Collective Bargaining and Pay Equity - PSAC - Information Notices (archived)

 

October 23, 1998

The purpose of this notice is to clarify some misunderstandings resulting from the government's recent offer at the collective bargaining table, as it pertains to the occupational groups affected by the Tribunal's ruling.

An important part of our compensation package includes an unconditional offer to make significant and immediate salary adjustments to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members in the six occupational groups affected by the Tribunal's ruling, additional to the economic increases offered to all other occupational groups at Table 1. The offer and its acceptance will not prejudice the rights of the employer or the PSAC to advance their positions before the courts or the rights of employees to seek additional payments if the Tribunal's ruling is upheld. It is unfortunate that the PSAC rejected this offer.

Attached is a chart reflecting some examples of what the wage offer means to certain groups and levels affected by the Tribunal's ruling.

With regard to the retroactive pay equity payments, that remains a separate issue, independent of this offer. Although the government has asked for a judicial review of the ruling, its $1.3 billion offer remains on the table for discussion with the PSAC.

It is important to note that the government is vigorously committed to the principle of pay equity. However, it has serious concerns about the methodology chosen by the Tribunal. This methodology overcompensates for wage discrimination based on gender as it does not compare jobs of equal value. This methodology does not provide logical job comparisons. For example, it compares clerical work to the work of auditors, lawyers, economists and engineers.

I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the government's reasons for filing for judicial review:

• The Tribunal did not apply the legal requirements of section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act and of the Equal Wages Guidelines, 1986, in determining which methodology was acceptable;
• The Tribunal adopted a methodology that allows comparisons between male and female employees performing work of unequal value;
• The methodology chosen by the Tribunal identifies a wage gap caused by factors other than gender discrimination;
• The Tribunal did not take into account previous rulings from higher courts.

Please disseminate this notice to your departmental managers and employees as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, you may with to contact Dimitri Sully at (613) 952-2946 or by electronic mail.

Any calls from the media concerning these issues should be forwarded to Robert Bousquet at (613) 957-2428.

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The following examples highlight the effect of the employer's initial compensation offer at PSAC Table 1 for the CR Group.

Note that these amounts are illustrations for a CR employee at the maximum rate of pay and employed for the full duration of the period that would be covered by the collective agreement, that is from June 12, 1997 to June 20, 1999 (24 months and 9 days).

In addition, if an agreement were to be signed in November 1998, because of the passage of time since the expiry of the last collective agreement, a significant proportion of the payments outlined above (about 75%) would be in back pay.

For further details on these payment and salary calculations please refer to the attached Tables.

Treasury Board Secretariat
October 22, 1998

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Employer's Initial Compensation Offer - PSAC Table 1

Payments	Period		CR-2	CR-3	CR-4	CR-5
Wage Increase	12/6/97 to 20/6/97	1a	$11	$13	$15	$17
	21/6/97 to 20/6/98	1b	$448	$538	$598	$679
	21/6/98 to 20/6/99	1c	$894	$1,074	$1,193	$1,354
Pre-UCS Salary Adjustment 1	12/6/97 to 20/6/97	2a	$72	$51	$48	$53
	21/6/97 to 20/6/98	2b	$2,900	$2,050	$1,960	$2,150
	21/6/98 to 20/6/99	2c	$2,900	$2,050	$1,960	$2,150
Lump-sum payment (to compensate for some benefits) 1	12/6/97 to 20/6/97	3a	$6	$6	$6	$6
	21/6/97 to 20/6/98	3b	$250	$250	$250	$250
	21/6/98 to 20/6/99	3c	$250	$250	$250	$250
Total Payments	12/6/97 to 20/6/99	4	$7,731	$6,282	$6,280	$6,909

Note 1: The items on line 2 and 3 are annual payments that are not cumulative from year to year, the same as the 1991 equalization payment.

Line 1: The amount for wage increases is based on the employer's initial offer of a 2% (annualized) increase to the current rates of pay. The increases on lines 1a and 1b are carried-over from year to year.

Line 2: The amount for a pre-UCS adjustment is based on how the new job evaluation plan (Universal Classification Standard) may be applied to groups affected by the Tribunal ruling.

Line 3: The amount for a lump-sum payment to compensate for some benefits applicable to male dominated groups

Line 4: This is the total of the payments employees would receive over the duration of the contract.

Salary Adjustments	Effective		CR-2	CR-3	CR-4	CR-5
Total Current Salary (maximum of pay rate)		5	$22,836	$27,239	$30,144	$34,086
New Salary + Lump Sum	June 12, 1997	6	$22,925	$27,309	$30,213	$34,162
New Salary + Lump Sum	June 21, 1997	7	$26,434	$30,077	$32,952	$37,165
New Salary + Lump Sum	June 21, 1998	8	$26,880	$30,613	$33,547	$37,840
Percentage Salary Increase		9	17.7%	12.4%	11.3%	11.0%

Line 5: The total current salary includes the current maximum rate of pay + the 1991 equalization payment.

Line 6: The new salary includes the current salary (line 5) + the wage increase on the rate of pay (line 1a) + a pre-UCS adjustment (line 2a)+ a lump sum payment (line 3a).

Line 7: The new salary includes the current salary (line 5) + the wage increase on the rate of pay (line 1b) + a pre-UCS adjustment (line 2b)+ a lump sum payment (line 3b).

Line 8: The new salary includes the current salary (line 5) + the wage increase on the rate of pay (line 1c) + a pre-UCS adjustment (line 2c)+ a lump sum payment (line 3c).

Line 9: The percentage increase over duration of the contract (line 8 divided by line 5).