Union officials are now turning their attention to Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s region and will be hosting a press conference in Halifax on Friday, at 2:30 p.m. to outline their activities there.
“The event is an opportunity for the public to learn about significant cuts to civilian defence workers at military installations across the country and the impact on the communities like Halifax,” UNDE said in a statement.
UNDE will also hold a “National Day of Action” on Saturday in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where MacKay has his constituency offices.
More than 1,500 DND workers have been given notices that their jobs are in jeopardy or are being eliminated and the union expects more notices to follow. The jobs being eliminated range from clerks and secretaries to food services and kitchen staff. Other jobs being cut include janitors, radiation safety personnel, weapons technicians, ammunition technicians, heavy truck mechanics, laboratory assistants and drivers.
UNDE national president John MacLennan has questioned how money is being actually saved since DND is targeting some of the lowest paid workers in the public service, such as those in food services as well as cleaners and secretaries. The work being done by public servants would not go away, he added.
But government officials say the cuts are needed to save money.
The Conservative government plans to cut 19,200 public servants from the federal payroll over the next three years. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the reductions, which will come primarily from “back-office operations,” are “common sense” changes that will improve the efficiency and productivity of Canada’s 400,000-strong public service.
“The vast majority of savings will come from eliminating waste in the internal operations of government, making it leaner and more efficient,” he said.
The government has set aside $900 million to cover the salary costs, buyouts, waived pension penalties and education and training allowances that laid-off employees are entitled to under the workforce adjustment agreement. The government has promised to use attrition to manage as many of the cuts as possible.
The public service has undergone unprecedented growth over the past decade, outstripping its size before the Liberals’ historic downsizing in the mid-1990s that eliminated 50,000 jobs or 14 per cent of the workforce. The Conservatives continued that growth with a spending spree when it came to power in 2006. The job cuts will only reverse about 20 per cent of the job growth in the public service since 1999.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: David Pugliese
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