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NEWS FROM THE PIPSC PSPC NR SUB-GROUP
January - March 2017
Annual General Meeting 2016
Your sub-group was held its Annual General Meeting on December 8, 2016 at the Four-Points Sheraton hotel in Gatineau. Yves Cousineau was the keynote speaker, with Dale Hudson as an invited guest. Yves talked about collective bargaining issues with Treasury Board. While he could not discuss many of the specifics, he did indicate that the NR group is heading towards binding conciliation.
Greetings from Your New Executive
A new executive was elected for your sub-group at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). All the executive positions were filled by acclamation:
President: Adel Iskandar
Vice-President: Robert Porter
Treasurer: Robert Salvador
Secretary: Niraj Chandra
Member-at-large Timothy Ma
We continue to have a very strong executive, with a representative mix of engineers, architects, project managers and a landscape architect. Four members of the executive are PIPSC Stewards.
A warm welcome to Kostyantyn Frolov, our newest executive member!
PSPC Networks
Our secretary Niraj Chandra recently became a co-chair of the PIPSC Persons with Disabilities Network (PIPSC PWDN). This network is run entirely by employees, with strong support from senior management. The primary objective of this network is to improve awareness of disability issues in the work-place. It works closely with other networks and sometimes, the unions.
There are several other networks within PSPC that might be of interest to our members. Here is some basic information about these networks, to get you started on this path.
Employment Equity and Diversity Network
Manager: Julie Paquette
Visible Minorities Network
Chair: Sonja Crosby
Pride at Work Network
Chair: Christine Forgrave
Manager’s Network
Director: Lise-Anne Léger
Vanguard Young Professionals Network
Chair: Jessica Higgs-Vis
All of these networks are supported by PSPC senior management, but run by employees. You may also want to participate in the living library, a fun group of people led by Claire Niedbela and Melissa Presz from the Blueprint 2020 team.
If you are interested in mental health issues you can contact our very own Gordon Bulmer, or the mental health Ombudsman Andre Latreille.
Outsourcing
As our sub-group members are well aware, the RP-1 contract to BGIS is the largest outsourcing contract in PSPC/PWGSC history for management of our buildings. Most of our buildings are now managed under this contract and all the work has been awarded to the same organization.
Some of our sub-group members has raised the issue of inadequate oversight of this contract with PSPC and as a result, some more controls have been put in place. The Technical Services sector of the Real Property Branch has put a dedicated full time resource to resolve issues related to oversight of this contract.
Time will tell whether these measures are effective but we will keep up the pressure on management on this issue. We also look forward to our sub-group members providing input to our sub-group on contracting out.
Collective Bargaining
PIPSC and Treasury Board has reached agreements with the AV, CS,RE, SP and SH groups while negotiations are still underway with your NR group, under binding conciliation. A common feature to all the agreements reached so far is a pay increase of 5% over four years; some bargaining units have negotiated more one-time benefits.
The sick leave issue has effectively been put on hold, so members can continue to avail of their existing sick leave benefits.
For more information, refer to the PIPSC web-site:
http://www.pipsc.ca/portal/page/portal/website/memberservices/representation/cb/cb_docs/03312017
Upcoming Events in the NCR
For your planning purposes, here are some important dates for the NCR in 2017.
April 28-29 NCR Regional Council
September 29-30 NCR Steward Council
November 2-4 NCR Advanced Steward Training
November 17-18 PIPSC National AGM
Phoenix
Phoenix pay issues have affected a disproportionate number of our members. If you still have outstanding issues relating to your pay, please contact Robert Porter who will register your problem and facilitate help from PIPSC.
PIPSC also recommends filing a grievance if you have a problem with Phoenix that isn’t being addressed in a satisfactory way.
Your Feedback
If you have any questions, comments or concerns please contact anyone on the sub-group executive.
We also look forward to your suggestions for lunch-and-learns, or any other type of event that would benefit the members of our sub-group. We’re in the process of planning one for June 2017 with the new PIPSC Employment Relations Officer, Bruno Hamel.
If your question is of a personal nature, please contact one of our stewards.
Niraj Chandra (niraj.chandra@pwgsc.gc.ca),
Cameron Smith (cameron.smith@pwgsc.gc.ca),
Robert Salvador (robert.salvador@pwgsc.gc.ca) or
Adel Iskandar (adel.iskandar@pwgsc.gc.ca).