NEWSLETTER// BULLETIN June 2022//juin 2022

Contents

Land acknowledgement
What you need to know about 699 leave
Fire at 70 Crémazie: Your union reps were on it!
Ottawa's annual report on public servant wrongdoing at IRCC
Do you know how to file a wrongdoing complaint?
Reconciliation means Free, Prior, and Informed Consent
Bargaining/ Info sur négociations
2022 CEIU National Scholarships/ Bourses nationales du SEIC

We acknowledge that our workplaces, located in NCR, are on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.

NEWS // ACTUALITÉS

What you need to know about 699 leave

The 699 leave provision is for "other leave with pay" and members can request it through their manager when they are unable to report to work for reasons beyond their control. This is different from sick leave and vacation time. You can find it in clause 53.01 from the PA collective agreement which states that "at its discretion, the Employer may grant: a. leave with pay when circumstances not directly attributable to the employee prevent his or her reporting for duty; such leave shall not be unreasonably withheld; b. leave with or without pay for purposes other than those specified in this agreement.

PSAC filed several policy grievances for restricting the use of 699 leave during pandemic. The Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board found the 699 leave policy breached PSAC’s collective agreement by requiring employees to exhaust other leave before 699 leave could be granted. See full decision here. However our employer has failed to implement the decision. The failure to implement the decision is causing significant confusion for members. More importantly, it is in direct violation of the collective agreement’s leave clauses.

The decision stipulates that the employer can’t force workers to exhaust all other leave options before considering requests for 699 leave for COVID-19 related reasons. This decision meant that PSAC members who filed individual grievances related to 699 leave would be able request the leave be reimbursed to their leave banks.

Requesting 699 leave

If you need leave related to COVID-19 or the recent storm in Ottawa, you should continue to request 699 leave. You must show that circumstances not directly attributable to you prevent you from reporting to work and alternative arrangements are not available or possible (for example, power outages, school closures). You may have to to be ready to answer if there are other places you could work, and show that you've made an effort to consider alternative working arrangements.

If your request is denied or you are forced to take other types of leave, reach out immediately to your union rep to discuss whether you should file an individual or group grievance, including a grievance citing discrimination on the grounds of sex, family status or disability.

Fire at 70 Crémazie: Your union reps were on it!

The Ottawa Citizen reported that "the city’s firefighters climbed to the roof of an 11-storey building at 70 Rue Crémazie to put out a fire that started on the roof. No injuries were reported in either incident."

Employees were asked to work from home until May 25 because of power outages but were not told there was a fire. The employer announced unexpectedly that the building will be open for employees to return to as of May 26.

Local 70705 Executive Secretary, Dinu Serbanescu, raised concerns with the employer that they had not reached out to the workplace health and safety committee (WHSC) to advise there had been a fire, nor to provide a report on the fire’s impact in the building and any potential hazards. We believe the workplace health and safety committee should have the opportunity to see the employer’s report, and conduct an inspection, prior to the building reopening. A message was sent about the fire to employees after this message was sent. The WHSC conducted an inspection of the building on Friday, May 27; inspecting floors 3 through 6, and climbed the stairs to the top floor.

Further, the WHSC discussed events and came to a consensus that in any future event, the WHSC should be

1. informed immediately by the employer, and

2. given the opportunity to inspect, review all relevant reports/emails, ask and receive responses to our questions prior to employees being recalled to the worksite. This step involving the WHSC should be written into the department's procedures. The WHSC will formally submit the recommendations to the employer and to the National Policy Health and Safety Committee after discussing them at the next WHSC meeting this month.

Ottawa's annual report on public servant wrongdoing

References to IRCC in the latest report

Date: 2021-08-10

Findings and Conclusions: a gross mismanagement in the public sector

Case Description: IRCC's Internal Disclosure Office received a complaint of wrongdoing by a Director at NHQ. It was alleged that the Director bullied and marginalized another employee under their supervision (including using vulgar language and inappropriate racial comments), failed to disclose a conflict of interest in the promotion of another employee in which a personal relationship existed and failed to disclose a conflict of interest in the approval of a sole-source contract with a third-party organization in which a financial stake was held.

