Fellow members,

Next week, June 11-17, is National Public Service Week (NPSW). Since 1992 it’s been an occasion to recognize and celebrate the contributions Canada’s public service professionals make to society. The Professional Institute supports this celebration of our members’ accomplishments. In fact, we first proposed it.

Given, however, the many, still-unresolved problems with the Phoenix pay system, we also feel it is vital we send a message to the federal government this year that failure to accurately and reliably pay federal public employees is no way to recognize them.

For this reason, we’re encouraging PIPSC members to wear a “Fix Phoenix” button next week. When you do, not only will you be helping us get our point across, you’ll also be discouraging the government from continuing to outsource work best performed internally – such as processing your pay – to large multinationals like IBM.

“Fix Phoenix” buttons and other visibility items are available at bettertogether@pipsc.ca.

I urge you to join in this effort. After all, we’re worth it, and it is only by working together that we can help ensure the government fixes Phoenix once and for all.

Better Together!

Debi Daviau,
President

A new report commissioned by Shared Services Canada (SSC) shows that the Institute is right in highlighting the dangers of outsourcing in the federal government.

The report, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs and made public earlier this week, summarizes the results of consultations held in the summer and fall of 2016 with agency employees, their fellow public servants, industry representatives and the Canadian public.

In one of the report’s key findings, SSC employees directly linked the Agency’s well-documented morale problems with the excessive use of external contractors, the lack of internal career advancement opportunities, and staff turnover.

In 2015, a PIPSC survey of CS Group members found that 91% of respondents reported contracted-out positions were never posted internally. That finding – and others – formed part of a report the Institute released in June 2016 titled Programmed to Fail, which argued outsourcing is actually costing the federal money, jobs, morale, accountability and productivity.

The Phoenix pay system fiasco and the stalled federal email transformation initiative are unfortunate, ongoing examples of large multinationals undertaking work best performed internally by the government’s own technical specialists such as CS Group members.

The evidence against outsourcing is in – and mounting. The federal government should pay careful attention to the report’s findings and to the concerns expressed by key stakeholders before undertaking any further projects to modernize its IT infrastructure.

On June 1, 2017, the Joint Union-Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion presented a progress update to Treasury Board President Scott Brison.

The Task Force has a one-year mandate to define what diversity and inclusion means in the public service, establish the case for diversity and inclusion, and recommend a framework and action plan.

The update summarizes their work over the past six months and identifies areas for potential action. These actions include creating tools to ensure that diversity and inclusion are considered in making decisions and policies, better engaging senior leaders and employees on diversity and inclusion, and improving education and awareness to spur change across the public service.

PIPSC is proud of the leading role we have played in the establishment of this initiative. We would particularly like to convey our sincere appreciation to its Technical Committee Co-Chair, our own Waheed Khan, for his tireless commitment to the cause of Diversity and to this critical initiative.

“We need to identify and address systemic barriers that keep certain groups of talented Canadians from joining the Federal Public Service, and advancing to positions and levels where they can make optimal contribution to the health of the public service institutions, which is essential to serving Canadians with excellence. We need to develop leadership that is capable of, and committed to changing the culture of the public service to become more representative and inclusive. A public service that rewards talent, professionalism and dedication, and where the background, culture, religion and any other identities, are respected and promoted.”
– Debi Daviau, President, The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC)

The Task Force is expected to present its action plan in the fall of 2017.

For more information:

Progress Update: Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion in the Public Service

Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion in the Public Service

PIPSC takes leading role in the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion in the Public Service

Name-Blind Pilot Initiative, Debi Daviau Interview on CTV Power play - April 21, 2017

Demographic Snapshot of Canada’s Federal Public Service, 2016

“Today’s update by Deputy Minister Lemay indicates that the government has again failed to plan ahead -- this time for entirely predictable increases in the numbers of employee payroll adjustments needed to implement new collective agreements,” said PIPSC Vice President Steve Hindle. “The government’s plans for dealing with these increases and achieving so-called ‘steady state’ are based on employing previous and new staff, most of whom have yet to be hired. The government should have foreseen this challenge months ago. The number of pay transactions resulting from implementation of new collective agreements is only going to increase over the coming months.”