A report released yesterday from the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) confirms what we have been saying since November 2018 – Phoenix must be replaced and a new system can be cost effective.

Throwing good money after bad is not a viable strategy. Continuing to give money to companies like IBM to patch a broken system has to have an end date. Had the previous government listened to the advice of its own public service professionals, we could have avoided the Phoenix mess altogether. So much unnecessary pain and suffering has been caused to Canada's public service employees, and so much financial loss to all Canadians.

The costs of the current Phoenix pay system have skyrocketed due to cascading mistakes made throughout the outsourcing of the project development and rollout.

But looking at past mistakes isn't enough.

The government is currently in the process of identifying a replacement to the pay system and PIPSC is proud to be a leader in that process. We believe that if the new pay project is done free of ideology and in consultation with public servants, the cost will be reasonable. Although the PBO report does not factor in all that needs to be considered in new integrated HR-to-Pay system, it does demonstrate the urgent need for a new system.

We are pushing for the new pay project to move forward as quickly as possible and Treasury Board has indicated a pilot of the new NextGen HR-to-Pay system will be launched this fall.

I will be pushing the federal government to make a clear monetary commitment before the federal election so that work can continue on the NextGen HR-to-Pay project. Moving quickly on building a new pay system needs to be seen for what it is, a win-win-win situation, for public service employees, the Federal Government, and Canadian tax payers.

Better together.

Debi Daviau
President

It might surprise some people that PIPSC counts registered nurses among its members. Not Valerie Emery though – she’s one of
those nurses.

Valerie never knows what her day will be like when she walks through the door to work. As a registered nurse in the ER at Whitehorse General Hospital, every day is different. “In a 12-hour shift you meet many people that might have sore throats, broken bones, or a motor vehicle accident. The variety of the care that you provide to patients is what makes the job so interesting,” Valerie says.

Valerie has worked at the hospital for almost ten years, but has been in the ER for just over a year. Growing up she always knew she wanted to be a nurse. With her mother and godmother both being nurses, she knew what she was getting into.

“I feel very fortunate that I always knew I wanted to be a nurse, so right from high school I was able to direct my career towards that.”

Valerie sees it as a tremendous privilege to be able to take care of people. “In the emergency room, people come in and it’s the worst day of their lives. So just meeting them where they’re at and being able to help them through their crisis for the day…it gives me joy to be able to do that for them and their families.”

While she loves the variety of the work, juggling competing demands is also the biggest challenge in the job, “It can be very chaotic and you have to constantly change your priorities when new patients arrive in the ER," she says. "The person you are working with is not necessarily the priority anymore so you have to continually redirect your care.”

When a patient comes through the hospital doors, one of the first people they see is an RN who triages them and decides how urgent their care needs are. With only one or two doctors in the Whitehorse ER department, it’s often nurses who provide much of the care. Valerie worries about having enough nurses to provide patients with the safe care they need and deserve. “We’re pushed to our limits of how many patients we have and we’re just bare bones caring for some of these patients, I’m afraid. If we had more staff we could really, really give safe, quality patient care. We really need more nursing staff to give complete care,” she says.

Being a nurse in the North brings the additional challenge of not having all the services and specialists often needed to provide patient care. You need to have much broader skills, wear many hats, and be ready to move the patient to a larger centre.

“If a patient comes in to the emergency room and they’re having a heart attack, you may need to start communicating with your team right away to get the patient a flight to a tertiary care centre to save that patient’s life."

But for Valerie, she’s perfectly happy nursing in a smaller hospital and community. While studying nursing in Victoria she had the opportunity to do a practicum in Whitehorse. She took it and two years later made Whitehorse her home.

“Working in a small community you can be exposed to and move to many different areas, whereas I’d never be able to do that in a bigger centre. In my time here, I’ve been able to work in the ICU, the ER, the recovery
room and day surgery. You have so much room to grow in your profession.” 

“And I fell in love with the midnight sun,” she says, laughing.
 

On May 15, 1919, over 35,000 Winnipeg public and private workers united to send a clear message to employers and to governments: they would strike in order to win better wages and the right to collective bargaining.

Workers overcame cultural and gender divisions to organize and effectively shut down the entire city of Winnipeg for six weeks while maintaining key services. Women were at the forefront – among the first workers to walk off the job.

While the strike was eventually broken and many of its leaders were imprisoned or deported, it left a legacy of labour law reforms that redefined fair and safe work across the country.

