The classification system, like any large object, takes time to be turned around. That’s why the PSAC started many years ago to put pressure on the federal government to revise the system.
In 1977 the Canadian Human Rights Act recognized the need to correct wage discrimination by making it law that women working at jobs with equal value to those being performed by men could not be paid different wage rates. In order to correct this kind of discrimination you have to look at the systems which are used to classify jobs and make sure that discriminatory attitudes and values are not built into them.
Justice delayed
PSAC has long believed and fought for a revised classification system in the federal public service which would treat all occupations fairly. The pay equity complaint filed for the Clerical and Regulatory (CR) group in 1984 included an allegation of discrimination in the classification system. Initially, Treasury Board refused to address this allegation. However, four years later, when the joint union management pay equity study was completed using a gender neutral classification plan (the Willis Job Evaluation Plan), even Treasury Board had to agree with the Alliance that the whole system needed a major overhaul.
In 1990 the government announced its intention to produce a universal, gender neutral classification system. Ten years later, we’re still not there but we’re getting much closer with the Universal Classification Standard (UCS). Some of the delay can be blamed on the lack of resources the government originally allocated to a project of this size, although by now everyone recognizes that this is an enormous task. In the last several years, there also have been - and continue to be - numerous consultations and revisions to refine UCS which added to the delays. However, these changes are necessary to produce the fairest possible outcome.
Conditions in the federal government have changed dramatically since the original classification standards were introduced and even since the joint union management equal pay study was conducted. While UCS involves eliminating gender bias, it also means bringing all work descriptions up to date, taking into account how work is assigned and performed now.
You can’t turn back the clock
The 1999 pay equity agreement resulted in major pay changes for most of the groups and levels in the six female-dominated groups reflecting the value of the work being performed. These pay adjustments have resulted in a compression of the wage rates between some groups, e.g. CR and PM, AS, WP, IS. In other words, the salaries being paid to CRs at the higher levels are now much closer to, and in some cases overlap, the lower levels of some of these other groups. As a result, some members are asking to re-institute the former wage gaps.
Section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act was created to deal specifically with the historical and systemic discrimination affecting workers in female-dominated groups. Evaluating the jobs using a gender neutral system confirmed what the Alliance had suspected - jobs performed mainly by women were undervalued and underpaid. The pay equity agreement, based on the 1998 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision, corrected this situation. We can’t go back now and attempt to reinstate all the former wage gaps. This would simply be starting the discrimination all over again - something the union has a legal and moral obligation to refuse to do.
What we can do - and what is going on - is to re-evaluate all federal public service jobs, not just those in female-dominated groups. Using a gender neutral system means that discrimination will not be reinstated. But it also means that all jobs will be evaluated as fairly as possible, based on real content and real value.
UCS means change
Change isn’t always easy to accept but whether we like it or not, UCS will involve some very dramatic changes. The old divisions such as CR, AS, PM, GT, HS will disappear and new designations will take their place. As a result, we need to start thinking in a new way, recognizing that there will be new relationships and relativity between jobs, based on a fair evaluation of their worth. If UCS is grounded on the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, then all work of equal value, regardless of who is performing it or what group it is in, should be paid at the same rate of pay.
It’s not a perfect world…
but PSAC is working to make it as fair as possible
The Canadian Human Rights Act has allowed the union to correct historical injustices which affected the value assigned to work performed primarily by women. UCS should help correct other injustices in the current classification system and address the needs of our members in all of the existing bargaining units.
The Alliance is committed to:
- seeing that the plan is rigorously assessed for its capacity to evaluate all work fairly and equitably;
- monitoring the plan so that there is consistency across departments and regions and pushing for corrective action where necessary, including reassessment;
- ensuring that the plan eliminates discrimination as much as possible; and
- negotiating the implementation of the plan, including conversion rules, grievance procedures, and salary protection.
We can’t return to yesterday, but we can move forward together to achieve a classification system and rates of pay which are fair for all.