Treasury Board agrees to negotiate better birth control coverage for public service employees

Fellow members,

After years of advocacy, the Treasury Board has agreed to negotiate the addition of non-oral contraceptives to the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP). Currently, only oral contraceptives (the birth control pill) are covered. Along with other federal public sector unions, PIPSC has long argued that it is discriminatory for oral contraceptives only to be covered under our health plan. The change announced today speaks to what it means to have women lead the two largest federal bargaining agents. Neither of us could let this wrong continue, and we worked together to get it fixed. Our members will soon be able to choose the birth control method best suited to their needs.

PIPSC is very pleased that this long-standing injustice will finally be corrected, as it goes back many years. In 2012, bargaining agents signed an agreement to cover non-oral contraceptives but former Treasury Board President Tony Clement rejected the deal, and instead unilaterally booked $7.4 billion in savings from the health plan.

This is the beginning of the righting of this wrong, and we will continue to advocate for monies be put back into the Plan and for coverage to be extended to meet our members’ changing needs.

PIPSC, along with other unions, is in the process of negotiating with the Treasury Board a host of improvements to the PSHCP. We will be surveying members on their priorities, so please stay tuned.

As always, please feel free to share your priorities with me at president@pipsc.ca.

Better Together!

Debi Daviau
President

Published on 27 October 2017

3 November 2017

Phoenix and the status of retroactive pay

We have received several inquiries about the impact of the Phoenix pay system on retroactive pay for members who signed new collective agreements this year.

27 October 2017

Treasury Board agrees to negotiate better birth control coverage for public service employees

After years of advocacy, the Treasury Board has agreed to negotiate the addition of non-oral contraceptives to the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP).

6 October 2017

Words to Live By

Radio-Canada and the CBC have reported this week that Phoenix was “doomed from the start.” The reason? The business case prepared in 2009 under the previous government “lacked proper risk analysis and was politically motivated.” In the words of former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page, “You look at this business case, you can drive trucks through some of the holes under the risk analysis.”

3 October 2017

PSPC releases latest Pay Bulletin

In light of the Phoenix fiasco and as part of a commitment made to bargaining agents to make it easier for their members to obtain information about their pay, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSCPC) has just released its Pay Bulletin for September.

2 October 2017

Institute files two new policy grievances over Phoenix

The Institute has just filed two new policy grievances on Phoenix-related issues, accusing the Treasury Board of failing to implement the terms of the AV and SP Group collective agreements within the specified timeframe (120 and 90 days respectively).

29 September 2017

The Phoenix Pay System’s Not-So-Golden Handshake

While much has been reported about the impact of the Phoenix pay system on current federal employees, comparatively little has been said about the harm done to retirees.