Letter to the Chief Human Resources Officer about the PSES (2)

October 18, 2018

Nancy Chahwan
Chief Human Resources Officer
OCHRO, Treasury Board Secretariat
219 Laurier, Ottawa ON K1P 5J6
By email: nancy.chahwan@tbs-sct.gc.ca

Dear Ms. Chahwan,

I am writing today as a follow-up to my October 15, 2018 letter about the most recent Public Service Employee Survey (PSES).

Since I first wrote to you on this issue, several of my members have contacted me to express their concerns over the need for clarity around some of the terms used in the PSES. I am sure you will agree that for Public Service Employee Survey results to be meaningful, questions must be presented in as clear a manner as possible. In this context, I would like to suggest that the 2019 PSES include definitions of the terms “senior management”, “staff”, “work unit”, “people I work with”, and “employees”.

Given that the government and bargaining agents both rely on the results of the survey to support their consultation work, I believe it is critical that the PSES be written in a manner that leaves respondents with no uncertainty as to the meaning of a question or the terminology used.

I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to our ongoing work together on issues of common interest.

Sincerely,

Debi Daviau
President
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada


10 October 2018
On October 4, 2018 I made a presentation to the Government Operations Committee of the House of Commons about the current state of the federal public service hiring process. This was very timely, as the government had just released its own study of the issue.

1 October 2018
On September 26, 2018 Member of Parliament Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP) introduced Private Member’s Bill C-414, which seeks to extend by one year the deadline by which employees of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories can continue contributing to their public service pension plans.

7 September 2018
I wanted to take the time to write to you with an update on your CFIA S&A Group bargaining.

29 August 2018
A new Bargaining Protocol has just been signed between the Institute and the Treasury Board.

15 August 2018
On behalf of all PIPSC members, I’d like to express our support and encouragement to our fellow members and all of those currently affected by the ravages of the forest fires in British Columbia this summer.

1 August 2018
I recently wrote to Michael Wernick, Clerk of the Privy Council, to express my concerns with his recent comments claiming it is difficult to fire public servants.