1. What’s PIPSC doing for members?
Since Phoenix was launched in 2016 dedicated PIPSC stewards, staff and consultation team members have worked tirelessly to:
• Help hundreds of members resolve their pay issues, file individual grievances, and submit policy grievances on behalf of all affected members
• Lobby the government to hire more pay staff in workplaces to resolve members’ problems faster
• Demand the government adopt a new pay system that works – ASAP
• Rally members to promote one
• Advocate that a new system be led by members of PIPSC’s IT community
• Promote members’ concerns to the media
• Mobilize members to take action online
• Provide loans to members especially hard hit
• Insist the government pay damages to all affected members
• Fight for better access to emergency and priority pay, an end to regressive clawbacks of overpayments, coverage for all out-of-pocket expenses, and prompt payment of retro pay – to name only a few.
2.Can’t we go back to using the old pay system?
The Harper government dismantled the old system and fired the pay professionals who managed it before the Trudeau government flipped the switch on Phoenix. This meant there was no contingency plan in place to address pay problems.
3.Why don’t we just strike?
It is illegal for any union or its membership to strike during the life of their collective agreement. Members who take illegal job action could be fined, disciplined or even terminated.
4. Why can’t we sue the government?
As a union, we have a legal contract with the government that stipulates how disputes are to be processed. By law, union members are not allowed to join class action lawsuits against their employer. Together with other unions, however, we are aggressively pursuing the Treasury Board for payment of damages to all affected members.