CHALK RIVER, February 21, 2022 – Members of the Chalk River Professional Employees Group (CRPEG), represented by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) are considering their options as conciliation with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) failed to resolve a year-long impasse over fair pay, job outsourcing, and working conditions.

The bargaining team entered into conciliation with the intent of reaching a negotiated agreement that recognizes the professional work of CRPEG’s nuclear scientists and engineers. The bargaining team is disappointed with the company’s last offer.

CRPEG President Jonathan Fitzpatrick said that “We kept Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) strong during the pandemic, and according to the company, exceeded their expectations. In return, when the increase in the cost of living is well over 5%, what the company is offering is effectively a rollback in wages.”

“Now more than ever, we stand united and we will continue to fight to get fair pay, improve working conditions, and prevent outsourcing of our professional work. The employer must do better,” Mr. Fitzpatrick continued.

CRPEG workers will be in a legal strike position at 12:01 AM on March 14, 2022. While the Group remains focused on reaching a fair deal without a work stoppage, the option of job action remains on the table.

Mr. Fitzpatrick stated, “We have been without a collective agreement since January 2021 and our nuclear scientists and engineers are running out of patience. They have given us the strongest mandate for job action – including a strike –  in the history of the Chalk River Professional Employees Group. Our members deserve fair pay and we are prepared to walk off the job site if that’s what it takes.”

Jennifer Carr, the President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) stated that the union's 60 000 professionals across Canada’s public sector, fully support the 700 engineers and scientists at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ Chalk River campus.

CRPEG members ensure the safe operation of nuclear reactors, and support safe radioactive waste management as well as environmental remediation projects across Canada. CRPEG members contribute to the health of Canadians through research on nuclear medicine.

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For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca

OTTAWA, October 5, 2021 — Auditors, forensic accountants, and other tax professionals at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) have had enough of wealthy individuals and corporations avoiding taxes. They want the time and resources needed to collect offshore taxes, according to the union representing them.

“The release of the Pandora Papers provides another disturbing window into the complex global commercial landscape that allows many wealthy individuals and corporations to look for a haven where the tax rules don’t apply,” said Debi Daviau, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). “We need more investment in the CRA, along with enhanced transparency, international cooperation and political will to ensure everyone pays their fair share.”

The Liberals committed in their platform to invest up to $1 billion per year in the CRA to combat this type of tax avoidance, and to work with international partners to implement a global tax minimum so that corporations can’t escape the taxes they owe.

“We urge the government to fast-track its tax fairness agenda,” said President Daviau. “Canadians are fed up with the shell game, and tax professionals at the CRA are firmly among them.”

According to an Abacus Data poll commissioned by the Broadbent Institute and PIPSC, 92% of Canadians support closing tax loopholes used primarily by the wealthy and making it harder for corporations to strategically book profits in tax havens.

“Tax laws need to be revised and tax professionals at the CRA need the resources to enforce them equitably. The new Liberal government promised to take this issue seriously, and the new Minister of Revenue should get clear marching orders in their forthcoming mandate letter,” concluded Daviau.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents approximately 60,000 public service professionals across Canada, including nearly 12,000 auditors, forensic accountants, and other tax professionals at the CRA.

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For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (cell), jfillion@pipsc.ca

OTTAWA, March 11, 2021 — Government outsourcing deepens gender inequity across Canada’s public service, shows a new report by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC).

“There are two worlds of outsourcing in the federal government,” said PIPSC President Debi Daviau. “In one world, lucrative IT contracts are doled out to a male-dominant industry that has notoriously struggled with gender equity. In the other one, temporary workers who are predominantly women are paid 21% less than what they would make in a permanent position doing the exact same work.”

PIPSC analysis shows that temporary work has increased at nearly 4 times faster than permanent staff since 2011. The majority of temporary workers are women, and they become trapped in a cycle of persistent temporary work, defined by low pay, few or no benefits, and high risk of unemployment and labour force exit.

Lucrative IT consultant contracts, however, are awarded to male-dominated tech giants like IBM, Veritaaq or Randstad. Only 2 out of 10 IT consultants in Ottawa-Gatineau are women, and they are paid about $13,000 less per year than their male counterparts. On average, members of equity-seeking groups are paid about $9,700 less when they work for the government as IT consultants.

Despite the commitments to building a feminist economy and despite the promises to control the runaway cost of outsourcing, the government has created a shadow public service that plays by an entirely different set of rules: they are not hired based on merit, representation, fairness or transparency; they are not subject to budget restraints or hiring freezes; and they are not accountable to the Canadian public.

“Outsourcing means higher cost, lower quality services for Canadians – less transparency, less accountability, and the loss of institutional knowledge and skills,” said Daviau. “Today’s report shows us that it also undermines Canada’s commitment to a representative public service. The only solution is to end the government’s over-reliance on outsourcing.”

Read the full report Outsourcing and Gender Equity here: https://pipsc.ca/news-issues/outsourcing/part-two-outsourcing-and-gender-equity

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For further information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (cell), jfillion@pipsc.ca

OTTAWA, June 5, 2020 – The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), is calling on the Ontario government to fix the glaring errors with their pandemic pay plan, and include front-line Radiation Therapists treating vulnerable patients in Ontario’s Cancer Centres throughout the pandemic.

