Press Release

Ottawa, April 28, 2017 – Representatives from several public service unions reacted cautiously yesterday to the creation of a government working group to tackle the Phoenix pay system.

The “Working Group of Ministers on Achieving Steady State for the Pay System”, will be chaired by Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and comprises several cabinet ministers, including Finance, Treasury Board and Public Services.

Public Service Alliance of Canada President, Robyn Benson, said that “PSAC welcomes any announcement from the government aimed at fixing Phoenix. We appreciate that the government is finally taking these problems seriously, but we need to see some action.” She added that public service employees need a system that pays them accurately and on time. “We have yet to see a timeline for when that will happen.”

“This announcement is the result of constant lobbying by public service unions on behalf of their members,” added Debi Daviau, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. “In the last federal budget, the government failed to respond to our request to pledge $75 million to help fix Phoenix. While this is not new money, the $70 million per year for the next two years that they have now committed to Phoenix is welcome news. We will continue to make sure that they spend that money to fix the system.”

Union representatives will work closely with this ministerial working group on Phoenix and will remind the government that it must compensate affected employees for pain and suffering, and compensate them for loss of interest as a result of delayed pay.

According to André Picotte, acting president at the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, “the Phoenix fiasco is the result of plan that did not take the interests of the public service employees to heart.

For his part, Jason Godin, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers – CSN said: “We want to be positive and believe that this new initiative to settle Phoenix will be the right one, but we remain cautious. We still have new cases that pop up every two weeks, so it's hard to be very enthusiastic at the moment”.

Finally, public service unions also demand that the government commit to three things: hire more staff with full access to Phoenix in order to respond to the requests made by employees; hire permanent, not temporary, staff at the call centres who have the training and support to help our members and; keep the satellite pay centres open until all problems with Phoenix have been resolved.

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The 18 bargaining agents of the federal public service employees are:

• Association of Canadian Financial Officers
• Association of Justice Counsel
• Canadian Air Traffic Control Association, Unifor Local 5454
• Canadian Association of Professional Employees
• Canadian Federal Pilots Association
• Canadian Merchant Service Guild
• Canadian Military Colleges Faculty Association
• Coast Guard Marine Communications Officers Unifor Local 2182
• Unifor, Local 87-M
• Federal Government Dockyard Chargehands Association
• Federal Government Dockyard Trades and Labour Council (East)
• Federal Government Dockyard Trades and Labour Council (West)
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 2228
• Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers
• Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
• Public Service Alliance of Canada
• Research Council Employees' Association
• Union of Canadian Correctional Officers - CSN

For information:

Pierre Lebel, CAPE
plebel@acep-cape.ca
613-236-9181, ext 263 or 613-889-1027

Jonathan Choquette, PSAC
choquej@psac-afpc.com
819-773-2511

Johanne Fillion, PIPSC
jfillion@pipsc.ca
613-228-6310, ext 4953 or 613-883-4900

Katerine Desgroseilliers, CSN
Katerine.Desgroseilliers@csn.qc.ca
514-598-2163 or 514-265-4250

For Immediate release

OTTAWA, April 27, 2017 - The announcement today that the federal government will reallocate $140 million over two years to ensure federal employees affected by the Phoenix payroll system are properly paid is a welcome, if long overdue, commitment to fix Phoenix once and for all, says the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC).

"We advocated for a special $75 million reserve fund in the current budget, so this shows the government is finally taking the severity of our members' concerns seriously," said PIPSC President Debi Daviau.

"We're also gratified to see that the government has agreed to reimburse charges for tax advisory services incurred by members due to Phoenix problems. This, after all, is only fair," Daviau added.

"It remains to be seen, however, how effective the government will be in controlling payroll errors in the future,” she added. “We’ve argued for a long time that overreliance on outsourced services – including introduction of the Phoenix payroll software and continued reliance on IBM – programs government functions to fail. We hope the ministerial working group also announced today takes these concerns seriously.”

PIPSC represents some 55,000 public-sector professionals across the country, most of them employed by the federal government.

