REPORT OF THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Presented to the 100th Annual General Meeting
A strong start to our second century
The Institute celebrates its 100th anniversary on a strong footing. We have the largest number of members in our history. We have replenished our reserves. We have made strategic investments to strengthen our member services.
And the results are clear.
We negotiated good deals for 14 of our groups and will fight for a fair deal for our remaining groups, including the CS Group. In this round of bargaining, our new strategy to create a central table resulted in a fair general economic increase, plus breakthroughs on important social issues such as family leave, harassment, and support for victims and survivors of domestic violence.
We have succeeded in convincing the government to nix Phoenix and replace it with a payroll system that works. Just as importantly, we have ensured that Canadians and their elected representatives make the connection between Phoenix and outsourcing. That’s how we’ve secured the role of public service professionals and their union in the replacement of the payroll system.
We have made a major settlement on Phoenix, securing a full week of paid leave for all members and a new claims system to ensure speedy recovery of the money lost for those members who were financially impacted.
We’ve continued to make progress on our policy priorities. We’ve built on our fight against over-reliance on outsourcing by grieving incorrect contracting. Model policies on scientific integrity are being adopted across departments. We’ve issued three major reports on tax fairness.
It’s because of these and many other successes that our members are increasingly satisfied with their union. In this year’s membership survey, 81% of PIPSC members expressed their satisfaction. That is a 14% increase since 2013, the first time we began tracking member satisfaction with the union. Members describe their union as professional, fair, approachable, accessible and effective.
These are certainly great results for our union and a strong start to our second century. But we cannot lose sight of the challenges ahead. We live in uncertain times where politics, technology and the changing nature of work can pose significant if not existential threats against our long-term sustainability as a union. Being forward-looking has ensured our success in the first century of PIPSC. We’ve done well, by doing good. We must take the same approach as we enter our second century.
To that end, we’ve already begun working with like-minded unions in studying the impact of artificial intelligence on the professions we represent, to protect our members’ jobs and ensure their continued success in a world of changing technology.
We have also proposed the creation of Professionals Canada, a new type of labour organization aimed at professionals in precarious jobs. Our year-long consultations with labour leaders inside and outside of PIPSC indicate that from many perspectives, Professionals Canada is the right proposal for our union. Why? On social justice: because Professionals Canada would help our fellow professionals address their common challenges through a community that takes collective action. On influence: because uniting PIPSC professionals with precarious professionals would strengthen us all. And on revenues: because bringing precarious professionals into our community will provide us with another source of revenue as we face an onslaught of challenges against our hard-won rights.
As we begin our second century, I’m proud of the work we’ve done together to build a strong union with a solid foundation, a union that gets results for our members, and a union that faces tomorrow’s challenges with bold and innovative solutions.