News release

February 19, 2003

Employment equity badly needed at DFAIT

Ottawa--The Prime Minister is being asked to intervene by a PSAC local on behalf of women working at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT).

The union published an open letter to the Prime Minister in the Hill Times to raise awareness about the situation affecting the female workers in that department.

"If you wish to be remembered as a champion of women’s rights in Canada," wrote the Public Service Alliance of Canada Local 70125, "we urge that you review this situation and ensure that all workers - be they men or women - be afforded respect and dignity in the workplace."

The union said that women form the majority of the 1,600 workers at DFAIT, but they are severely underrepresented among the high-ranking positions of the department.

For example, there is only one woman among the six ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries attached to the department; there are no women at the deputy ministerial level and only two women among the eight assistant deputy ministers.

"You will appreciate that if the contribution of women is not valued at the senior levels of the Department, it is no better at other levels either," the letter says.

For the union local, a true modernization of the federal public service should start with eliminating the glass ceiling which limits women’s access to a fair share of high-ranking positions. The union believes the Chrétien government should take advantage of the planned reform of the public service to ensure better employment equity.

The Office of the Prime Minister is required to review all ministerial and senior level appointments at the Department. All but one appointment cited in the article were made subsequent to the election of the Prime Minister in 1993.

Under the Employment Equity Act, the Prime Minister of Canada is duty-bound to ensure that all barriers to the advancement of women in the workplace, including organizational culture, are eliminated. The union local further charges that the Prime Minister must bear some responsibility for the departmental culture that does not allow the true value of women to be recognized.

For information:
Muriel Anderson, President, PSAC Local 70125
(613) 297-7325

04-060203