News release

October 18, 2006

Treasury Board once again blocks collective agreement at the Office of the Auditor General

OTTAWA - Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) officials have interfered once again in the collective bargaining process between the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s (PSAC) and the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) by rejecting an item agreed to at the table.

What prompted TBS intervention is an adjustment of the pay scale for one classification of Audit services employees, totalling about $80,000 for the entire group. The $80,000 represents about 1/1000th of the OAG budget. This is the second interference by Treasury Board during the current negotiations between this employer and this group of employees. The OAG requested a mandate to bargain in early May and did not receive a formal response until late in September, a wait of more than four months.

“Our concern is that, despite the union and the employer’s best efforts, anything we agree to in future contracts runs the risk of being turned down by TBS officials”, said Sébastien Defoy, president of PSAC Local 70153, representing 390 members at OAG. “We have a very cordial and productive relationship with our employer, but Treasury Board Secretariat officials are interfering in the bargaining process.  This is nonsense and must stop now.”

As a result, PSAC officials are considering other means to put pressure on the Secretariat to resolve this issue.  In spring 2004, when Treasury Board rejected a previous tentative agreement at OAG, the union went to arbitration and won an award that was even more generous than the deal reached by the two parties at the table.

At the heart of the matter is the Office of the Auditor General’s independence from Treasury Board Secretariat’s authority for such things as budget and collective bargaining approvals. The OAG audits TBS, but is in an unusual position as it must obtain TBS’ approval for its collective bargaining agreements.  “This goes right to the issue of the Auditor General’s independence. Getting this independence would make our democratic institutions much stronger than what currently exists,” Mr. Defoy stated.

“Reporting directly to a House Committee would be much more efficient for the OAG,” added Ed Cashman, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for the National Capital Region. “But both the Liberal and Conservative governments have been dragging their feet on this issue. The new Conservative government has promised additional powers and money for the OAG, and made accountability the cornerstone of its mandate with the Accountability Act.  In June 2006, our members had agreed with their employer to the contents of what was to become a tentative deal once the mandate was delivered, but instead here they are at a standstill.  We were under the impression that under the Conservatives the left hand always knew what the right hand was doing. This is clearly not the case under Treasury Board President John Baird’s tenure,” concluded Cashman.

PSAC Local 70153 is comprised of 390 members at the OAG, 150 of whom in the Audit Services Group and 240 in the Audit Professionals Group. OAG audits a vast range of activities of the Canadian federal government and three territories. This includes health, culture, the environment, finance, agriculture, transportation and scientific research, to name only a few.

For more information:
Pierre Lebel, Communications Officer, PSAC 613-560-5482

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