We're proud to join eleven Ontario unions representing more than 250,000 provincial public sector employees in a coordinated Charter challenge against Bill 124.

“Bill 124 is a direct attack on our members and on workers’ rights in Ontario,” said President Debi Daviau. “We will fight this law and the dangerous precedent it sets for labour rights in our country.”
 
Bill 124, euphemistically named the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, violates the Charter-protected right to free and fair collective bargaining. It allows the provincial government to impose salary caps, including for pensions and benefits, on a variety of unionized and non-unionized public sector workplaces.

Workers affected by Bill 124 include those employed by the provincial government, crown agencies, school boards, universities and colleges, hospitals, non-profit long-term care homes, children’s aid societies, social service agencies and the electricity and energy sectors. This includes PIPSC members in the following groups: 

• Ontario Medical Physicists (MP)
• Sunnybook Mechanical and Electronic Technologists (SUN-MET)
• Sunnybrook Radiation Therapists (SUN-RT)
• Radiation Therapists - Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC)
• Radiation Therapist - Thunder Bay Regional (TBH-RT)
• Windsor Radiation Therapists (WRH-RT)
• University of Ottawa IT Professionals (UOITP)

Labour leaders in Ontario are determined to see an end to Bill 124.

The Ontario Labour movement, with the Power of Many, will be initiating a public campaign to repeal Bill 124.

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is leading the charge. “The OFL stands in solidarity with the education unions that have recently launched their challenges to the application of Bill 124 in the education sector, as we escalate the opposition to this government’s continued attack on the Charter rights of all Ontarians. Together, we are launching an aggressive campaign to demand the Ford Conservatives repeal this unconstitutional legislation,” said Patty Coates, OFL President.

“This challenge is about defending workers’ rights protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” stated CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. “When the Ford Conservatives demand that we must all do our part, instead of targeting working people the government should be taxing profitable corporations and the wealthiest in our communities. Charter rights matter, human rights matter, workers’ rights matter.”
 
“For workers in equity-seeking groups – racialized workers, workers with a disability, Indigenous workers, and women, collective agreements are essential to ensuring fairness in the workplace,” said Sharleen Stewart, President of SEIU Healthcare. “For the government to set limits on bargaining undermines the rights of workers who already face systemic discrimination across the board.”
 
In recent years, unions have successfully coordinated together to challenge legislation that violates workers’ rights, such as the Liberals’ Bill 115, which interfered with collective bargaining in the education sector. The courts ruled that Bill 115 violated workers’ Charter rights. In the face of legal challenges, a coordinated resistance campaign, and public opposition, the bill was repealed.

The joint Charter challenge announced today is being brought by a coalition of public and private sector unions that represent workers across the broader public sector, including:

• Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU Healthcare)
• United Steelworkers (USW)
• Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
• Society of United Professionals (IFPTE) Local 160
• Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE Ontario)
• AMAPCEO
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
• Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC)
• United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 175
• Ontario Nurses Association (ONA)

Additional unions and organizations representing public sector workers in Ontario are expected to join this coordinated challenge or pursue their own separate legal challenges to Bill 124 in the coming weeks.
 

On November 8, 2019 PIPSC Vice-President Norma Domey led a two-hour “standing room only” seminar on "Leading with Emotional Intelligence" at the Institute’s 100^th Annual General Meeting in Gatineau, Québec.  

Over 50 PIPSC members attended the event, which featured ways to use Emotional Intelligence (EQ) for self-improvement, creating high performing teams, and developing truly visionary leadership.  Its goals were:

• To understand emotional Intelligence, and learn how to increase your current EQ.
• To practice easy to use tools to increase your emotional intelligence and leadership skills.
• To better perceive, use, understand and manage emotions.

The seminar concluded with a debrief of new Women in Science projects being initiated in a number of PIPSC workplaces and a debrief on the Women’s Learning Lab held earlier this Fall in Ottawa.  For more information about the Lab, click here.

The Lab is part of the Institute’s broader effort to influence change for women in science by: 

• Conducting advocacy and activism campaigns aimed at new or better workplace legislation;
• Collective bargaining for new and better workplace rights;
• Supporting consultation presidents at union-management consultation for new and improved human resources policies; and
• Developing and conducting awareness and education campaigns for our members.

PIPSC will continue to press for progress on these issues, which are of critical importance for thousands of current and future federal scientists.

New collective agreements include parental leave allowance gains and additional shared weeks available under EI and QPIP.

This training outlines key changes to the parental leave policy, eligibility requirements, and strategies for accessing it.

The new parental allowance provisions currently apply to the AV, NR, RE, SH, SP, AFS (CRA), NEB, NFB, NRC (IS, LS, RO-RCO, TR), NUREG (CNSC) and OSFI collective agreements.

Watch the training video or download the presentation. 
 

The new parental allowance provisions are currently applicable to the AV, NR, RE, SH, SP, CNRC (LS, IR, RO-RCO, TR), CRA (AFS), OSFI, CNSC (NUREG), NEB and NFB collective agreements.

On November 18, 2019, the new extended parental leave allowance and the additional shared weeks available under Employment Insurance and QPIP will be implemented. If an employee starts parental leave on or after November 18, 2019 the new language will apply, if the leave starts before November 18, 2019 the old language will apply to the entire allowance. 

Please download and review the following flow charts to help calculate the allowance you're entitled to under the new extended parental leave allowance.

EI Physical Birth
QPIP Physical Birth
EI Adoption
QPIP Adoption

Other common questions and parental allowance scenarios are covered in our Frequently Asked Questions.

