The Honourable Scott Brison,
President of the Treasury Board,
Dear Minister,
We are pleased to have written confirmation from Mr. Carl Trottier, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, that the Government of Canada will not exercise the powers contained in Bill C-59 (Division 20) to unilaterally implement a disability and sick leave management system.
Further, we welcome Mr. Trottier’s affirmation (repeated in Chief Human Resources Officer Anne-Marie Smart’s recent communication to PSAC National President Robyn Benson) that the Government of Canada will repeal the relevant provisions of Bill C-59.
We write to congratulate and thank you for the action you have taken with respect to this egregious law introduced by the previous government and we look forward to its repeal, which Mr. Trottier said (in this second email of January 21, 2016) would be one of the Government’s first orders of business.
However, we are also writing to convey our very serious concern with the message both Mr. Trottier and Ms. Anne Marie Smart conveyed with respect to Bill C-4. As you know, all of the bargaining agents of the federal public service opposed the changes to labour law that the previous government made through this Bill. We made our position clear in a variety of ways, including through presentations to various Committees of the House of Commons and Senate, and to individual Members of Parliament on both sides of the House. We have also made clear through our legal challenge of the law that we view the changes to our collective bargaining process to be unconstitutional and contrary to the principles of underlying labour law. Therefore, we are in strong disagreement with your proposal to revisit Bill C-4 through consultations with “public sector partners.” What we ask instead is that you and the Government of Canada move quickly to repeal the amendments to labour law contained in Bill C-4, as you are proposing to do with Division 20 of Bill C-59.
Bill C-4 is a violation of the rights of our members. It stands in the way to fair and productive collective bargaining. It is legislation imposed by the previous government that, along with Bill C-59, was designed to radically alter the labour relations regime for the federal public service without consultation. We urge you to put things back as they were so that our unions and the Treasury Board Secretariat can move forward for the benefit of the public service and Canadians.
Yours sincerely,
Robyn Benson (PSAC)
Debi Daviau (PIPSC)
Emmanuelle Tremblay (CAPE)
Jason Godin (UCCO-SACC-CSN)
Timothy Hodges (PAFSO)
Milt Isaacs (ACFO)
Len MacKay (AJC)
Cathie Fraser (RCEA)
Daniel Boulet (IBEW)
Greg McConnell (CFPA)
Mark Boucher (CMSG)
Jean-Marc Noel (CMCFA)
Jerry Ryan (FGDTLC-E)
Des Rogers (FGDTLC-W)
Allan Hughes (Unifor)
Richard Cashin (FGDCA)
Doug Best (CATCA-Unifor)
Ron Girardin (Unifor)