“Unless Treasury Board returns to the table to engage in a serious discussion, and to put an offer on the table which addresses our legitimate and reasonable and longstanding demands for equal pay for equal work … we will continue to contemplate elevating pressure on departmental operations through additional job action measures,” said Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers President Tim Edwards.
As of April 8 the foreign service officers have been on work-to-rule. They are not working overtime, responding to emails outside work hours, or taking on extra responsibilities when a boss is away, among other tactics.
“Our people are incredibly dedicated to serving Canada and Canadians abroad. That’s why they joined this career, that’s why they agreed to go to some very nasty places. An extension of this commitment is that we do work huge amounts of paid and unpaid overtime to get the job done,” said Mr. Edwards.
“This measure, work to rule, is to remind the government, which has really I think grown accustomed to relying on our flexibility and our dedication and especially our altruism and generosity, to deliver on their agenda. This measure is intended to remind the government of the enormous value which Canadian taxpayers get every single day for every single one of its foreign service officers,” he added.
The officers have been in a legal strike position starting April 2 and there are no immediate plans to get back to bargaining, Mr. Edwards said.
The association represents 1,350 foreign service officers. Most work for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, though 292 work for Citizenship and Immigration, and 60 work for Canada Border Services Agency abroad. Foreign service officers work on Canada’s trade, immigration and political files abroad.
“The government will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a reasonable settlement with PAFSO that is fair to workers and taxpayers. It is unfortunate that the union would seek to deny services to Canadians,” said Matthew Conway, spokesperson for Treasury Board President Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.).
The officers have been without a contract since June 2011 and the association and the government have been at a bargaining impasse since January 2012.
The association already agreed to two major pay-related proposals from Treasury Board Secretariat—the government’s bargaining agent—in January. Under a new agreement, its members would no longer collect severance pay for voluntary departures from the public service. It also agreed to Treasury Board Secretariat’s wage proposal.
“We unilaterally conceded on those,” said Mr. Edwards.
Under the current contract, retiring foreign service officers with more than 10 years of service are entitled to one week’s pay for every year worked, to a maximum of 30 weeks. Those who quit would receive half that.
The government has made it a goal to eliminate severance pay outs for all public servants who quit or retire as contracts come up for bargaining.
At least 115,700 employees have agreed to abandon voluntary severance as of February 2012, and some 73,9000 workers in the core public service have yet to go through negotiations, according to Treasury Board Secretariat.
The association has also agreed to Treasury Board Secretariat’s offer of 1.75 per cent, 1.5 per cent and two per cent raises over three years. That includes a 0.75 per cent salary bump for eliminating the voluntary departure severance benefit.
The remaining issue is “very, very, simple” said Mr. Edwards.
“It comes down to one thing: equal pay for equal work,” he said.
Foreign service officers make anywhere between $58,055 and $104,026 a year, depending on their job title and level of experience, according to their now expired collective agreement.
They have been underpaid compared to other public servants doing similar work under different job classifications, some for as long as eight years, according to PAFSO.
“Our members do not make as much as other government professionals doing either the same or very similar work next door to us in neighboring offices within headquarters in Canada,” said Mr. Edwards.
The wage gap between foreign service officers doing economic or commerce work, policy analysis, or legal work compared to other public servants in similar jobs can range from, $3,000 a year to as much as $14,000, he said.
“We’re just simply trying to catch up at the end of the day and be paid equally for the work that we’re performing,” said Mr. Edwards.
PAFSO acknowledges the government is fighting a deficit, and is prepared to address certain wage gaps in later years. It couldn’t address it in earlier years because the government legislated pay increases for public servants.
Treasury Board has stated in negotiations any money to address the pay gap must come from the department. It has also argued the jobs PAFSO is comparing its members’ work to are not equivalent.
“To suggest that there are no comparator groups is patently untrue,” said Mr. Edwards.
He said a comparison of job descriptions between commerce officers, economic officers and foreign service officers reveals “an enormous amount of overlap” and “most damning of all,” when departments are looking to staff positions, they consider foreign service officers equally alongside the commerce and economic officers.
In negotiations, the Treasury Board Secretariat has stated foreign service officers received the largest pay increases in the public service between 2000 and 2010.
“The foreign service is a highly sought after and well-paid posting,” said Mr. Conway.
PAFSO would like to add three new pay levels for working diplomats to correct the contended wage gaps.
For a typical working-level diplomat, the gap is $10,500 according to PAFSO. The wages for that group currently max out at $82,000 a year, and the new increments would add about $4,000 a level.
Meanwhile, the e-battle between the association and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade continues.
On March 27, the department blocked the union from using its email systems to contact members about the bargaining and job action situation. About 700 members are serving at Canada’s around 170 missions. It has affected communication not only about work to rule but on more everyday issues like staff relations and insurance claims.
“We’ve begun to assemble personal emails, though as you can appreciate, we have 1,350 members spread all over the globe,” said Mr. Edwards, who added communicating with members via departmental email has never been a problem before.
The contract between the union and Treasury Board states PAFSO is entitled to use departmental email to communicate with members but needs to get permission beforehand. The union must also “avoid requests for distributing information, which the employer, acting reasonably, could consider adverse to its interests.”
Mr. Edwards said the association is in a legal strike position so the contract no longer applies.
PAFSO members are continuing to e-picket by using their signatures or out of office replies to emails to inform those they are corresponding with about the contract dispute.
Foreign Affairs issued a warning April 4 to e-picketing employees stating they could be disciplined or dismissed.
It’s “a fairly disproportionate and draconian measure,” said Mr. Edwards.
The association filed unfair labour practices complaints April 10 about the email blocking and e-picketing with the Public Service Labour Relations Board. Mr. Edwards anticipated a hearing could be in around three weeks.
It’s not the first time the union and the department have gone head-to-head over e-picketing. A similar situation arose in 2002, and was left unresolved when the two sides were able to come to a bargaining settlement.
The government and the association agreed earlier this year that workers whose jobs affect Canadian security, representing 15 per cent of PAFSO’s membership, would continue working as usual. That includes the CBSA officers who intercept human traffickers and immigration fraud.
Most Citizenship and Immigration staff who work on processing visas and permanent residency applications aren’t considered essential and are participating in work to rule. However, 68 immigration staff posted abroad who are responsible for issuing visas in urgent humanitarian and compassionate crises, and for managing locally-engaged staff, have been deemed essential, according to Citizenship and Immigration.
“The government will do its utmost to continue to ensure service delivery in a timely fashion with the least amount of disruption to Canadians,” stated Mr. Conway.
Last fall, at the union’s request, the dispute went to a Public Interest Commission for adjudication. The commission recommended a wage rate in between the two sides’ positions, and neither party was happy with the commission’s non-binding recommendations.
Working to rule, members’ fighting spirit is going strong, said Mr. Edwards.
“The esprit de corps, and I think the commitment to the actions that we’re undertaking is very strong and very deep,” he said.
“Everybody’s committed to the cause.”
In March, more than 80 per cent of PAFSO’s 1,350 active foreign service members at home and abroad voted in favour of job action.
While every member made up her or his mind on whether or not to strike for different reasons, Mr. Edwards said deteriorating working conditions would have played a factor.
Due to cuts announced in the 2012 budget, 50 foreign service jobs have been cut. There are also moves to curtail a stipend meant to compensate for different standards of living at different postings. There have also been fewer promotions and fewer available foreign postings in recent years, he said.
“We are here negotiating salaries because it’s one of the few elements in our compensation and benefits package that we actually control, that we negotiate, and that our members can draw a line in the sand and say, ‘enough is enough,” he explained.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: JESSICA BRUNO
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