Recommendations and Corrective Measures: While the Director resigned before the investigation was concluded, it has been recommended that IRCC senior officials ensure policy directives and oversight mechanisms are strengthened for prevention and early determination of potential similar acts of misappropriation. Management agrees with the report's recommendation and has developed an action plan to address the recommendation.

Find full report here.

Do you know how to file a wrongdoing complaint?

Do you believe you have witnessed wrongdoing and want to blow the whistle to preserve the integrity and trust in the federal public sector? Here’s how you can disclose wrongdoing to the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner (PSIC). Of course, your union representative can accompany you in any disclosure.

Employees in most organizations have a choice of three safe and confidential channels for making a disclosure of wrongdoing: to your supervisor, to your organization’s Senior Officer for disclosure, or to the independent PSIC.

The disclosure process is confidential. Your identity and other information regarding a disclosure will be protected, to the extent possible under applicable laws and certain legal principles.

The PSDPA contains strong measures to protect you from reprisal if you make a disclosure in good faith. The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal has the power to determine if a reprisal has occurred and order corrective action, such as compensation, as well as disciplinary action for those found to have taken the reprisal action.

Senior officers for disclosure of wrongdoing (Accessible on Government of Canada Network only)

Senior officials for public service values and ethics (Accessible on Government of Canada Network only)

Departmental representatives for the prevention and resolution of harassment in the workplace (Accessible on Government of Canada Network only)

The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act defines wrongdoing as one or more of the following:

A contravention of any Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province, or of any regulations made under any such Act, other than a contravention of section 19 of this Act;
A misuse of public funds or a public asset;
A gross mismanagement in the public sector;
An act or omission that creates a substantial and specific danger to the life, health or safety of persons, or to the environment, other than a danger that is inherent in the performance of the duties or functions of a public servant;
A serious breach of a code of conduct established under section 5 or 6; and
Knowingly directing or counselling a person to commit a wrongdoing set out in any of paragraphs (a) to (e).

The Act is intended to address wrongdoing that could seriously impact the public’s confidence in the integrity of the public service. It is not intended to address matters of a personal nature, such as individual harassment complaints or individual workplace grievances. These matters should continue to be addressed through procedures available to deal with such concerns.

When you want to make a disclosure, you can choose between a

supervisor;
designated Senior Officer in your organization;
directly to our Office;

The Act includes explicit confidentiality provisions to protect your identity to the extent possible, as well as the information obtained in the course of the Office’s investigation.

Upon receipt of your form, the disclosure will be reviewed and recommendations will be made to the Commissioner as to whether sufficient information has been provided to suggest that an investigation is warranted. The Commissioner will decide whether to launch an investigation to determine if wrongdoing has occurred or not. As the discloser, you will be kept informed throughout the process. See PSIC flow chart on how a file is processed for more information.

Does individual harassment constitute wrongdoing under the Act? Harassment can be a very serious matter. However, it is generally not considered wrongdoing under the Act. The Act is intended to address wrongdoing that could seriously impact the public’s confidence in the integrity of the public service. It is not intended to address matters of a primarily personal nature, such as individual harassment complaints.

Individual harassment complaints are more appropriately dealt with under IRCC’s harassment policy or Treasury Board Secretariat’s Directive on the Prevention and Resolution of Workplace Harassment and Violence.

LEGAL ADVICE: You may wish to seek legal advice before filing a disclosure or wrongdoing or during the process, but you are not required to bring legal counsel, a union representative or any other type of representation.

The Commissioner has the authority to approve access to funding for legal advice to any person involved in a complaint or investigation, with the following considerations:

A contribution of $1,500 is available to assist with legal representation.
In exceptional circumstances, up tp $3,000 may be provided for access to legal advice.
You must not have access to free legal advice by other means.
You may also qualify to receive legal advice if you are considering making a complaint, but have not already done so.

Request for Funding for Legal Advice Form.

Submit wrongdoing complaint online here or contact the Office’s general information line at: 1-866-941-6400.

