|
FI NEWS : April 2001
President's Message
Well, spring is here and guess what has sprouted. There is another plan to reform the Public Service! What is different this time is that there appears to be involvement at the political level. I pray this time it is a Cabinet priority which may prevent it from suffering the same fate as previous attempts. The President of the Treasury Board in a recent newspaper interview set an eighteen-month time frame for the reforms to be put in place. I wonder what they will call this plan - PS 2003 or BUST. The Association has been assured that we will have a chance to express our views before the reforms are finalized. The corner stone of these reforms will be the Fryer Committee Report which is expected in June.
We have a new Public Service collective agreement. I hope by the time you read this article that your paycheck reflects the increased salary. We made a major breakthrough with regard to the payment of professional membership dues. It took over ten years to achieve, but we knew that we were right on this issue and that one day market forces would compel them to pay. We are another step closer to the employer recognizing us as professionals and the critical role that we play in a successful business. This recognition of our professionalism is very important for the future of our group.
As you will note in this newsletter, preparations for the next round of collective bargaining have commenced. While a three-year deal was tempting, I think your Negotiating Team wisely chose a two-year deal. They knew that negotiations were not going well for the CS and PA groups. Since accepting our tentative agreement in January, both groups have applied for conciliation and are preparing for strike action. The CSs have voted 87% in favour of a strike. Its was felt that the risk was too high that the pattern of 2.5% for the third year set by several small groups would be broken. May and June are shaping up to be critical as the conciliation process for these two groups unfolds. We will keep you informed as events develop.
Will UCS properly recognize the value of our work? This question still remains unanswered. We still cannot get access to data that is stable enough to analyse. Departments are still rewriting work descriptions and completing evaluations. We are trying to meet with Treasury Board so that we can ask for final data and begin to analyse how our ratings compare among departments and other occupational groups. Since Treasury Board seems reluctant to meet on this issue, I guess that answers the question whether all the work is finished. For now, we seem to be in a holding pattern on implementation but, in the meantime, we continue to assist members with their work descriptions. The part that is delaying the progress is a decisions about pay lines. The possibility of a single pay line seems to be fading. I would be very surprised if the Public Service Alliance accepted any model that does not have one pay line. It remains to be seen if a major battle commences over this issue. We hope to see several proposals for multiple pay lines within the next two months. I feel that these new models will lead to a solution which properly values our work. With major issues yet to be resolved, it would not be surprising to see further delays in the issuing of the Advanced Personal Notification (APN). Please contact the Association if you have any concerns about UCS.
With a new contract in force, I again ask you to respect the terms of our contract. Professionals respect agreements. Claim the contract benefits to which you are entitled! Remember each of us has a duty to fight for and jealously guard our rights which, together, we have worked hard to achieve.
Merdon Hosking
President
|
