Collective Bargaining Messages

In light of the massive cuts that the government is beginning to implement across the public service, we are anticipating another challenging round of bargaining. This year’s bargaining theme is “What more can we afford to lose”? The wrecking ball represents the federal government smashing through a wall whose bricks symbolize key things that will be lost if the government has its way.

• The government must get serious about negotiating fair agreements with its employees, and must stop trying to make public servants the scapegoats for Canada’s economic difficulties.
• PIPSC encourages its members to stand up for the right to fair bargaining. After all, collective bargaining is a protected right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• PIPSC members have a long history of good-faith engagement with the government of Canada, working through difficult situations without jeopardizing the important work they do in support of the public good.
• PIPSC believes in the importance of negotiation. Negotiations must be conducted with objectivity, leaving employees free to bargain their working conditions without the government demanding that they sacrifice their economic future in the name of fiscal considerations.
• PIPSC members deserve fair compensation. The Institute seeks to negotiate wage increases and other improvements for its members. Wage settlements do not protect members and their families from inflation. A wage freeze is disrespectful of employees; it is, in effect, a pay cut that is equal to the rate of inflation.
• Severance pay is an important part of overall compensation packages. The government wants to end accumulation of severance on resignation and/or retirement. Severance provisions represent deferred compensation and help to close the gap between the public and private sectors, thereby assisting in the recruitment and retention of highly qualified public service professionals. PIPSC members are not ready to sacrifice these clauses without corresponding movement on the government’s part on other issues, such as contracting out or the toxic workplace environment in many federal departments and agencies.
• Institute members deserve better work-life balance and freedom from harassment.
• The public has a distorted perception of compensation issues for public servants. PIPSC wants to rectify those misconceptions. The public service is not responsible for the government’s mismanagement of its finances, or for the global economic meltdown. Institute members devised the measures that allow Canadians to enjoy one of the strongest economies in the world.