Canadian Labour Reporter

PM #40065782 Labour Reporter Canadian www.labourreporter.com April 21, 2014 Federal unions fight Ottawa's new performance management system Government's new directive violates collective agreements: Unions BY LIZ FOSTER FEDERAL UNIONS are telling Ottawa to manage its expecta- tions for the new performance management system. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) recently filed a policy grievance on behalf of 17 unions to challenge key provisions of the government's Directive on Per- formance Management for public service employees. The grievance — filed with the Public Service Labour Relations Board — argues the directive is in violation of collective agree- ments. After coming into effect on April 1, 2014, the directive in- troduced mid and year-end performance reviews, as well as evaluations before probationary employees can be made full-time employees. It also implements performance improvement plans for poor performers and gives managers the right to withhold pay increments from those same employees. "We're all very concerned that the Treasury Board issued the new performance management directive without any consulta- tion with any of the bargaining agents," said PIPSC vice-president Shannon Bittman. Through meaningful consulta- tion, Bittman said, unions could have advised the government on provisions that violated collective agreements and collaborated on training processes. The Treasury Board mandated 90-minute online training mod- ules for managers, which PIPSC says are easily circumvented. While full-day modules for man- agers and half-day modules for employees have been developed, they are not mandatory. "They've rolled the directive out without providing adequate time for training to management or employees," she said. "We ques- tion how this new performance management system can establish their so-called objective of pro- viding a standardized system." The directive applies to all em- ployees in departments and agen- PUBLISHER PUBLISHER Yellow Pages Group Calgary (115 sales staff ) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2228 Renewal agreement: Effective Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2015. Signed on Oct. 29, 2013. Wage adjustments: Effective Jan. 1, 2015: 2% Vacations with pay: 3 weeks to start, 4 weeks after 2 years, 5 weeks after 10 years, 6 weeks after 20 years. Sick leave: 5 days. New look, same great content Your eyes aren't fooling you — we've got a brand new look ARBITRATION AWARDS pg. 2 see Training > pg. 7 see Employees > pg. 6 see Collective agreements > pg. 3 City staffer in Kingston, Ont., gets schooled pg. 6 MARCH 17, 2014 LABOUR BRIEFS Carleton University campus safety workers strike / B.C. teachers vote overwhelmingly for job action / Auto strategy needed after Chrysler decision: Unifor . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS t)BXLBJS"WJBUJPO4FSWJDFT5FSSBDF#$ Possible vacation blackout period. . . . . 3 t)BNMFUPG5BMPZPBL5BMPZPBL/VOBWVU Winter bonus days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 t,FO+PIOTPO5SVDLJOH-BOHMFZ#$ Double time for overtime . . . . . . . . . . . 4 t-FT.PVMJOTEF4PMBOHFT4BJOU1PMZD BNQF2VF'JWFEBZTMFBWFGPSCJSUIPS adoption of employee's child . . . . . . . . 4 t4BJO+PIO$POTUSVDUJPO"TTPDJBUJPO QSPWJODF XJEF /# .PPOMJHIUJOHXJMM | BY SABRINA NANJI | ALBERTAN WORKERS WILL be able to voice their opinions on the state of employment in the province after the government opened up consultations to the public — a move that foreshadows change. In March, the newly-formed Minis- try of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour launched a review of the province's Em berta Federation of Labour (AFL). However, some form of review is wel- come, McGowan notes, adding that Al- berta's is a unique case. The booming oil-rich province has steadily seen growth, and the most recent numbers from Statistics Canada indicate it was the only province to experience a Alberta set to overhaul employment standards code Labour groups, management wary Yellow Pages - Calgary pg. 1 Peace River School - Peace River, Alta. pg. 3 MTE Logistix - Edmonton pg. 3 Prince Edward Island Department of Health - Province-wide pg. 4 Government of Newfoundland and Labrador- Province-wide pg. 4 Olymel - Brampton, Ont. pg. 5 Holiday hullabaloo WHEN BRITISH COLUMBIA introduced Family Day as a statu- tory holiday, the working world heaved a sigh of relief. For most of us, the much-needed day off serves as a break smack dab in the middle of a harsh winter. But for employees at Walter Energy in Vancouver, the statu- tory holiday was not observed. Whereas the union demanded compensation for working on a government-designated day off, the employer argued that because Family Day was not ex- plicitly named in the collective agreement, it had to do no such thing. Arbitrator Mark Brown agreed with the latter. The collective agreement be- tween Walter Energy's Willow Creek Coal Partnership and the COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS ARBITRATION AWARDS Treasury Board president Tony Clement promised the government's new directive is not a "backdoor attempt" to slash public service employees. Credit: Chris Wattie (Reuters)

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