Letter from PSAC to Tony Clement about bashing the public service

National Joint Council of the Public Service of Canada
412-47 rue Clarence Street
Ottawa (Ontario)
K1N 9K1
Fax: 613-241-5911

July 5, 2013

The Honourable Tony Clement
President of the Treasury Board
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
President's Office
140 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, ON K1A OR5

Dear Minister,

We are writing to you on behalf of all of the bargaining agents and the employees they represent, to express our very deep concern with your recently announced initiatives and the apparent contempt with which you hold our members and their Unions.

We can think of no other employer, in particular none that consider itself to be among the "good" employers in Canada, that would make the range of disparaging remarks you have made or implied in announcing proposed changes to the sick leave plan and the need for a revised Performance Management Plan.

Your comments were clearly intended to paint a very negative impression of Canada's public service and have done serious damage to the morale of public servants. You have acted in a manner that we believe to be unprecedented for a President of the Treasury Board - who is, after all, appointed to lead our public service.

You have rejected the unanimous recommendations presented by the Partners Committee of the National Joint Council (NJC) that concerned "minor amendments" to the PSHCP, after you had previously approved a mandate to negotiate these very changes.

You then followed this initiative by announcing major changes to the pay system to take effect in January 2014, including recovering 2 weeks' salary from every federal public service employee.

The NJC bargaining agents deplore your willingness to add insult to injury by timing your announcements to coincide with National Public Service Week. .Rather than playing a leadership role and recognizing Canada's public service for its excellence, you managed to demean, demoralize and discredit these men and women who serve their fellow Canadians day in and day out. You have lost sight of the fact that your employees are real people not widgets on a production line. None of these employees deserve to be treated with the contempt and disrespect you have shown them.

Moreover, your public pronouncements were made without first informing the bargaining agents or providing any opportunity to consult. It is our duty to remind you that ail of these initiatives are subject to negotiation - a fact of which you are fully aware as President of the Treasury Board. By choosing to make public announcements before consulting with the bargaining agents, and by compromising transparency and trust, you have struck a serious blow at the heart of the relationship between us.

Minister, on behalf of all of the bargaining agents and the employees we represent, we call on you to refrain from further public service bashing and any more attempts to alter the terms and conditions of employment by public announcements, ignoring the rules governing collective bargaining. These actions are not in keeping with the core mandate of the Treasury Board which is responsible for enhancing values, ethics and accountability across government.

We anticipate that your proposals for changes to sick leave, performance management and the pay system will be dealt with through the appropriate channels and we expect to promptly receive any and all information that will be required for us to make an informed decision on behalf of our members.

Yours sincerely,

cc: Mr. Wayne Wouters
      Mr. Dan Watson
      Ms. Yaprak Baltacioglu