A number of present and former Black federal public servants have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Treasury Board for anti-Black discrimination.
We stand in solidarity with these Black workers and all Black public servants.
“We know that Black public service professionals experience discrimination at work and that’s why we support the objectives of this lawsuit and any other action that seeks justice and equity for Black federal public servants” said PIPSC President Debi Daviau. “I have instructed our legal counsel to reach out to the counsel for this lawsuit and explore how our union may be able to support this effort to end systemic anti-Black discrimination in the Federal public service.”
The class-action lawsuit argues that Black federal public servants experience systemic discrimination and specifically are excluded from career advancement and promotions.
The lawsuit seeks damages, the implementation of a Diversity and Promotional Plan for Black Public Service Employees related to the hiring and promotion of Black employees within the public service and new policy that would require the number of Black employees to reflect the percentage of Black people in the population, at a minimum. The lawsuit also asks for a compensation fund to address the psychological suffering and financial losses of past and present Black employees.
In 2017, the federal government released “Building a Diverse and Inclusive Public Service,” the final report of the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion. PIPSC actively participated in the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, which consulted with over 12,000 public servants and invested over a year in drafting its report. The government has yet to implement the recommendations of the task force.
“The federal government has acknowledged that systemic racism is prevalent in Canadian society and within government institutions, but it has yet to take action on the recommendations of the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion,” said Daviau. “It’s time to end anti-Black discrimination in the government’s own hiring and promoting practices.”