Fellow members,                                                                                       

I am pleased to report that yesterday’s federal Budget committed $16M towards the building of an alternative pay system to replace the disastrous Phoenix.

I see this as a glimmer of hope in a long two years of constant stress and financial worry for our members.  We told the government that our members had lost confidence in Phoenix. We told it to Nix Phoenix and they listened. We deserve better!

The project promises to engage experts and unions in the development of a new system. PIPSC will work hard to ensure that our own government IT professionals are tasked with building a pay system that works.  

The Budget also made significant investments in the current system, promising to hire more pay and compensation staff in the pay centre and within departments and agencies. While we know that more people are needed to make the system work, we are worried that the funding appears to be only for a year, and we  remain concerned that the bulk of these funds may be going to Phoenix developer IBM. 

When it comes to Phoenix, we will continue to keep up the pressure. We won’t stop until all of our members are paid correctly and on time – all of the time. 

Better Together!

Debi Daviau,
President

For Immediate Release                                                                                           

Ottawa, February 28, 2018 – Hundreds of members of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and other unions are gathering in Ottawa today to protest the inability of the federal government to Fix Phoenix.

The rally is being held from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in front of the government offices at 90 Elgin Street in Ottawa. Speakers include PIPSC President Debi Daviau; Robyn Benson, National President, PSAC; Chris Aylward, National Executive Vice-President, PSAC; and Greg Phillips, President, CAPE.

Budget 2018 committed $16M towards the building of an alternative pay system to replace the problem plagued Phoenix. “I see this as a glimmer of hope in a long two years of constant stress and financial worry for our members”, said PIPSC President Debi Daviau. “We told them our members had lost confidence in Phoenix. We said Nix Phoenix - we deserve better and they have listened”.

The project promises to engage experts and unions in the development of a new system. PIPSC will work hard to ensure that our own government IT professionals are tasked with building a pay system that works.  

Budget 2018 also makes significant investments in the current system promising to hire more pay and compensation staff in the pay centre and within departments and agencies.  “We know that more people are needed to make the system work so we are worried that the funding appears to be only for a year” explained Daviau. The Institute remains concerned that the bulk of these funds may be going to Phoenix developer IBM. 

“Although we finally see a glimmer of hope when it comes to Phoenix we will be working hard to keep up the pressure. We won’t stop until all of our members come to expect to be paid correctly and on time – all of the time” said Daviau. 

Other rallies are also planned today across the country.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents approximately 55,000 public service professionals across Canada, including 13,000 federal IT professionals.

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter (@pipsc_ipfpc).

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For further information:

Johanne Fillion

613-228-6310, ext 4953 or 613-883-4900 (cell)
jfillion@pipsc.ca

Finally we are seeing two long-overdue improvements to the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP): coverage of non-oral contraceptive methods and an electronic system for making vision care and paramedical claims.

Currently, only oral contraceptives (the birth control pill) are covered. Along with other federal public sector unions, PIPSC has long argued that it is discriminatory for oral contraceptives only to be covered under our health plan. The recommendation will go to Treasury Board for final approval and recommends the effective date of April 1, 2018. Our members will very soon be able to choose the birth control method best suited to their needs.

In addition, a long awaited electronic claims system will also be in place as of April 1, 2018. It promises to provide reimbursements more quickly and will be available through the web and a mobile app. 

This new system will be available for vision care claims, any covered paramedical service, such as massage therapy and physiotherapy, as well as some medical equipment and supplies. You must register with Sun Life to access this service. Please refer to both the health plan and Sun Life websites for more details, which will soon be released.  

PIPSC, along with other unions, will continue the process of negotiating a host of improvements to the PSHCP with the Treasury Board.

For Immediate Release

Ottawa, February 27, 2018 – “Our members have overwhelmingly said that Phoenix cannot be fixed and must be nixed; $16M to investigate an alternative to the Phoenix system is a good first step,” said Debi Daviau, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC).  “It is vital that any new system is built and operated by the government’s own computer systems professionals.” 

Today’s budget also saw a significant investment in the existing, problem-plagued pay system. The Institute remains concerned that the bulk of these funds may be going to Phoenix developer IBM. PIPSC is also disappointed that no funds were allocated to much-needed compensation or damages for the victims of Phoenix. 

“In fact, despite spectacular failures such as the Phoenix fiasco, which has left Canadian taxpayers on the hook for close to a billion dollars, this budget remains silent on reducing costly and wasteful outsourcing,” continued Daviau. “Though the Budget makes a number of commitments to ambitious digital service delivery improvements, for the sake of all Canadians we hope the government has learned from its failed IT projects of the past.  It must engage public servants, not consultants, in their design, testing and implementation.”

While the federal government’s latest Budget represents a step forward for gender equality in Canada by including commitments for pay equity and improved parental leave, and provides some much-needed investment in public science,  notably at the National Research Council, it still falls short of the Institute’s expectations on a number of fronts, such as reducing the government’s costly and wasteful reliance on outsourcing and ensuring tax fairness for all Canadians.

Major strides have been made to improve scientific integrity in Canada’s public service over the past few years, and this Budget continues with the government’s efforts to restore the scientific capacity within federal departments that was so badly damaged over the last decade. “The government is committing more funds to the National Research Council and investing in Canada’s scientific community,” said Daviau. “This is exactly what we have been looking for from the government for years. It‘s good for science and it’s good for Canada.”

Years of budget cuts have left our tax system in dire need of major investment. “While crackdowns on tax evasion and tax avoidance are positive steps forward, without long-term, sustained investment, the government will lack the resources to make a fairer tax system,” concluded Daviau.  

PIPSC represents some 55,000 public-sector scientists and other 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