Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the members of the committee for this opportunity.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is the largest federal public sector union, representing over 230,000 workers. Today, I will speak about three critical issues that impact these members in the federal public service. Our submission provides additional information, which I hope the committee will also consider.

First, the release of the 2024 federal budget will occur just before the eighth anniversary of the onset of the Phoenix pay disaster. There have been errors in each and every pay period since it was implemented in 2016. Tens of thousands of public sector employees, including some now retired, in other jobs or deceased, have yet to receive outstanding pay. This has impacted their benefits, their retirement pensions, their severance pay and their ability to advance in their careers, yet the government is currently focused on recovering overpayments, regardless of the ongoing harm to its own employees, even though it is still unable to pay its employees either correctly or on time.

While some increases in hiring of pay advisers have occurred, the government must find ways to not only hire and train these employees but to also retain them. Attrition is too high, resulting in constant turnover and loss of expertise from the pay centre program.

The negotiated memorandum of agreement on damages expired in April 2020, yet pay problems continue for federal workers in all bargaining groups. The memorandum of agreement needs to be renewed.

Finally, it is time for a national inquiry into why this crisis happened, how it could have been prevented and, most important, why eight years later it has not yet been fixed. Only through a thorough investigation will Canadians be sure that such a problem will be prevented in the future.

Second, and equally concerning, there are the proposed cuts to the federal public service announced in budget 2023. Cutting $15 billion from the federal public service would create significant pressure to downsize the workforce at a time when the pressure on these services has never been greater.

Over the past year, increasing attention has been paid to the lack of a national government staffing plan and the reliance on private contractors to provide public services. While the 2023 budget committed to significantly cutting outsourcing, there was no obvious corresponding investment for in-house staffing.

A system-wide staffing plan should be developed that considers the needs of all who receive services, both within the government and in the public. This plan should acknowledge the evidence that in-house provision of public services, including management consulting, results in a better quality of service at a more appropriate cost. No cuts should be planned until a system-wide analysis of staffing needs, developed with bargaining agents, is in place.

Finally, budget 2024 needs to put public safety officers employed by the federal government, including National Defence firefighters and CBSA border officers, on par with their counterparts who work in other jurisdictions. It has been several years now since Treasury Board made a commitment to these workers that they would be eligible to retire with full pensions after the same length of service as all other public safety officers within and outside of the federal government.

This promise has yet to be fulfilled. Firefighters and border officers often put their lives on the line and face unique health and safety risks that increase with each additional year of service. By the time they reach eligibility for retirement, they are often managing a serious illness or coping with a disability. The workers who keep us safe by battling fires and protecting our borders deserve to retire in dignity.

Thank you for your time today. I look forward to your questions.

Transcript

Discussions (0)