We have a far stronger social safety net than those workers could have ever dreamed of. We have universal health care, minimum wages, old age pensions, and employment insurance. We have maternity leave, weekends, health and safety standards, due in part to their sacrifices. 

With a changing economic landscape that continues to threaten certain industries and create whole new ones, the key lesson from the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike must be for workers to overcome fear and division to unionize and safeguard their rights.

Canada’s unions are proud of the contributions they have made to raise the bar for everyone. We are committed to advocating on behalf of all working families – for universal pharmacare, pay equity, better pensions, safer workplaces, and much more.

But if history has taught us anything, it’s that we need every worker to stand up and be counted.

Read more from the Canadian Labour Congress as published in the Winnipeg Free Press and in the Toronto Star.

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is asking for our support. The current parliamentary session will end mid-June and the AFN is asking us to sign three crucial petitions.

When passed, Bill C-262 will be a commitment from the federal government to act in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Bill C-91 will create the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages to protect and promote the fifty-eight distinct languages and ninety dialects in Canada. Languages are central to First Nations’ identities, cultures, spirituality, histories, and self-determination.

Canada must address the thousands of First Nations children taken from their families and placed in government care. Bill C-92 aims to protect First Nations children by prioritizing prevention over apprehension and ensuring children are kept in their homes or communities whenever possible.

SIGN THE PETITIONS

President Debi Daviau has signed the petitions, please take the time now to add your support. These important pieces of legislation must be addressed before the parliamentary session ends. If not, this work will be lost and new bills will need to be introduced after the next federal election – a major setback on these issues.  

The United Nation’s General Assembly voted in 1993 to make May 15 an annual celebration of the International Day of Families. This day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase the knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.

In our own work at PIPSC, we are fighting for improved family leave at the central bargaining table that allows you to give your best at work and in your family.

We celebrate all the diverse family compositions that make our society so rich. At the central bargaining table we are specifically advocating for equitable leave for adoptive parents along with gender-neutral language that includes same-sex parents and non-binary parents. 

President Debi Daviau became a union activist through her own personal fight for family leave. Read more about her experience and our work on family leave in President Daviau’s opinion piece published in the National Observer.

Show your support for improved family leave by participating in or hosting a Do Better action in your workplace in May.

Take action for Family Leave

DATE – November 8-9, 2019

LOCATION – NCR, Gatineau, QC  

HOST HOTEL / MEETING LOCATION – Hilton Lac Leamy – The Hilton will be filled on a first come, first served basis, by the first 300 registered delegates. All observers and remaining delegates will be booked at the overflow properties, the Delta on Lyon Street, in Ottawa and the Hilton Garden Inn (on Queen Street).

https://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/quebec/hilton-lac-leamy-YOWOVHF/index.html

https://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/ontario/hilton-garden-inn-ottawa-downtown-YOWCDGI/index.html

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/yowdm-delta-hotels-ottawa-city-centre/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2

ONLINE REGISTRATION – May 9^th to August 9^th, 2019 – Once notified as having been selected to attend the AGM, all Delegate and Observer have to complete the online registration form. Please note that the deadline for registration will be strictly enforced.

Delegates and observers to the 2019 AGM will be eligible for the Private Accommodation Allowance of $50.00 per night, as per the Institute Travel Policy, Part F – Accommodations, 4.3, Schedule A.

If this is the option you intend to use, please indicate on the registration form as such under the hotel options (yes, no or private accommodation).

Delegate Selection Process

Group Presidents and Regional Directors must submit their list of approved Delegates/Observers to Julie Gagnon at jgagnon@pipsc.ca, taking into consideration the close of registration on August 9^th.  Group Presidents and Regional Directors will also need to advise us of their ancillary meetings early (for delegate registration purposes).

Once the lists are received, the National Office will communicate with each Delegate/Observer by e-mail inviting them to register online. Please note that Delegates/Observers will not be able to register until an approved list has been received from the Groups and from the Regions. 

All expenses incurred by Observers (travel, accommodation, salary replacement, all meals and incidentals) are the responsibility of the sponsoring Group or Region.

The number of delegates for the AGM is defined in By-Law 13 and in accordance with the delegate count.

Changes to Institute By-Laws

By-Law 13.1.4.1 states "No By-Law shall be enacted, repealed or amended by a General Meeting unless details of proposed changes were submitted to the Office of the Executive Secretary no later than twelve (12) weeks prior to a General Meeting." Proposed amendments to the Institute By-Laws must be submitted by August 16, 2019, by email at jgagnon@pipsc.ca.

