We have come to an agreement with the Treasury Board that all grievances will be suspended from March 20 to July 5, 2020, inclusively. This is a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our agreement is in keeping with the same suspension of activity ordered by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board on March 20, 2020, and is in keeping with the terms of our collective agreements.

Read the agreement

Your grievance will not be impacted by this extension. We will continue to work together to hold your employer to account. And the work on your grievance will resume as soon as it is possible.

This suspension ensures that members are able to submit any necessary grievances. The 25-day time limit to submit a grievance is also suspended. In some exceptional circumstances, we can proceed with your grievance according to the regular timelines. Contact your regional office staff for assistance.

These are challenging times and PIPSC members continue to deliver services for people across Canada. Union support is available to you for any challenges you may face in the workplace related to COVID-19.

If you need other workplace support, your local stewards are hard at work and can support you.

Grievances can be challenging at the best of times, and facing a suspension of your grievance as a result of the current health crisis is an additional challenge. We are all in this together. Please reach out to family, friends, colleagues, fellow union members and your Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) for support.

If the current crisis requires it, we may agree to an extension of this suspension.

Canada is losing billions of dollars in tax revenue to off-shore tax havens.

As a part of our fight to close tax loopholes, PIPSC participates in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative. Over 135 countries are collaborating to put an end to tax avoidance strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to avoid paying tax.

In March 2020, we provided a submission on the OECD Review of the BEPS Action 13 minimum standard based on the responses of thousands of CRA professionals to our 2018 Tax Fairness Survey.

Read the PIPSC submission

Though the BEPS represents a significant step forward, it does not go far enough and there are steps that should be taken more quickly. The OECD’s country by country reporting (CbCR) standards should move towards the Global Reporting Initiative Tax Standard to address data quality shortcomings. And CbCR reports should be made available to the public. We also believe the current threshold for CbCR is too high.

PIPSC Economist, Ryan Campbell, will represent members at the OECD virtual consultation on BEPS Action 13 on May 12-13, 2020.

We must close tax loopholes and collect revenue to fund the services Canadians rely on. We won’t sit by and watch rich corporations and individuals avoid contributing their fair share.

We are fighting for tax fairness.

The Ontario government has announced pandemic pay for front-line healthcare workers. Front-line health care workers are critical to the ongoing efforts to protect Ontarians and reduce the impact of COVID-19. Their sacrifices and dedication to service are remarkable.

The details of the program released provided examples of workers who will receive pandemic pay but it did not provide an exhaustive list.

We have written to Premier Ford asking for confirmation that our members who are working on the front lines in Ontario’s cancer centres will receive pandemic pay.

Read our letter to Premier Ford
We are proud of the important work of our radiation therapists. They are subject to the provisions of the Ontario state of emergency and are essential workers who cannot refuse unsafe work.

We know these members are taking all precautions possible, using personal protective equipment (PPE) and that they are being exposed to COVID-19 in their workplaces. It is our expectation that these members receive pandemic pay in compensation for the increased risk and demands of their work during this pandemic.

We will share the response we receive from Premier Ford.

Disability workers’ compensation, pension and lump-sum payments for a reclassification decision are generally considered taxable income.

This income is reported to the Canada Revenue Agency and must be declared when you file your taxes. Your employer, the pension centre, the workers’ compensation board, and the disability plan administrator will provide you with online tax statements. Most disability payments, including the Public Service Disability Plan, are taxable income.

It is important to review these payments carefully with your tax professional. If you have concerns about the amounts stated on these forms, you must contact the organization that provided the document. Your PIPSC compensation team does not have access to this information and cannot provide tax advice.

If you have received income from multiple sources – for example, from disability pay adjustments and retroactive payments because of a reclassification decision then you may receive amended tax forms at a later date. This is usually automatic. Often tax forms need to be reissued to reflect any corrections in amounts paid or the type of income. This might be the case for someone who completed a progressive return to work or who was accepted for workers’ compensation while also receiving disability payments. You may find it helpful to review your bank statements against the amounts reported on your tax forms to ensure any adjustments were properly reflected.

Your tax professional will be able to assist you with understanding the tax implications of these documents including tax credits for certain retroactive payments.

Members who experienced tax issues resulting from Phoenix will find additional information here

The Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP) will temporarily accept expenses for social workers and psychotherapists under the mental health provision.

This includes services provided directly by psychotherapists as well as social workers in all regions.

It’s okay to not be okay. This is a difficult time, please use all the supports that are available to you.

Whether or not you are covered by the PSHCP, most PIPSC members with federal, provincial or private employers, have access to an Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP). These programs also include mental health support that is easy to access.

We’re all in this together. Reach out to your family, friends, colleagues, fellow union members and mental health supports. We all need a hand sometimes.

If you have experienced a Phoenix-related overpayment after March 22, 2020, the repayment of this amount has been temporarily suspended.

This includes overpayment of wages, emergency salary advance or priority payment related to Phoenix. If you wish to repay the Phoenix overpayment, you may do so by contacting the Client Contact Centre.

If you have an existing repayment plan in place with the Pay Centre those payments will continue. These plans can be modified if you are experiencing hardship, please contact the Client Contact Centre right away.