If you still require clarifications contact your steward.

Human Rights Day is celebrated around the world to commemorate the proclamation of “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948.

The UDHR is a milestone in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, it sets out a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations.

For the first time it recognized that fundamental human rights – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status – must be universally protected.

Women shaped the Declaration

Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady for the United States, served as the first Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and played an instrumental role in drafting the UDHR. Many other women also played an important role and these include Begum Shaista Ikramullah (Pakistan), Bodil Begtrup (Denmark), Evdokia Uralova (Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic), Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux (France), Minerva Bernardino (Dominican Republic), and Hansa Mehta and Lakshmi Menon (India).

Youth stand up for human rights

This year, we are called to "Stand Up for Human Rights" and to celebrate the potential of youth as agents of change, amplify their voices and engage a broad range of global audiences in the promotion and protection of rights. This year's campaign is designed to encourage, galvanize and showcase how youth all over the world stand up for rights and against racism, hate speech, bullying, discrimination, and climate change.

Your Human Rights & Diversity Committee

PIPSC is actively involved in protecting and promoting the human rights of its members and has established a Human Rights & Diversity Committee, to advise the Board of Directors on human rights, employment equity as well as diversity and inclusion. Learn more about their work in the Human Rights & Diversity Committee Report.

"The UDHR empowers us all. The principles remain as relevant or more today. We must stand up for our own rights and those of others every day. I encourage you to champion human rights in our workplace." encouraged Waheed Khan, PIPSC Chair of the Human Rights and Diversity Committee.

Read the PIPSC Pocket Guide on Human Rights and be a champion of human rights in your workplace. Take part online using #HumanRights and #StandUp4HumanRights on social media.

OTTAWA, December 5, 2019  – Debi Daviau, President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) presented the 2019 Institute’s Gold Medal to Dr. Xiaolan Wang to recognize her contributions to the understanding of climate change in Canada and internationally. Dr. Wang is a Senior Research Scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Dr. Wang’s research seeks to understand the past, current and future behaviour of regional and global climate. Now used by scientists in more than 50 countries, her statistical methods and user-friendly software have changed the way scientists assess climate trends.

“Dr. Wang is an example of the role model that the Institute’s Gold Medal is intended to honour. She is a visionary in the field of climate change research and is held in very high regard in Canada and internationally,” commented President Daviau.

“The tremendous contribution that dedicated professionals like Dr. Wang make to the public good confirms that the federal government has a unique role to play in scientific research. The federal government is responsible for creating and maintaining a climate in which fruitful research can take place and flourish.”

“The work needs to be done in a systematic and sustained manner, and it needs long-term commitment,” explained Dr. Wang. “Without a consistent data process conducted by skilled scientists, artificial data would slip through the cracks and drastically alter our knowledge about climate change.”

“Scientific research is a critical component of our success as a society – whether it is our ability to protect the health and safety of our fellow citizens, preserve our environment, or ensure future economic prosperity,” added Daviau.

Dr. Wang played an important role in Canada’s Changing Climate Report released earlier this year. Canada’s climate is warming more rapidly than the global average and will continue to do so. The report helps illustrate that climate change is real and driven by human activity.

The Professional Institute established the Gold Medal Award program in 1937 to recognize professional public service employees whose outstanding work has led to the improvement and enhancement of public well-being. The program promotes greater awareness of the role and value of professional public services in Canada and globally. 

The 2019 Gold Medal was presented at PIPSC 100^th annual general meeting at the Hilton Lac Leamy Conference Centre in Gatineau, Que., on Nov. 8-9. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada represents 60,000 public service professionals across Canada. Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter.

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For further information: Johanne Fillion, 613-228-6310, ext 4953 or 613-883-4900 (cell), jfillion@pipsc.ca

NOTE: The award presentation is available on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5MnVA7vU6E&feature=youtu.be

As of November 29, 2019, former PIPSC members who were paid at least one day by the Phoenix system can submit a claim for compensation.

If you worked in a department using the Phoenix pay system between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2020, regardless of whether you experienced a pay problem, you are entitled to compensation.

You can file a claim for a cash payment equivalent of leave for the following fiscal years:

• 2 days for the fiscal year 2016-2017
• 1 day for the fiscal year 2017-2018
• 1 day for the fiscal year 2018-2019
• 1 day for the fiscal year 2019-2020

Similarly, if you are the legal representative of a former employee you may make a claim on their behalf. If you represent the estate of a deceased employee, you may make a claim on behalf of the estate.

To submit your claim online to the government, you will need your Personal Record Identifier (PRI) and the name of the last federal organization where you worked. You will receive a claim number that will allow you to track your claim online after it is submitted.  If you do not have your PRI, you can make a claim manually using a printable pdf form. 

Submit your claim

If you left the public service between April 1, 2016 and June 11, 2019 claim your credit for up to 5 days of leave through the process for former members.

If you were still employed on June 12, 2019 then you were compensated as a current employee and should have already received additional leave in your bank.

For any issues submitting an online claim or the printed pdf claim process you may contact support at the Treasury Board. 

Individual cases of Phoenix errors continue to be treated and former employees will still receive the pay they are owed.
 

Frequently asked questions

More Phoenix compensation for former and retired members

Former and retired members can also claim Phoenix compensation for up to $1000 in top-up clause money, out-of-pocket expenses or financial losses incurred due to Phoenix, or severe impacts due to Phoenix.