Resolutions

By-Law 13.1.4.3 states "Resolutions, in writing, must be received at the Office of the Executive Secretary not less than twelve (12) weeks before the commencement of a General Meeting." Resolutions must be submitted by August 16, 2019, by email at jgagnon@pipsc.ca.

AGM resolutions are first received by the Resolutions Sub-Committee (RSC), which is comprised of the following members:

N. McCune – Chair and Chair BLPC

C. Roach - AC Director / Chair Finance Committee

E. Gillis – (COO & Executive Secretary, Staff Resource)

J. Gagnon – (EA to COO, Staff Resource)

The mandate of the RSC is to consolidate, monitor and clarify resolutions for submission to the AGM. The RSC is available to help and to provide advice to sponsors regarding wording to ensure clarity and compliance with Institute By-Laws and Policies. If there is a cost associated with resolutions (financial resolutions), sponsors should submit related numbers with their resolution, for review by the RSC.

To assist in the process of writing resolutions, please refer to the pocket guide “Write that Resolution”, found on the Web site at https://www.pipsc.ca/labour-relations/stewards/pocket-guides/pocket-guide-write-that-resolution or contact a member of the RSC.

As directed by the 2013 AGM, motions presented on the AGM floor will be prioritized as follows:

• Ones brought forward by the Board of Directors, Groups and Regions will be dealt with first
• Those brought forward by Branches and SubGroups be dealt with next
• Finally, those presented by individual members

Institute Fees

Pursuant to By-Law 14.2.1, which governs fees, notice is hereby given that a change in the basic monthly fee may be proposed at the 2019 Annual General Meeting.

2019 AGM Fact Sheet

Late last week, a subcommittee of federal public service unions and employer representatives reached a tentative agreement to provide damages to public service workers in light of the ongoing Phoenix payroll debacle. This tentative agreement was two years in the making. Today, the undersigned unions are pleased to announce they have signed on to this deal.

It’s important to recognize that this agreement in no way absolves the employer of its obligations to pay out any outstanding monies owed to the hundreds of thousands of public servants who continue to face issues with their pay, nor does it remove the employer’s obligation to stabilize the current payroll system and continue work to find its replacement as quickly as possible.

What this agreement does, though, is:

1. provide immediate compensation to every public servant represented by these unions; and
2. create a process by which additional costs can be reimbursed and additional compensation/damages can be awarded to those affected by payroll errors.

Specifically, this agreement:

• provides as a starting point, two (2) days of annual leave for anyone who worked in the public service in 2016-17 and additional one (1) day of annual leave for those employed in 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, for a total of five (5) days for those employed since Phoenix was deployed, regardless of if or how they were affected by Phoenix;
  • A day of leave shall be equal to eight (8) hours per day, or seven and one-half (7.5) hours per day where the standard workweek is thirty-seven decimal five (37.5) hours per week
• establishes a process by which those who are no longer employed in the public service but were during the timeframe above can apply for reimbursement equal to that amount of leave;
• extends the existing process for claiming out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result of Phoenix problems;
• creates a process for claiming additional costs including losses incurred as a result of having to cash in investments as a result of pay issues; losses associated with deferred RRSP contributions; costs associated with delayed severance or pension payments; or interest on loans, mortgages credit cards or other forms of debt;
• allows for the reimbursement of sick leave for members who took such leave because of Phoenix;
• allows for payment of interest on delayed severance payments and pension entitlements or missing pay;
• does not preclude additional damages being sought for claims alleging discrimination including issues related to maternity, parental or disability leave;
• allows for claims related to consequences of lost occupational capacity, lost security clearances, bankruptcy or significant impacts on credit ratings; and
• creates a process for claims related to mental anguish and trauma or other personal hardship.

We have also secured a commitment from the employer that should a bargaining agent secure additional compensation outside of this settlement, all signatory unions will receive the same compensation.

The ongoing Phoenix debacle is unprecedented in the scope and scale of harm caused to employees across the public service. While no amount of compensation could ever begin to provide full redress, it is our opinion that this agreement — in addition to the employer’s commitment to fully resolve outstanding pay issues and the steps taken previously to mitigate the impact on tax filing errors and defer collection of overpayments — represents a significant and concrete recognition of the frustration and anguish felt by every public servant.

