PSAC Pay Equity

Little progress to report on PSAC Statement of Claim for pay equity

It has now been three years since the PSAC filed a Statement of Claim, in November 2000, on behalf of our current and former members working for several separate employers under Part II of the Public Service Staff Relations Act.

The case was delayed by a series of unsuccessful legal challenges by the federal government to have the case dismissed.

The plan for the year 2003 should have seen the Discovery process completed.   Unfortunately, while several days in June were spent in Discovery, the process is far from over.   As a result of these meetings, both parties were required to provide additional information.   Because this phase has not been completed, the parties are applying to the Case Management Judge for an extension of the original timetable.   Information on a revised timetable will be posted when it is available.

In 2002, the union also filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) alleging discrimination by Treasury Board for not extending the pay equity adjustments to the employees of the seven separate employers listed in the Statement of Claim, as well as a number of separate employers under the Canada Labour Code.   The union filed the complaint to ensure that every possible avenue was being explored to achieve pay equity.

When the complaint was filed, PSAC asked the CHRC to hold it in abeyance until the Statement of Claim was heard.   We are still awaiting a decision by the CHRC on our request.

As indicated in earlier bulletins, cases such as these are not resolved quickly.   The union will continue to provide updates on the progress of the case when there is news to report.