Treasury Board

On April 12, 2013, Treasury Board issued a letter to all Heads of Human Resources and Chiefs of Compensation in federal departments and agencies regarding Records of Employment.  The letter states:“… the ROEs should be coded as code G (workforce reduction), when an employee leaves the CPA, under one of the following circumstances:

PSAC is calling on the government to recognize that austerity isn't working – Canadians have lost services they need and job cuts are hurting the economy. You can't create jobs and prosperity by cutting jobs and services.

Sick leave is a negotiated benefitSick leave provisions in collective agreements are a negotiated benefit for public sector workers who get sick; they are not a benefit for those who are healthy. Sick leave ensures workers are well enough to provide quality public services.Any changes to the current sick leave provisions are a matter for negotiations between the PSAC and the federal government

PSAC is ready to return to the bargaining table using the recommendations of the Public Interest Commission as the basis for negotiating a tentative agreement, your Union told Treasury Board last month.The recommendations of the PIC were released by the Public Service Labour Relations Board in mid-January. After studying the report, the TC Bargaining Team confirmed that it is prepared to use the recommendations as a road map to a negotiated settlement.

National Defence Minister Peter MacKay was in Esquimalt on February 19th - PSAC/UNDE members were there to welcome him, and to let him know that cutbacks and contracting out at the Department of National Defence affect us all. Here are some photos! UNDE - the Union of National Defence Employees - is a Component of the PSAC and represents civilian workers at DND

The PSAC is calling on the government to suspend HRSDC’s Integrity Branch house calls and reverse harmful changes made to the Employment Insurance system.Drastic government changes to EI legislation are hurting recipents, causing undue stress and putting EI workers at risk.

The federal government is closing nine Veterans Affairs Canada district offices across the country, leaving veterans without access to in-person services, including counselling, in cities across Canada.Offices will close on February 28, 2014, bringing the number of job cuts at Veterans Affairs to 400 since last April. The cities affected are Sydney, Nova Scotia; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Corner Brook, Newfoundland; Windsor and Thunder Bay, Ontario; Brandon, Manitoba; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Prince George and Kelowna in British Columbia.

We have had many inquiries from PSAC members about the new Family Day holiday in BC, which is coming up in February. Federal public sector collective agreements provide for 11 designated paid holidays, including a day in the opinion of the employer to be a provincial or civic holiday. Currently the civic holiday recognized by federal government employers is the first Monday in August. This means that federal public sector workers in BC will not be granted Family Day here in BC.Here is an example from the PA Agreement.

The Public Interest Commission (PIC) has released the TC report and recommendations, following the November 13-15 hearings.The TC bargaining team is now in the process of analyzing this report and determining next steps, namely whether the recommendations will lead to a return to the bargaining table, or if the team will ask members for a strike mandate.

On October 31, 2012, the Joint Learning Program (JLP) reached 2,000 workshops delivered. This represents over 40,000 participants from over 50 organizations, around 4,000 organizers, and 4,000 opportunities of facilitation.The demand for JLP has been growing The last 1,000 workshops were delivered in 30 months between April 2010 and October 2012. In comparison the first 1,000 were delivered in 40 months between January 2007 and March 2010. 297 workshops have been delivered in the British Columbia Region.