News Release

December 12, 2003

Government restructuring blurs PS labour relations

OTTAWA - Announced government restructuring that accompanied the ascent of Paul Martin as the new prime minister has raised the level of uncertainty and concern within Canada 's largest federal public sector union.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is surprised to hear that the responsibility of collective bargaining has been transferred to Public Works and Government Services, and fails to see the logic of this transfer to a department with specific and unrelated responsibilities.   Since September 2003, the union has been negotiating with Treasury Board for a new collective agreement that covers about 90,000 public service workers.  

“Negotiations that began in September 2003 have been frustrating because the Treasury Board didn't have a mandate of any description during the transition from the Chrétien to the Martin government,” said PSAC National President Nycole Turmel.

“This transfer of responsibility has the potential to further frustrate the bargaining process and will inevitably have a negative impact on services to the Canadian public.”

As well, the implementation of the newly legislated public service reform has become the responsibility of a new agency called the Public Service Human Resource Management Agency, under the President of the Queen's Privy Council.   Treasury Board will now focus on monitoring the financial management of departments and the “program review” which has been a demonstrable failure in the past.

“This basically takes three important areas that were the responsibility of one department and splits them among three departments and agency, and they've done this without consultation with the workers and the unions,” said Turmel.   “It will create chaos in the federal public sector, erode accountability and undermine service to the Canadian public. Ironically, they call this ‘streamlining'.”

Turmel says the restructuring within many other government departments and agencies will deepen the uncertainty and stress already suffered by public service workers.   “It adds a whole new layer of work for people who, according to recent studies and surveys, already carry a heavy workload that has little to do with providing service to the Canadian public,” says Turmel.

The union has sent letters to a number of Ministers addressing specific aspects of the reorganization and will convene an emergency meeting of its Board of Directors in the coming week to develop a comprehensive response to the reorganization's impact on the bargaining process and service to the Canadian public.

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For information:

                  Joselito Calugay, PSAC Communications, (613) 560-4235