PIPSC filed a policy grievance (in English) on Friday, May 13, 2022 against the Mandatory Vaccination Policy for all members of the Core Public Administration including the Royal Mounted Police for all members who remain on Leave Without Pay (LWOP) beyond April 6, 2022. As for all other existing employer mandatory vaccination policies that require review, we are monitoring the timelines. Policy grievances will be filed in due course.

The Treasury Board has failed to review the Policy for Mandatory Vaccination within the 6-month period as required by the policy. Together with other unions, we have called for a review given the changed circumstances surrounding the pandemic.

The employer’s failure to review the policy in the face of loosening COVID-19 restrictions is a flagrant abuse of management authority in the workplace. The Treasury Board has broken their commitment to review and update the policy.

Continuing to keep (or place) unvaccinated employees on LWOP beyond April 6, 2022 is an unjustified and excessive measure in light of the current context. 

It’s important to remember that PIPSC continues to support vaccination and the health and safety objective of the policy overall. However, given the shifting landscape of the pandemic, we believe the employer’s policy is now unreasonable. 

As it is generally the case when filing a Policy grievance, we recommend that members also file an individual grievance against their LWOP beyond April 6, 2022. These individual grievances will act as a placeholder for members to seek individual redress while we advance the policy grievance. Individual grievances will be placed in abeyance pending the outcome of the Policy grievance. Once the Policy grievance outcome is known, we can address any pending individual grievances as appropriate. Using the grievance template we have created will facilitate the filing and handling of your grievance. Should you wish to file a grievance, please complete Section 1 of the template and contact an Employment Relations Officer.

Note that if we are already assisting you with an ongoing grievance related to the Policy (accommodation request or other), it is not affected by the Policy grievance. Even if you have an ongoing grievance, we recommend filing a new individual grievance as described above to contest your continued LWOP beyond April 6, 2022, in the event that your initial grievance was not successful.

For those members working in separate employers and agencies that have identical policies, we are working on policy grievances and accompanying individual grievance templates that will correspond to each employer’s expected review date. More info will be made available as these are filed.

Please also review our Mandatory Vaccination FAQs as well as the Treasury Board’s Policy for Mandatory Vaccination.

Please contact an Employment Relations Officer should you have further questions.

Representation matters! Our latest webinar dives deep into gender bias in science and how we can continue to advocate for women in STEM.

This webinar asks the question: What are the gendered barriers to science today, and how might we overcome them? 

The webinar includes a panel discussion with our speakers, Dr. Emily Choy and researcher Jasmeen Sidhu, followed by a presentation on the Women in Public Sector Science (WIPSS) Network and a participant question period. 

After nearly a year of discussions (and 3 years of delays), the Treasury Board continues to reject forward-thinking strategies to upgrade the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP). 

The PSHCP is reviewed every 5 years. The Treasury’s Board’s opposition means more delays to the review process and that members remain covered by an outdated plan which hasn’t been meaningfully updated in 16 years.

While the Treasury Board has been open to discussions and some benefits improvements, they remain opposed to changes necessary to modernize the plan, deliver better results at lower costs, and meet the changing needs of members. 

This includes measures to direct money away from excessive drug costs, and toward things that actually make a difference to plan members. Most large employers including Bell Canada, the CBC/Radio-Canada, and the Ontario Public School system have introduced strategies to lower runaway drug spending without reducing access. These include independent reviews of certain high-cost drugs by specialist pharmacists, or partnering with mail-order pharmacies to offer lower prices on routine medications. 

On the flip side, the PSHCP continues to pay for most drugs whatever the price – resulting in a plan that prioritises pharma's profits over delivering comprehensive care.

Modernizing how the plan treats costly drugs means savings – and means more money for reinvestments in greater health coverage and member benefits.

We continue to work with our partners to ensure that this review addresses these and other changes that plan members are calling for.

The PSHCP is an employer-sponsored health care plan for current and retired federal public service employees and their families. Benefits for public service workers are not negotiable under the law, so PIPSC and its partners play an active advisory role during periods of review and bring forward your suggestions and concerns.

On April 4, 2022, we submitted a detailed and thorough set of comments to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) on the rules around pay equity complaints. All employees deserve the right to pay that is free from gender-based discrimination. Pay equity is also known as equal pay for work of equal value. That means if two different jobs contribute equal value to their employer's operations then the employees in those positions should receive equal pay.

