News release

March 26, 2003

Bill C-25 likely to sour labour-management relations

Ottawa - The largest union representing federal government employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) believes Bill C-25, Public Service Modernization Act, is not likely to help the Government reach its goal of more constructive, co-operative labour-management relations in support of a healthy, productive workplace, and may well have the opposite effect. “We regret to say that this Bill, if passed into law, will not bring the harmony in labour-management relations that the government has promised,” Nycole Turmel, PSAC National President, said in her submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.

The PSAC has a number of concerns with the proposed legislation, including the continued exclusion of staffing and classification from collective bargaining, the watering-down of the merit principle and the provisions on essential services and picketing.

With the new law, managers need only consider one candidate who meets the essential qualifications of a particular position. Bill C-25 will also protect managers by limiting the scope of possible challenges against appointments to abuse of authority and language of choice. “The PSAC fears that the new PSEA has the potential to usher in a new era of patronage, favouritism and a lack of accountability that is inconsistent with the Government’s stated objectives”, says Turmel.

The Union also believes Bill C-25 eliminates, for all intents and purposes, the right to strike in the public sector by broadening the definition of essential services and giving the employer exclusive right to determine the level of essential services required during a strike. “If the Government is serious about modernizing the Public Service, the change has to come from the top. Presenting us with legislation that forces us to react after the fact is not going to work. We would have appreciated a true consultative approach where we could have talked about the issues and tried to work out solutions together”, concludes Turmel. The PSAC will continue to apply pressure on the government to obtain major changes to Bill C-25.

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For information: Alain Cossette, Communications Officer, PSAC (613) 560-4317

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