Fellow members,

The Institute has just filed two new policy grievances on Phoenix-related issues, accusing the Treasury Board of failing to implement the terms of the AV and SP Group collective agreements within the specified timeframe (120 and 90 days respectively).

This includes but is not necessarily limited to the implementation of our members’ Annual Rates of Pay.

The Institute is asking the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB) to order the Treasury Board to immediately implement the terms of the AV and SP collective agreements, and to compensate employees for all losses, financial or otherwise, resulting from the breach of the agreements.

This past May, the Institute filed two other policy grievances on Phoenix-related matters. The first accused the Employer of continuously violating the terms of our collective agreements since the implementation of the new pay system. The second grieved the Employer’s problems paying disability benefits and maternity/parental leave benefits as violations of our collective agreements and the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA). Both grievances have yet to be heard by the FPSLREB.

These actions are in line with PIPSC’s ongoing commitment to help resolve once and for all the completely unacceptable problems caused by the Phoenix pay system and experienced by thousands of its members.

Debi Daviau
President

While much has been reported about the impact of the Phoenix pay system on current federal employees, comparatively little has been said about the harm done to retirees.

Many retirees have been waiting very long periods of time – 10 months and more – for their final pay, severance payment, or even for their pension payments to begin. These often represent very significant sums and have become a financial burden on those affected as well as a significant source of stress during a time of life transition.

These long-serving former employees have very little recourse available to them to help solve their pay and severance problems. The Pay Centre often tells them they are not a priority and that, as retired employees, they do not have access to the grievance procedure. They don’t know where to turn and, as a result, often try to resolve their problems directly through their various departments and eventually their Member of Parliament.

For this reason, I wrote this week to Treasury Board President Scott Brison to specifically urge him to make resolving the Phoenix pay system’s impact on retirees a priority – in particular, by assigning more resources to fixing such chronic issues. I will update members on the minister’s reply.

Better Together,
Debi Daviau