to file pay equity complaints with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. There was no consultation with federal unions before it was included in the 2009 federal budget omnibus bill that was rammed through Parliament in just a few weeks.
Should members provide comments?
While the union is providing Treasury Board with its position, tinkering with flawed regulations to a bad law isn’t going to give our members what they need – an effective pay equity law.
PSAC members who want to provide their comments but are concerned about the complexity of the material on the Treasury Board website can email their comments through their union to PSAC’s Women’s Program and Human Rights Officer.
Consultation on regulations isn’t going to improve a bad law
The latest Treasury Board proposals do not address the problems the unions originally identified almost three years ago.
Consultation on the PSECA regulations first started in 2010, after the Bill had been passed. Even the process was flawed. Unions were provided with the proposed policy documents at the last minute before the consultation meetings. Comments from the PSAC and other unions that were provided several months before the consultation meetings were not acknowledged.
PSECA is not a proactive, effective pay equity law
PSECA was the Conservative government’s answer to calls for a federal proactive pay equity law – one that would oblige employers to provide equal pay for work of equal value rather than forcing women and their unions through extensive Tribunal hearings and prolonged court battles.
PSECA
- denies pay equity as a human right,
- denies women in the federal public sector access to the Canadian Human Rights Act in order to achieve pay equity,
- allows pay equity to be negotiated away at the bargaining table, and
- forces women to file individual complaints and legally prevents them from getting any help from their union throughout the complicated process.
Date Modified : 2013/02/26
