75th Ontario Regional Council - Director’s Report

In terms of unorganized government workers, this was a large group and perhaps the last out there of this size.

There are 45 RCMP members in the Ontario Region. The two main sites are Newmarket and London.

I am happy to say that 3 of the new members have signed up to be stewards

One of them wrote to me about the recent Steward Training…..

I have heard nothing but good things about the training session & the experience as a whole.  I'm glad to hear PIPSC is going above and beyond expectations for its members. 

Phoenix – the latest

Phoenix, which is Peoplesoft 9.1 software, is going to be replaced. It would appear that it was not up to the job.

Tenders have gone out for a replacement and the list is now down to 3 vendors.

One of the vendors on the list, is SAP.

SAP currently does the payroll for the Canada Revenue Agency – CRA and the Canada Border Services Agency – CBSA.

Recently, the government announced that they will entertain more than one vendor, which is a change.

For a relatively small amount, $1 million, a module could be purchased to allow the SAP system to “go the last mile” and pay CRA and CBSA employees.

My guess is that if SAP is not chosen as the overall solution, it will be chosen for CRA and CBSA employees. This would mean that CRA and CBSA could unhook relatively quickly from Phoenix.

For everyone else, there will be a system conversion.

My sense is that this will take several years until end state is achieved.

Phoenix – some facts

Had the Phoenix pay system worked, spending by the branch responsible for pay and pension administration would have been $80 million per year. 

Because of the Phoenix issues, the pay & pension branch budget was increased to $135.4 million in fiscal 2017, nearly $200 million in fiscal 2018 and the estimate for fiscal 2019 is $300 million.

This is $400 million above budget and it doesn’t include the costs for a replacement pay system.

When the system was launched three years ago, 550 pay administrators were on staff.

During the first two years of the rollout, 900 workers were added, some of who staffed up new satellite offices in Gatineau, Montreal and Winnipeg. 

There were funds in the 2018 budget, to hire another 200 pay experts, bringing the total to 1,650.

Professionals Canada

The 2018 PIPSC AGM sent the resolution to create Professionals Canada back to the Board and the Advisory Council for further consultation.

A joint meeting of the Board and the Advisory Council was held in February.

A Steering Committee with 9 members and a Task Force with 12 members have been established.

A report on the results of consultation will be delivered to the Board and the Advisory Council in time for the 2019 AGM.

Inaugural Symposium of Federal Black Employees

The inaugural symposium of Federal Black Employees was held on February 20 in Ottawa.

The theme of the Symposium was – Connect – Empower – Progress.

PIPSC Vice President Norma Domey, was a speaker at the event.

Loans to PIPSC members due to Phoenix issues

To date, 58 members have applied to the Institute for loans due to Phoenix pay issues

• 25 members were granted loans
• 33 members were declined or withdrew their application

Requests for assistance have decreased significantly over time.

CLC Triannual Convention

The CLC triannual Convention will be held in Vancouver in May 2020.

PIPSC will be sending a delegation.

Unifor and the Canadian Labour Congress - CLC

I reported to you last year that Unifor left the CLC in January 2018.

The stated reason was a disagreement over “raiding” of other unions.

Unifor wanted to take over (raid) the Canadian union members of International unions which they felt were poorly served.

The CLC has a policy against the “raiding” of other unions within the CLC.

Unifor has 310,000 members and the CLC has around 3,300,000 members. Unifor was one of the largest unions within CLC and its leaving will have an impact on the organization.

My sense at the time was that this might be a short term situation, but given that it has been over a year, it would appear that it will be a long term situation.

It is unfortunate. It is never a good thing when the house of labour is divided.

 

Peter Gilkinson,
Ontario Region Director