Reconciliation means Free, Prior, and Informed Consent

Indigenous peoples of this land appeared before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) on June 2, 2022, for licensing hearings on the Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River, also known as a giant radioactive waste dump.

Five Algonquin First Nations say they have not been adequately consulted about the plan and DO NOT CONSENT to the licensing of the facility at this time. The proposed NSDF is a plan by a multinational consortium (SNC-Lavalin, Fluor and Jacobs) to pile up one million tonnes of radioactive and hazardous wastes in a gigantic landfill beside the Kitchi Sibi / Ottawa River on unceded traditional Algonquin territory.

The proponent’s own studies show that the giant mound would leak and disintegrate long before radioactive components like plutonium decayed to a harmless state. However, the staff of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission are recommending that the license be approved.

We call on the CNSC to respect their legal right to free, prior, and informed consent before making a decision on this project.

Bargaining

As you may have heard by now, PSAC has declared impasse at the Treasury Board bargaining table.

When inflation is creeping to 6.8% and the employer is only offering an average 1.7% per year over a four-year agreement, it's time to think about our next steps and getting ready to take action.

Please consider signing up for the various mobilization events:

Attend a bargaining townhall: PA Group June 20 at 7:00 p.m.

Register for the regional mobilization summit Tuesday June 16, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Learn how to take action, build regional strike structures, have difficult one-on-one conversations about going on strike, and brainstorm about what a strike looks like during a pandemic. Loss of salary will be reimbursed. Family care will be available. Application deadline June 5.

Info sur négociations

Comme vous l'avez peut-être déjà entendu, l'AFPC a déclaré l'impasse à la table de négociation du Conseil du Trésor.

Lorsque l'inflation atteint 6,8 % et que l'employeur n'offre qu'une moyenne de 1,7 % par année sur une convention de quatre ans, il est temps de penser aux prochaines étapes et de se préparer à passer à l'action.

Veuillez considérer de vous inscrire aux divers événements de mobilisation énumérés

Assistez à une réunion publique de négociation Groupe PA le 20 juin à 19 h.

Inscrivez-vous au sommet de mobilisation régionale mardi 16 juin, de 9 h à 16 h 30.

Apprenez à passer à l'action, à mettre en place des structures de grève régionales, à avoir des conversations difficiles en tête-à-tête sur le fait de se mettre en grève, et à faire un brainstorming sur ce à quoi ressemble une grève pendant une pandémie. La perte de salaire sera remboursée. Un service de garde familiale sera disponible. La date limite d'inscription est le 5 juin.

2022 CEIU National Scholarships

CEIU is once again pleased to be offering National Scholarships to CEIU members in good standing, their spouse, their common-law partner, and/or their dependant(s). The scholarships are offered from the “royalties” CEIU receives from The Personal Insurance as well as the BMO CEIU Master Card, from the business they both receive from CEIU members. Click here for further information on the 2022 CEIU National Scholarships and for a copy of the Application Form. The deadline to send the completed application form and necessary documents is 4 p.m. (Ottawa time) on August 26^th, 2022.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the CEIU National Office by email at: national@ceiu-seic.ca

Bourses nationales du SEIC pour 2022

Encore cette année, le SEIC est heureux d’offrir des bourses nationales aux membres en règle du SEIC, à leur conjointe ou conjoint, à leur conjointe ou conjoint de fait et/ou à leur(s) personne(s) à charge. Les bourses sont offertes à partir des « redevances » que le SEIC reçoit de l’assurance LaPersonelle ainsi que de la carte de crédit BMO SEIC, deux entreprises avec qui nos membres peuvent recevoir de meilleurs taux. Cliquez ici pour de plus amples informations sur les bourses nationales 2022 du SEIC, ainsi que pour une copie du formulaire de demande. La date limite pour envoyer le formulaire de demande dûment rempli et les documents nécessaires est 16 h (heure d’Ottawa) le 26 août 2022.

Si vous avez des questions, n’hésitez pas à communiquer avec le bureau national du SEIC par courriel à l’adresse suivante : national@ceiu-seic.ca

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