The introduction of a new federal proactive pay equity legislation has been a valuable progressive step toward the elimination of gender-based discrimination in public and private federally-regulated workplaces. Although the Pay Equity Act and related regulations have been in effect since September 2021, there is a pressing need to design a set of flexible and effective rules surrounding pay equity proceedings before the CHRT.

We have carefully reviewed the CHRT’s draft rules of how pay equity cases are handled and developed a number of new proposals and amendments.

Read our submission

Our recommendations aim to set clear and transparent rules around how cases are handled and ensure that complaints are looked at within reasonable timelines. PIPSC also felt that having clearing rules around when refusals can be reconsidered was key to a fair process. We specifically propose several definitions of key concepts, clear rules for service and filing, as well as a new time calculation method. Our submission also includes new proposals on hearing adjournment rules, mediation during case management conferences and more reasonable timelines related to parties’ participation in inquiries to referrals. Finally, we propose specific procedural rules related to reconsideration requests intended to revoke or vary decisions or orders issued by the Tribunal.

We thank the Tribunal for this opportunity to present our views on an issue of significant importance to our members and to Canadians as a whole.

On March 29, 2022, President Carr, accompanied by PIPSC staff specialists Richard Gaboton and Sara Delaney, appeared before the government’s Task Force reviewing the Employment Equity Act.

The Employment Equity Act was intended to promote fairness, equality and access in federally-regulated workplaces by identifying and removing systemic barriers to participation and promotion for marginalized groups. We believe employment equity is an important tool to identify and eliminate systemic barriers for workers who face discrimination. It complements the collective bargaining and consultation processes to ensure fairness and equity at work.

After highlighting our ongoing work on this issue, President Carr outlined our concerns, analysis and recommendations to the Task Force about staffing and employment equity in the public service.

President Carr’s remarks called out the lack of timely and effective action from the employer on racism and discrimination in the public service. This is nothing new to many federal public service employees. A long-standing history of alienation among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) public servants need to be recognized and addressed.

The representation of equity-seeking groups in the federal workplace cannot improve in the current context. The Federal Government must take decisive and immediate action to finally create a federal workplace that is diverse and inclusive.

We are currently working on a second submission to the Task Force that will provide additional details regarding our members’ experiences and concerns on this critical matter.

1. Fairer taxation and Investing in the Canada Revenue Agency: 
PIPSC members at the centre of solutions

We have long advocated for increased tax fairness and investing in the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to go after tax avoiders.

Budget 2022 makes banks and insurance companies pay a little bit more through a 1.5% increase in their corporate income tax rate and a 15% one-time tax on taxable income over $1 billion. That will mean $6.1 billion in new revenue over the next 5 years through fairer taxation. 

The budget also provides $1.2 billion for the CRA over the next 5 years to go after tax cheats and close tax loopholes. This is welcome news. Properly resourcing the CRA to go after tax cheats has been a central demand in our tax fairness campaign. 

All told, action on a fairer tax system is budgeted to raise $16 billion in revenues over the next 5 years. To every member who took action, this win is yours!

Yet, there is so much more to do. While the government has made a new commitment to examine a minimum tax regime, we still have a long way to go to achieve tax fairness. It’s time to change the game – you can learn more about our work on Tax Fairness here.

2. Strategic Policy Review:
Must not impact the level of services we deliver to Canadians

The past 2 years have shown how vital public service professionals are to Canada. When COVID-19 hit, PIPSC members were ready. You quickly pivoted to working remotely while getting critical new programs running in record time. Public service employees worked on health services, vaccines, research, and keeping our food supply safe.

The surprise announcement of a “Strategic Policy Review” – with projected revenues of up to $6 billion – is a concern to all Canadians who rely on public services. 

We all remember Harper’s strategic spending review. The Conservative government cut services for veterans, people on EI, and so many other Canadians while going after the jobs of 19,000 public servants.

We have serious questions about this review. And we will ensure the review is focused on making government work better – not making the public service smaller. 

3. Mental health supports for Black public service workers:
A positive step, but more must be done to make workplaces equitable and inclusive 

Budget 2022 provides $3.7 million over 4 years for a Mental Health Fund for Black federal public service workers. The program will operate through the Treasury Board but promises Black-led engagement, design, and implementation. 

This is the result of the strong advocacy of Black members of the Public Service. PIPSC along with other allies support the fight for the government to acknowledge the reality of systemic anti-Black racism in the public sector. Action must be taken to remedy the systemic issues that create discriminatory workplaces.

