Fellow members,

We have received several inquiries about the impact of the Phoenix pay system on retroactive pay for members who signed new collective agreements this year.

The government is in no position – despite its previous commitments to the contrary – to guarantee that full, accurate retroactive pay will be paid on time for its employees, including those represented by the Institute.

In response, PIPSC has filed 3 policy grievances on Phoenix-related issues, accusing the Treasury Board of failing to implement the terms of the AV, RE and SP Group collective agreements within the specified time frames. This includes but is not necessarily limited to the implementation of our members’ Annual Rates of Pay.

In these grievances, we are asking the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB) to order the Treasury Board to immediately implement the terms of the AV, RE and SP collective agreements, and to compensate employees for all losses, financial or otherwise, resulting from the breach of the agreements. We will be filing other similar policy grievances given that the Treasury Board will also not meet the upcoming deadlines for the CS and SH agreements. Once their respective deadlines have passed, the Treasury Board will be in violation of these collective agreements and PIPSC will proceed with the filing of further policy grievances.

We also recommend members affected by the Phoenix debacle file individual grievances in support of the policy grievances if they have not been successful in getting action on their pay issues so far. Please review the process outlined at http://www.pipsc.ca/news-issues/phoenix-pay-system first, then talk to your local steward about your situation.

We will continue to update you regularly on this critical issue.

Better Together!

Debi Daviau,
President

Over the past year, PIPSC has taken many actions to oppose Bill C-27, which would allow federally regulated employers to convert secure defined-benefit pensions into target benefit plans. We’ve advocated that Bill C-27 should not go forward, arguing that it constitutes a dangerous attack on the security of current and future retirees’ incomes. Pension benefits are deferred compensation, and employees have already provided their services in exchange for compensation during retirement years. Although the Bill would not directly impact most federal public sector workers, it sets a dangerous precedent for doing so in the future. Shortly after it was introduced, President Daviau wrote to the Minister of Finance expressing PIPSC’s opposition and we launched our own member-driven postcard campaign opposing the Bill.

In the last few weeks we have seen a lot of renewed coverage about pensions – and about Bill C-27. Questions concerning the Finance Minister’s holdings in Morneau Sheppell, his family’s pension consulting firm, have raised concerns about a perceived conflict of interest. We hope that these revelations, along with renewed debate about the Bill, mean the government will not be proceeding with C-27.

We will of course continue to vigorously oppose Bill C-27 and look for opportunities to instead strengthen the retirement security of our members and all Canadians.