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter (@pipsc_ipfpc)

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For further information:

Johanne Fillion (613) 228-6310 ext 2303 (office) or (613) 883-4900 (cell.), jfillion@pipsc.ca.

Dear Members,

Since last summer PIPSC has been demanding that the government pay interest on late payments due to Phoenix. It is the least they could do for the hardship Phoenix has created. We have also called on the government to provide assistance for professional fees, like tax advice, that public servants have had to seek due to problems caused by Phoenix. We are hopeful that the government will respond soon with an announcement regarding this demand. This, after all, is only just and fair considering it was the mismanaged pay transformation project that caused these problems.

The government wants to assure us we are nearing “steady state,” but we know there are still many members with pay problems and others still reeling from the effect their pay problems have had on their lives.

After more than a year of living with the Phoenix pay system we are still in quite the mess. PIPSC leadership, stewards, consultation teams, volunteers and staff continue to hear from many members not in receipt of their proper pay. Many cases remain unresolved and we are doing everything in our power to help individual members with their pay problems and pressure the government to come up with a timely fix. We are also preparing to file a policy grievance as an additional measure to provide remedy to as many members affected by Phoenix as possible.

We are still escalating critical cases to the Treasury Board and Department heads. We urge you to contact your regional office to notify one of our Employment Relations Officers (ERO) if you are experiencing any problems with your pay. All our help starts with our EROs, so please identify your issues to us, even if you do not plan to file a formal grievance. They can lead you to help!

Better Together!

Debi Daviau
President

On April 24, 2017, the Joint Union-Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion launched an online survey to gather ideas to identify contributing factors to an inclusive workplace and barriers to inclusion faced by employees.

A link to the online survey will be emailed to all employees, including PIPSC members, who work in 30 Departments/Agencies (listed below).

The Institute encourages PIPSC members who receive the invitation to participate in this survey, which is open from April 24 to May 31, 2017.

The online questionnaire contains 5 questions and will take approximately 5 to 10 minutes to complete. If you require an alternative format (e.g. paper copy), please send your request to the Diversity and Inclusion electronic mailbox. The survey is confidential and the names of the employees responding to the survey will not be disclosed to management.

Your views are vital to help the Task Force define and establish the case for diversity and inclusion in the public service and to recommend a framework and action plan.

We are pleased that PIPSC Diversity and Inclusion Champion Waheed Khan is Co-Chair of the Task Force Technical Committee. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact him by e-mail at diversity@pipsc.ca. Representatives from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), and the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) are also represented on the Task Force, along with an equal number of management representatives.

By promoting diversity, unions cultivate a culture of inclusiveness and solidarity within our ranks and a positive outreach in the broader society. While gains have been made in creating a more diverse and representative public service, significant challenges remain in creating a public service that is representative of the evolving Canadian population that we serve.

Diversity and inclusion—these are the things that have made Canada strong. Let’s demonstrate that we are better together and do everything we can to promote our values of diversity and inclusion.

“Public service professionals serve all Canadians. All Canadians must see themselves included in our public service. PIPSC is proud of the leading role we have played in the establishment of this initiative. I’m counting on this joint task force to remove the remaining barriers in the way of our public service truly reflecting the diversity of Canada.”
– Debi Daviau, President, Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada

For more information:
PIPSC takes leading role in the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion in the Public Service
Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion
Task Force to examine diversity and inclusion in the public service
Name-Blind Pilot Initiative, Debi Daviau Interview on CTV Power play - April 21, 2017
Demographic Snapshot of Canada’s Federal Public Service, 2016

Departments/Agencies

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Canada Border Services Agency
Canada Revenue Agency
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
Correctional Service Canada
Employment and Social Development Canada
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Finance Canada, Department of
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Global Affairs Canada
Health Canada
Heritage Canada
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Infrastructure Canada
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Justice, Department of
Library and Archives Canada
National Defence
Parks Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada
Public Safety Canada
Public Services and Procurement Canada
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (civilian employees)
Shared Services Canada
Statistics Canada
Status of Women
Transport Canada
Treasury Board Secretariat
Veterans Affairs Canada