This is a positive step forward, but there’s more work to be done to create more equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplaces.

4. Public Sector Pension Investment Board:
Workers getting seats at the table

Another positive step forward in Budget 2022 was the expansion of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board from 11 to 13 members – adding 2 seats for representatives from public service unions. The government has promised to consult all federal bargaining agents to establish a fair process for selecting the new members. 

Many of us were shocked to learn that our pension plan is the sole owner of Revera Inc – a company that runs long-term care facilities for profit. We don’t want our pension to make money this way. 

Your pension protects your future. You work hard now, and your deferred salary needs to be there when you retire. We’re pleased to see that unions now have a seat at the table.

5. Science and research funding:
Some progress, but still well short of restoring Harper-era cuts

Budget 2022 invests $183.2 million over 7 years in the National Research Council (NRC) for low-carbon construction research. It also invests $144.4 million over 5 years to the NRC and Natural Resources to support research and development around critical minerals. 

The budget also includes a new initiative to explore ways to modernize the NRC and better integrate it with the work of “university researchers and business partners.” Further information will follow as there were no details included. PIPSC will continue to monitor this initiative to ensure public funds support public research.

Budget 2020 commits $34.6 million over 5 years towards Canada’s ability to protect our research, including establishing a Research Security Centre to provide advice and guidance to research institutions. These initiatives are part of a larger investment of $159.6 million next year and $33.4 million annually to protect Canada’s research and intellectual property from foreign threats.

Other new research investments in Budget 2022 include:

• $40.9 million over 5 years to the federal granting councils to support promising Black student researchers.
• $14.5 million over 5 years to support the Canadian High Arctic Research Station.
• $12 million over 2 years for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to investigate the latest detection of potato wart and help prevent its spread.

Overall we are happy to see that support for the broader Canadian science and research ecosystem remains a government priority. However, the cuts to public service science and research from the Harper era run so deep that this does not heal the wounds. Time and more details will show how much this budget supports the federal government’s own scientists and researchers.

6. Review of the Public Service Disclosure Protection Act:
Improving protection for whistleblowers in the public service

Budget 2022 commits $2.4 million over 5 years to a review of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act with the goal of providing better protection for whistleblowers. 

We look forward to working with the Treasury Board on making sure this review leads to concrete improvements and stronger protections for whistleblowers – people who, at great personal risk, provide an invaluable service and help make government work better for Canadians. 

The latest Stats Can report reveals an unacceptable reality: 1 in 4 women experience sexual harassment in the workplace. 

There is so much we have to do to stop sexual harassment at work, but research has shown that one of the best ways to stop these incidents is something that each and every one of us can do. It’s called bystander intervention: stepping in when someone is behaving inappropriately or aggressively.

That’s why PIPSC teamed up with Julie Lalonde, an internationally recognized women's rights advocate and educator, to host a new training on bystander intervention. She focused on how to recognize and intervene to stop sexual harassment in the workplace – because if we don’t step up for each other, we’ll never break the cycle. 

Watch the training below. 

OTTAWA, April 7, 2022 – Jennifer Carr, President of The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), welcomed progress in Budget 2022 on a fairer economic recovery, including new investments in CRA going after tax cheats, providing mental health help for Black public service workers, and expanding the Public Sector Pension Investment Board to include union representatives. But Carr expressed serious concern over the government’s Strategic Policy Review.

“Today’s budget makes some welcome progress, especially on investing in CRA to go after tax cheats, increased tax fairness and mental health support for Black public service workers,” said Carr. “But public service professionals have serious questions for the government on what exactly they plan to cut and hope the government doesn't plan to balance the budget on the backs of members of the public service.” 

“We were pleased to see a budget that moves forward on affordable housing and dental care while taking steps towards fairer taxation and implementing pharmacare,” said Carr. “But after public service professionals developed new programs and delivered emergency help to people in record time, it is disappointing the government continues to spend billions a year and rely on advice from costly consultants instead of Canada’s professional public servants.”

“Remote work has helped make progress on creating a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable public service. But we have concerns about whether the federal government has learned the right lessons from the past two years,” said Carr. “We were hoping to see a more consistent and coherent approach to policies around return to work and creating safe workplaces.”

Additionally, Carr hoped to see new investments in training and upskilling the public service and the restoration of critical science funding.

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For more information: Johanne Fillion, 613-883-4900 (mobile), jfillion@pipsc.ca