“We are extremely proud of our radiation therapists working on the front lines during this pandemic,” said President Debi Daviau. They have been exposed to COVID-19 in their workplaces. They’re risking their lives — and the lives of their families.”

Just like other healthcare workers deemed eligible for pandemic pay, radiation therapists are subject to the same requirements of the Ontario state of emergency. They are essential workers who cannot refuse to treat patients who are suspected or confirmed to have contracted COVID-19. They are taking all precautions possible including constant use of personal protective equipment (PPE). 

The Ontario Hospital Association, many hospital CEOs, and employer and employee organizations have called for the pandemic pay to be expanded to all front-line hospital workers, but those pleas to the Ford government have gone unanswered.

“This isn’t just about the pay,” said Daviau. “It’s also a matter of respect and recognition for the critical services provided by these workers during the COVID-19 crisis. Cancer patients are a vulnerable population during this pandemic. The decision is beyond disappointing and upsetting for our members who have continued to treat at risk patients throughout this crisis. They deserve the same recognition as the other professionals in the hospitals who have been granted the pay.”

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents 60,000 public service professionals across Canada, including radiation therapists at Juravinski Cancer Centre, Walker Family Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook, Thunder Bay and Windsor facilities. Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.

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For further information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (cell), jfillion@pipsc.ca

A coalition of Ontario unions, coordinated by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), and representing approximately 270,000 employees and over forty different unions, announced today that they have filed a constitutional challenge to Bill 124, the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act.

Bill 124 violates the collective bargaining rights enshrined in the freedom of association guarantee of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

A growing list of public and private sector unions opposes Bill 124, with this constitutional challenge being a part of the Ontario labour movement’s broader campaign to repeal the Bill.

“Wages are negotiated at the bargaining table, not imposed by legislation. We are proud to stand together with other unions to protect the right to collectively bargain,” said PIPSC President Debi Daviau. “We will not let the Ford government attack our members’ rights. We continue to fight back.”

“Every worker in Canada has the right to freedom of association and to collectively bargain with their employer. The members of this coalition, together with the other unions who have already and will soon launch similar challenges, will protect that right,” said OFL President Patty Coates. “Opposition to Bill 124 will continue to escalate until the government repeals this unconstitutional legislation.”

Bill 124 limits compensation increases, including salaries, pensions and benefits, for millions of unionized broader public sector workers in Ontario to 1% for three year periods, a rate even lower than inflationary increases to the cost of living.

“Workers in this province are standing against cuts to public services in our communities and against violations of our rights under the Charter,” said CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. “There are more of us than there are of them, and we are battling this on every front, from MPP offices to the halls of Queen’s Park, rallies in the streets, and now to the courts. The Ford government created a crisis and is now looking for someone to blame, but we refuse to be their scapegoat or to pay this price.”

“This legislation interferes with the rights of Ontario’s faculty to bargain collectively, undermines the autonomy of Ontario’s universities, and will erode the foundations of Ontario’s important public services,” said Michael Conlon, Executive Director of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations. “OCUFA is proud to be part of this coalition of unions challenging a needless and unconstitutional law.”

“In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized that the freedom of association guarantee in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides constitutional protection for a meaningful right to collectively bargain, and for the right to strike,” said Steven Barrett of Goldblatt Partners, lead counsel for the union coalition.

The coalition of ten unions which first announced their intention to file a Charter challenge in December 2019 has quadrupled in size.

Workers affected by Bill 124, and forming part of the coalition, include those employed by the provincial government, crown agencies, school boards, universities and colleges, hospitals, non-profit long-term care homes, children’s aid societies, social service agencies, and the electricity and energy sectors.

By coordinating resistance efforts, unions have previously successfully challenged legislation that violates workers’ rights, including the previous Liberal Government’s Bill 115. The courts found that Bill 115 violated workers’ Charter rights, and it was ultimately repealed.

“Let me clear: the labour movement in Ontario is united in our opposition to this unnecessary, unfair, and unconstitutional attack on workers’ rights,” said Coates.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) is marking the 4^th anniversary of the troubled Phoenix pay system by asking its members to take action to stop plans to move RCMP civilian members onto Phoenix.

PIPSC is asking its 60,000 members to send an email to the Treasury Board President, Jean-Yves Duclos, the RCMP Commissioner, Brenda Lucki and the Public Services and Procurement Minister, Anita Anand, demanding that the transfer of the new PIPSC members to Phoenix be stopped.

“Despite our clear and repeated objections, the RCMP Commissioner still intends to move new unionized RCMP civilian members to the failed Phoenix pay system,” said PIPSC President Debi Daviau in a message to members. “We will not back down. We are calling all PIPSC members to take action now and make our opposition clear.”

There is no case for exposing more public servants to the serious consequences of Phoenix.

For the last four years, public servants have been underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all by Phoenix. PIPSC members are just now beginning to access claims and compensation for their financial and personal losses.

