N^o26

September 1, 1998

PSAC/TREASURY BOARD PAY EQUITY DISCUSSIONS - SEPTEMBER 1998

When announcing its appeal of the Human Rights Tribunal pay equity decision, Treasury Board President, Marcel Massé, indicated that his government would:

• Table a pay equity proposal to the PSAC during negotiations the week of September 14, 1998.

• Request a meeting with the PSAC to discuss the government's $1.3 B pay equity offer that was originally tabled in July/August 1997.

The PSAC's initial response was to advise the government that it has a legal obligation to meet with us to discuss implementation of the Human Rights Tribunal decision. And, further that we would not meet again to discuss the $1.3 B offer.

By letter received on August 31^st, Treasury Board Secretary, Peter Harder, advised the Alliance that:

• The government will discuss "ongoing pay equity adjustments" at Table 1 (CR, EU, ST, DA (CON)) during the week of September 14, 1998.

• The government will discuss "ongoing pay equity adjustments" at Tables 2 (HS) and 5 (LS) when those Tables next meet with the employer (tentatively scheduled for September 1998).

• The government will discuss "distribution of the aggregate sums of the payout" pursuant to Order 3 of the Human Rights Tribunal decision during the week of September 21^st. This meeting has now been scheduled for September 22, 1998.

In essence, while the government is trying to separate discussions of ongoing and retroactive pay equity payments, it is operating within the spirit and intent of the Tribunal decision by responding positively to our request for a meeting to discuss implementation.

While the PSAC welcomes the government's decision to meet, our position remains that we are only prepared to discuss proposals that respect the decision of the Tribunal. In other words, should the government simply table its 1.3 billion dollar offer, we will take further action to force the government to meet to discuss implementation of the decision.

The Alliance has no information on what the government proposes to table at any of the meetings scheduled for this September - nor do we expect to receive any until the meetings are held.

While Treasury Board President Massé may continue to irresponsibly leak bits of the employer's negotiating strategy, and while the press may report rumours, PSAC members should discount any information that they receive other than what we produce and distribute by way of pay equity bulletins, the web and media releases and conferences.