The recovery of other amounts owing from routine pay transactions will continue:

• overpayments of less than 10% of an employee’s gross bi-weekly pay
• periods of leave without pay of 5 days or less
• overdrawn leave (vacation/sick) upon the termination of employment (for reasons other than incapacity/illness and layoff)
• cancellation of leave with income averaging agreement by the employee, where the leave has been taken
• amounts advanced on behalf of employees for union dues
• maternity/parental allowance, where the employee has not fulfilled their obligation as set out in their collective agreement or terms and conditions of employment
• amounts owed to public service health insurance plans, pension, supplementary death benefit or disability/long-term disability due to periods of leave without pay.

The recovery will also continue for overpayments associated with the termination of employment, end-of-term or casual contracts without further extension or renewal (from first available funds).

If your pay has been deducted for Phoenix overpayments, emergency salary advances or priority payments after March 23, 2020 – please contact our Phoenix Help Team for support.

Happy Earth Day!

PIPSC is proud to celebrate Earth Day, April 22, a day to celebrate environmental stewardship and to improve the symbiotic relationship we have with our planet. It’s a great opportunity to get some fresh air and appreciate nature, while observing physical distancing.

For the 100th anniversary of PIPSC, we wanted to give back to our Earth. Since 1920, PIPSC members have held an integral role in collecting data that has confirmed we’re facing a climate crisis. Whether it’s surveying the health of our forests, mapping the stars or protecting the vitality of our marine ecosystems, the services provided by PIPSC members are services that all Canadians rely on.

As soon as it is safe and the pandemic has passed, PIPSC will plant 100 trees across Canada to commemorate 100 years of progress!

This is an exciting opportunity for our movement to make an impact in local communities. You too can give back to the environment. Starting today, we’re inviting the PIPSC community to donate to Nature Conservancy of Canada and Tree Canada. Click either of these links to make a donation.

Pandemics are real. People are real. Jobs are real. Federal deficits are just a construct. Sometimes we forget. Hopefully this time we remember.

We are in the midst of a terrifying and historically significant crisis. To meet the challenge, Canadians have clearly voiced they want the government to use all resources at its disposal to protect them and reduce human suffering. Whether or not the cost fits into existing budget plans is irrelevant.

Containing COVID-19 and protecting those on the front lines is the top priority. But, it also means shutting down entire industrial sectors. Doing so resulted in 4 million people applying for Employment Insurance within a few weeks. These people need to be protected. In the short run they need income support so they can stay home, isolate themselves and prevent the spread of the virus. Eventually, when we come out the other end, it means sustained economic stimulus for years to come.

The immediate response from policy makers has been big, bold and fast. Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan outlines measures to support individuals, big business and everyone in between. There are flaws, naturally, but also an ongoing commitment to go further and keep people from falling through the cracks. Price tag be damned!

Public discourse about debt and deficits has changed in step with the development of these sweeping policies. Questions about affordability are rare and land as if they were beamed in from a different universe. The threat to the economy does not come from spending, it comes from not spending enough. The real human cost of inaction easily outweighs the cost of increased federal debt. The first phases of the response passed parliament with unanimous support.

In the alternate reality we all lived in a few weeks ago, critical questions would have seemed appropriate. If the finance minister had released a budget with a $185 billion deficit (8.5% of GDP), it would have caused an uproar from the opposition. The 2015 federal election was fought over which political parties would balance the budget and which would run a deficit in the range of 0.9 % of GDP. But that was a different time. Or was it?

It was not. There’s only one reality we live in and, in the last few weeks, policy makers have broadcast loud and clear which one it is. We live in a world where the responsible policy to meet the challenge is to spend whatever’s necessary. “Conventional wisdom” about debt and deficits is completely out of whack and seems petty in hindsight. It may be tempting to compartmentalize debates into two categories, before and after COVID-19, but it would be wrong to do so.

It is crucial that we not return to pre-existing deficit politics once the crisis is contained. There will need to be years of enhanced stimulus spending to ensure people get back to work.

During the 2008 financial crisis, a minority parliament agreed on a substantial fiscal stimulus package. However, shortly thereafter, the Conservative government began dismantling it. They aggressively attacked the deficit, restricting growth at a time when the economy needed investment. Estimates show that austerity measures in 2014-15 alone stunted GDP growth by 0.84% and resulted in approximately 90,000 job losses across the public and private sectors. All for the political goal of balancing the budget before the 2015 election.

Recall that to combat the early 1980s recession federal deficits reached this same peak in the mid-80s (8.1% of GDP). Mobilization during World War II required deficits almost three times as large (22.5% of GDP). The Canadian economy persevered.

After COVID-19 is contained, there will be economic fallout. In response, we need to protect the people who lost their jobs for the sake of limiting the spread of the virus. If we can’t tolerate higher deficits, these people will face very real hardship. We need to prioritize the real impacts of higher unemployment and poverty over the intangible costs of increased debt.

Collectively, we seem able to grasp the irrelevance of deficit politics during the critical moments in history, but then we forget. The job of the federal government is to do everything within its power to mitigate the negative effects of the impending downturn. Government has fiscal capacity to spend as much as necessary. That means providing swift, broad and bold support right now and prolonged stimulus spending in the coming years.

Originally posted on National Newswatch on April 10, 2020.