More details on the implementation of this agreement, including timelines, will be made available in the coming weeks.

So far, the following unions have signed on to this agreement; others are expected to sign in the coming days and weeks.

• ACFO-ACAF
• Association of Justice Counsel
• Canadian Air Traffic Control Association
• Canadian Federal Pilots Association
• Canadian Military Colleges Faculty Association
• Federal Government Dockyard Chargehands Association
• Federal Government Dockyard Trades and Labour Council (East)
• Federal Government Dockyard Trades and Labour Council (West)
• IBEW 2228
• PIPSC
• Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers
• Research Council Employees Association
• Unifor Local 87-M

Compensation has been awarded to all members paid by Phoenix for the frustration caused by the failed pay system.

1. You will get 5 days of leave.
If you are a current member who has been working for the public service since 2016, you will get 5 days of leave.

If you joined or left the public service after 2016, your leave will be calculated based on the fiscal years in which you were employed: 2 days for 2016/2017 and 1 day each for 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020.

If you are no longer employed by the public service, you will get reimbursement equal to that leave through an expedited process.

2. You will receive all money owed to you.
This agreement provides additional collective compensation to members paid by Phoenix for enduring the frustration of Phoenix. You will also receive any outstanding money owed to you.

3. You will get additional compensation based on your individual case.
You will further receive personal compensation for financial losses, suffering and hardship that you experienced individually as a result of Phoenix.

4. Your employer must implement a new pay system.
Your employer must still stabilize the current payroll system and continue to work to find a replacement system as quickly as possible.

5. You will get additional compensation won by other unions.
All bargaining agents have been negotiating compensation with the Treasury Board together. You may have seen in the news that one of our sister unions has decided to negotiate for their compensation through a different process. Should those negotiations result in any additional compensation, it will be added to this agreement as well.

6. This agreement provides new processes for reimbursement of sick leave and compensation for mental anguish, trauma and personal hardship caused by Phoenix.
You will be able to file claims for your individual case. You can be reimbursed for sick leave used because of the impact of Phoenix.

7. The claims process for expenses and financial losses as a result of Phoenix remains the same.
You can continue to claim expenses and losses that are a result of Phoenix. This process will be available to public servants as long as there are claims being made. For interest on missed pay, various lost opportunities and claims for human rights discrimination or other serious harms, there is a $1500 threshold.

A more expedited process will be implemented to deal with claims related to discrimination for those accessing maternity, parental or disability leave.

8. This agreement provides an expedited grievance process.
You will now be able to file one claim for all of your issues with Phoenix. If any part of this claim is denied, it can then be grieved and the employer will issue one decision. The unions and the employer are working on developing a faster, more effective adjudication process to address outstanding grievances.

Our right to pursue policy grievances and complaints related to dues or the implementation of our collective agreements is not impacted by this agreement. This agreement will be applied to separate agencies quickly after Treasury Board signs off.

More details on the implementation of this agreement, including timelines, will be made available in the coming weeks.

This week, May 6-12, is National Nursing Week. We take this time to celebrate the incredible contributions nurses make to our public health care system and our communities. We are grateful.

We stand in solidarity with nurses across the country fighting for safe workplaces and to protect the public health care system that we all depend on. Take a moment to sign the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions petition calling for an end to violence in health care.

At the central bargaining table, we are fighting for pay protections, improved family leave and stronger anti-harassment measures. Nurses in our membership need these improvements to protect themselves at work and afford a healthy and sustainable work-life balance.

Show your support for our nurses and sign the Do Better pledge!

Sign the Pledge

“Public service professionals have been waiting for fair compensation for what Phoenix has done to them,” said PIPSC president Debi Daviau. “We will continue to work steadfastly at ensuring that our members receive every dollar that is owed to them, as is their right. Above and beyond that, we’ve secured this settlement so each and every public service professional gets significant and immediate compensation for the hardship they’ve experienced under Phoenix.”

All public service professionals represented by PIPSC will receive a week of paid leave in recognition of the hardship they’ve suffered under the Phoenix pay system.

The Union Management Consultation Subcommittee on Damages has worked diligently over the last 2 years to find a fair and practical solution to damages under Phoenix.

Further details are included in the following press release. 

“This settlement is a recognition of the damages that our members have suffered under Phoenix,” said Daviau. “We will continue to pursue individual cases of damages and the replacement of the Phoenix pay system.”