Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

International Women’s Day: Fighting for an equitable future

This International Women’s Day, PSAC recognizes the strength and resiliency of women each and every day. The global pandemic has disproportionately impacted women. This is a gendered crisis and we must continue to organize and take action towards a just recovery. A just recovery that addresses the intersectional gendered implications of the pandemic.

In the early months of the pandemic, women’s participation in the Canadian paid labour force fell to its lowest level in three decades. This ground will not be easily recovered because women are over-represented in the industries hit hardest by the pandemic. This includes the service sector; where jobs are often lower-waged, non-unionized and precarious. Women make up the majority of our frontline workers and this essential work has placed them at the forefront during the pandemic, putting them at greater risk of contracting the virus.

The closure of schools and daycares created additional hurdles for many women because they were more often forced to limit their paid working hours or give up work altogether to care for their children. This was further exacerbated for women from marginalized communities who face additional systemic barriers.

A just recovery plan must have a feminist approach that is intersectional. This means a Canada-wide affordable and accessible child care system. We have been fighting for child care for decades and we are at a monumental time to bring about this change. Women’s equality and economic independence depends on child-care. Last year, the government promised to create a national early learning and child care system. This is not enough. The government must lay out and fund a plan for universally accessible and high quality child care.

The women of our union have fought long and hard for equality and justice; and we haven’t let the pandemic hold us back. Through our actions and solidarity, we will break down barriers and fight for a just recovery for all. This International Women’s Day, and every day, we must keep fighting for an equitable future. Together, we have the power to create lasting change.

The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.

Phoenix damages compensation information

The Public Service Alliance of Canada has published the following resources regarding the Phoenix settlement. Please click on the links below for more details:

Government rushing Phoenix damages payment without tax ruling

Send a letter to Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Minister Anita Anand that Phoenix damages shouldn’t be taxed.

The Liberal government has shamelessly chosen the 5th anniversary of the Phoenix pay system disaster to short-change thousands of PSAC members on their compensation for years of pay problems.

Even though PSAC is in the process of working with CRA to review the taxability of Phoenix damages, the federal government has confirmed that it intends to ignore these efforts and issue the up to $2,500 for our members, on March 3 – with taxes deducted. Treasury board provided no explanation for their actions.

“The government still has time to do the right thing,” said PSAC National President Chris Aylward. “General damages should not be taxed, so we’re calling on key ministers to immediately intervene to fix this before payments are issued.”

The $2,500 settlement, even if taxed, is still greater than the five days of leave offered to PSAC members, but it represents a violation of the language we negotiated into the agreement. PSAC maintains that general damages paid to all employees for ‘stress, aggravation, pain and suffering’ and for the late implementation of collective agreements are non-taxable, as CRA has acknowledged other specific damages in the settlement should be treated.

“It’s a slap in the face to the tens of thousands of PSAC members who suffered years of pay problems, and then worked non-stop during this pandemic to deliver aid and benefits to millions of Canadians in crisis,” said PSAC National President Chris Aylward.

PSAC will pursue every legal route to secure the full compensation that our members are entitled to. This includes tax challenges that would retroactively see our members reimbursed should the payments be issued as planned on March 3, but our goal remains to avoid any time-consuming and complex tax disputes for our members.

“Phoenix short-changed PSAC members for years – the last thing they deserve is for the government to short-change them again,” added Aylward.

PSAC will continue to work to resolve this problem and updates will follow in the coming days.

The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.

FB bargaining: Chair named for Public Interest Commission

For the first time since the FB group was created in 2007, PSAC and Treasury Board have agreed on a chair for the Public Interest Commission that will be charged with providing recommendations in our contract dispute with Treasury Board and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

By law, once impasse is reached, a Public Interest Commission (PIC) is established to help the parties reach an agreement. The Commission is a panel of three – a chairperson agreed upon by both parties or, if no agreement is reached, appointed by the Labour Board, as well as nominees appointed by the union and management. The union and the employer submit briefs and explain their positions on the outstanding issues at a hearing with the Commission. The Commission then makes a report with recommendations to reach a settlement. Unlike arbitration, the Commission’s recommendations are not binding.

Impasse reached in December

Talks broke off in December when our team declared impasse over Treasury Board/CBSA’s refusal to address the key issues we’ve raised in negotiations. For more information on the matters in dispute, visit the FB page.

Now that the chair has been named and the panel established, we are in the process of setting dates to conduct a hearing with the PIC. We’ll continue to provide updates throughout the PIC process.

Take action to support FB members in bargaining

The original version of this article was first posted on the PSAC website.

National Bargaining Conference – PA, SV, TC and EB bargaining units

The National Bargaining Conference for the PA, SV, TC and EB bargaining units will take place from April 26 to 30, 2021. The event will be virtual.

The above-noted collective agreements will expire between June and August 2021 and the PSAC anticipates serving notice to bargain in the spring and early summer of 2021. The PSAC Centre has informed CIU that it is entitled to six (6) delegates to the national conference from amongst the different Occupational Groups represented by CIU. Delegate entitlement is broken down as follows:

CIU is entitled to three (3) delegates for the Program Administration (PA) Bargaining Unit which includes: AS, CM, CR, DA, IS, OE, PM, ST, and WP Occupational Groups;
CIU is also entitled to one (1) delegate (from the membership at large) from each of the following Bargaining Units: SV (incl. FR, GL, GS, HP, HS, LI, PR(S), SC), TC (incl. DD, EG, GT, PI, PY, TI) and EB (incl. ED, EU, LS)

Branches are asked to submit, via their Branch President, the names of candidates they wish to be considered for these conference delegate spots. The candidates must be members of the bargaining unit, must hold a Union Office (including shop steward), and will otherwise be committed and engaged in the Union. Branch Presidents are asked to send candidate names and their full contact information to joey.dunphy@ciu-sdi.ca no later than Friday, February 19, 2021.

Source: National Office Memorandum NO-12-2020 from Joey Dunphy, 3^rd CIU National Vice-President, and VP Responsible for Collective Bargaining.