On Monday, the 1,350 foreign service officers who went on strike last week began work-to-rule pressure tactics to bring the Treasury Board back to the bargaining table to resolve the outstanding wage gap that led to last month’s overwhelming strike vote.
Timothy Edwards, president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO), said officers around the world have a range of tactics up their sleeve, including no overtime and no work-related email or BlackBerry use outside of working hours.
The union asked them to perform only the duties in their job descriptions, avoid filling in for absent bosses, follow internal policies to the letter and exercise their right to communicate in the language of their choice when dealing with managers.
Edwards said such measures could escalate to including a withdrawal of services.
“We are proceeding day-by-day and additional pressure will be brought to bear if Treasury Board doesn’t call back to talk about equal pay for equal work,” said Edwards.
He said business and Canadians will feel the impact because foreign service offices typically put in long hours as trade, immigration and political officers.
But PAFSO could be breaking new ground with its “soft” strike tactics using email, which some say could influence the strike tactics of all federal unions. The union filed an unfair labour practice complaint against DFAIT for threatening to discipline, or even fire, foreign service officers who used their email for job action.
The showdown began when DFAIT blocked PAFSO from the department’s email system a week before the strike was called, stopping it from reaching members posted abroad who account for about 60 per cent of union membership. The union is still blocked from using the system.
PAFSO then launched a low-key offensive with electronic picket lines that use email replies to warn those who contact the department of delays and inconvenience because of the strike.
The department quickly countered with a message warning that employees could be disciplined or fired if they “e-picket” or use email features as pressure tactics to advance their collective bargaining issues.
They were told to stop using their email accounts, including features such as Out of Office reply, to “advance collective bargaining objectives.”
Management’s memo, circulated last week, said consultations with Treasury Board confirmed unions can’t use employer’s equipment or facilities, without permission, if it has an adverse impact on the interests of the department.
That’s when PAFSO filed an unfair labour practices complaint with the Public Service Labour Relations Board and told members to keep electronic picketing until a decision is rendered. The union and department had a similar clash during the 2002 strike but the complaint was withdrawn when the strike settled.
At the centre of the issue is whether unions have the right to use government networks for job action. They argue they should have access to the network because of their lawful right to communicate with members.
This debate comes as unions search for new, inexpensive pressure tactics that will irritate the employer but won’t antagonize the public, unlike old-fashioned militant union tactics, rallies and demonstrations.
It’s an issue many predict could eventually land in the courts to sort out the boundaries of freedom of expression and the use of email.
Edwards said DFAIT’s reaction is heavy-handed and out of proportion for the “mild” job action that amounts to little more than a courtesy heads-up for clients of possible delays in service. Some say it’s DFAIT management, not Treasury Board, that’s turning up the temperature on the labour impasse.
Most foreign service officers work for DFAIT at headquarters or postings abroad but about 350 work at Citizenship and Immigration Canada which has not imposed any limits or threats on the use of email and e-pickets at its headquarters.
The big issue for the foreign service officers is pay, and the growing gap with other professionals, particularly commerce officers and economists, who are doing the same work but are paid up to $10,000 more at the top of the level. The widening gap has been a lingering issue for eight years and some say is becoming significant enough that DFAIT has trouble keeping foreign service officers by mid-career.
A spokesman for Treasury Board President Tony Clement wouldn’t comment on the impasse but said disrupting services to Canadians would be “unfortunate.”
“The foreign service is a highly sought-after and well-paid posting,” said Clement’s press secretary Matthew Conway. “The government will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a reasonable settlement with PAFSO that is fair to workers and taxpayers.”
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Kathryn May
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