According to the most recent Treasury Board Public Service Employee Survey (2019), there was an increase of 4% from 2018-2019 in the number of respondents who say their pay has been affected by Phoenix – 70% in 2018 to 74% in 2019. Less than half of respondents report that all pay and compensation issues have been resolved (44% in 2019). A total of 182,306 employees in 86 federal departments and agencies responded to the survey.

“Enough is enough, there is no reason to add more pay issues to the backlog. It's time to put an end to this disaster once and for all,” concluded Daviau. 

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents 60,000 public service professionals across Canada.

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.

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For further information: Johanne Fillion, 613-228-6310, ext 4953 or 613-883-4900 (cell), jfillion@pipsc.ca

OTTAWA, January 27 2020 – The federal government spent over $11.9 billion on management consultants, temporary help contractors and IT consultants between 2011 and 2018 to do the work that could have been done by Canada’s own public service professionals. The contracts ended up costing the public twice their original price.

Shockingly, spending on IT consultants more than doubled – from $605 million in 2011 to over $1.3 billion in 2018 – totalling $8.5 billion in that time period. Seven out of every ten dollars spent on outsourcing is spent on IT consultants. 

“These figures are staggering. The government is choosing to pay more for lower quality services for Canadians,” said PIPSC President, Debi Daviau. “The highest quality, most efficient and least expensive expertise already exists within the public service. Instead of relying on the best public service professionals in the world, the government is wasting Canadians’ money on overpriced contractors.”

Over the years, IT consultants have shifted from serving as a temporary replacement or offering specialized skills to delivering a large share of fundamental IT functions. Outsourcing has eroded institutional knowledge, skills and expertise from the public service.

“Enough is enough. It should be easier to hire and train public servants than to pay a shadow public service that ends up costing twice as much originally expected,” said Daviau. “It’s time for the federal government to reduce outsourcing, as promised by the Liberal government in 2015, and to increase requirements for outsourcing.”

The Phoenix pay system best illustrates how fast costs can spiral out of control when an outsourced IT project goes wrong.

“Canadians cannot afford one more failed outsourced IT project like Phoenix. Billions of dollars can be saved if we invest in public servants. Those savings can be spent on projects that will make lives better for Canadians,” added President Daviau.

PIPSC will expand its fight against outsourcing by advocating for changes to staffing in the public service, reviewing the new direction on staffing, expanding the pilots designed to expedite staffing and finding new training opportunities for its members.

“The public services we rely on every single day are at risk of cuts and privatization. Each one of us has a stake in this fight against outsourcing,” said Daviau.

The full report, The real cost of outsourcing, is available here: https://pipsc.ca/news-issues/outsourcing/part-one-real-cost-outsourcing

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents 60,000 public service professionals across Canada. Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.

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For further information: Johanne Fillion, 613-228-6310, ext 4953 or 613-883-4900 (cell), jfillion@pipsc.ca

OTTAWA, December 5, 2019  – Debi Daviau, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) presented the 2019 Institute’s Gold Medal to Dr. Xiaolan Wang to recognize her contributions to the understanding of climate change in Canada and internationally. Dr. Wang is a Senior Research Scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Dr. Wang’s research seeks to understand the past, current and future behaviour of regional and global climate. Now used by scientists in more than 50 countries, her statistical methods and user-friendly software have changed the way scientists assess climate trends.

“Dr. Wang is an example of the role model that the Institute’s Gold Medal is intended to honour. She is a visionary in the field of climate change research and is held in very high regard in Canada and internationally,” commented President Daviau.

“The tremendous contribution that dedicated professionals like Dr. Wang make to the public good confirms that the federal government has a unique role to play in scientific research. The federal government is responsible for creating and maintaining a climate in which fruitful research can take place and flourish.”

“The work needs to be done in a systematic and sustained manner, and it needs long-term commitment,” explained Dr. Wang. “Without a consistent data process conducted by skilled scientists, artificial data would slip through the cracks and drastically alter our knowledge about climate change.”

“Scientific research is a critical component of our success as a society – whether it is our ability to protect the health and safety of our fellow citizens, preserve our environment, or ensure future economic prosperity,” added Daviau.

Dr. Wang played an important role in Canada’s Changing Climate Report released earlier this year. Canada’s climate is warming more rapidly than the global average and will continue to do so. The report helps illustrate that climate change is real and driven by human activity.

The Professional Institute established the Gold Medal Award program in 1937 to recognize professional public service employees whose outstanding work has led to the improvement and enhancement of public well-being. The program promotes greater awareness of the role and value of professional public services in Canada and globally. 

The 2019 Gold Medal was presented at PIPSC 100^th annual general meeting at the Hilton Lac Leamy Conference Centre in Gatineau, Que., on Nov. 8-9. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents 60,000 public service professionals across Canada. Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.

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For further information: Johanne Fillion, 613-228-6310, ext 4953 or 613-883-4900 (cell), jfillion@pipsc.ca

NOTE: The award presentation is available on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5MnVA7vU6E&feature=youtu.be