Dear members,
As you will all have heard by now, our tentative agreement with Treasury Board was ratified by an absolute majority of our membership this past Friday. Of those who cast a ballot, over 95% did so in favour of the agreement reached on 9 May.
Tentative Agreement Ratified
I’ve said it before, this is a strong deal. The new agreement, in effect until June 30, 2026, not only represents strong economic gains for our members, but it also delivers several other important improvements to our conditions of employment.
We’re now working with the Treasury Board Secretariat to set a date for the formal signing of the agreement, which we hope will take place as soon as possible. We will be sure to keep you in the loop.
We have received several questions concerning the $2,500 signing bonus, so let me try to clarify things a bit. The signing bonus is only payable to employees in a FS position on the date that the new agreement is signed. While the actual signing date has yet to be scheduled, we expect that it will take place sometime in July or August. This means that any substantive FS in a FS position and any other employee acting in a FS position on the signing date will receive the bonus. Substantive FS acting outside the bargaining unit on that date will not qualify.
If you have any questions about the new agreement, do not hesitate to send them along to questions@pafso-apase.com. We will get back to you with answers as soon as we can.
Foreign Service Directives
Now that collective bargaining has concluded, our next major milestone is the deadline for our official input to the cyclical review of the Foreign Service Directives. Earlier this week, we met with members of the Consultative Committee to review the priorities that emerged from the membership survey in April. As I mentioned before, the results clearly showed that the vast majority of you are concerned with the economic erosion of the provisions, the lack of flexibility in the coverage they offer, and gaps in support for spouses and families. A deeper review of the data showed that travel provisions are another major issue, as are supports to members and dependents with disabilities. These are the overarching priorities I will be presenting to the Executive Committee at our June meeting.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will be holding focus groups on some of these issues with those of you who volunteered as part of the survey process, in order to get more specifics on disability/health, support to spouses and dependents, issues facing single employees, and support to those in high hardship missions. These discussions, along with consultations with our NJC partners, will inform our initial submission, which is due at the beginning of August. Paul Raven, our FSD expert, has compiled a list of over 200 proposals drawn from your comments in the survey and the cases and situations he has dealt with since the last cyclical review.
Throughout this process, it has become very clear that the problems with the Foreign Service Directives go well beyond the specific provisions and methodologies, and will require a more fundamental approach, starting with a return to the principles behind them. In parallel to our review of the existing directives, I’m working on a paper that we hope will provoke a discussion of whether or not the directives, and the implementation mechanisms surrounding them, remain fit for purpose in the 21st century. We will share these ideas with you as the discussion develops.
FSD32 – Daycare costs
Over the past few weeks, we’ve received a number of inquiries from members about the delay in the release of the 2023 rates, which are normally published in April. At the same time, we’ve heard from others who note that daycare costs in Ottawa have come down and are wondering when they will see that reflected in the level of the employee share at post.
Both of these are good questions, and they serve to highlight some of the complexities our office faces in representing members’ interests when it comes to the FSDs. Although the delay in the release of the new rates is something to be concerned about, in this case, there is a good reason behind it. When it comes to FSD32 and daycare assistance, there are two numbers to keep in mind: the employee share, which is the amount that employees have to contribute towards the cost of daycare for each of their children enrolled in daycare while abroad; and the daycare ceiling, which is the maximum amount that the Employer is able to pay for daycare for each child at each post. The employer share, which is supposed to be updated on April 1st each year, is based on the average cost of daycare in Ottawa. While each mission can set its own daycare ceiling, no daycare ceiling can be higher than three times the value of the employee share. It is that very requirement that has created a problem with this year’s rates, since this methodology did not anticipate developments, we have seen in Canada lately.
In a recent example provided to us by a member, the current (2022) employee share for an 18-month-old would be $1,581.73 and the ceiling (the maximum the Employer would pay, three times the employee share) would be $4,745.20. Right now, the employee would contribute the employee share of $1,581.73 and the Employer would have no problem covering the total monthly expense of $2,276.70 per month at that particular post because it is well below the ceiling of $4,745.20. However, if the average cost of daycare in Ottawa for an 18-month-old were to drop down to $300 per month, for example, then the ceiling would become $900 (three times $300). While a $300 per month employee share sounds great, a $900 ceiling would fall well below the actual cost of the daycare in our example. In that case, the actual cost of the daycare would exceed the ceiling by roughly $1,376, and the employee would have to pay both the employee share and the difference between the ceiling and the actual cost. We understand that there are places where daycare is significantly more expensive than in our example, and those costs would be even higher to employees.
Since the upcoming cyclical review is likely to take years, our FSD expert is working with TBS to get their agreement to approach the NJC Executive to change the methodology of this particular directive on an exceptional basis. Although we are hoping to have this in place within the next couple of months, 2022 rates will remain in place for now.
June 13 PAFSO Breakfast: FSDs and Informal wisdom for the upcoming posting season
Although the main focus of our 13 June PAFSO Breakfast will be on the upcoming posting season, PAFSO’s FSD expert, Paul Raven, will also provide us with a brief update on the cyclical review. Click here to register for the webinar. If you have specific questions you would like Paul to address during the session, please send them to info@pafso.com by noon on Monday, 12 June.
We’re hiring
PAFSO is currently looking to expand its Labour Relations team. We are seeking an experienced, proactive, and autonomous individual with excellent analytical and communications skills to add to our team of Labour Relations advisors. As part of PAFSO’s efforts to foster a workforce representative of the diverse FS community, we particularly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, women, people living with disabilities, persons of all races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities and expressions. If you know anyone who would be a good candidate for this position, please pass along this job posting, and feel free to share it on your social and professional networks.
bout de papier
I am pleased to announce that Adam Beauchemin has joined the bout de papier team. As Assistant to the Editor, Adam will help the editorial board set up networks of resources to establish a reliable pipeline for relevant content for the magazine. Adam comes to us with a broad experience from the magazine world, having worked with publications such as The Hockey News, Cottage Life and Capital Current.
Please join me in welcoming Adam to the team. And if you would like to contribute to an upcoming issue of our flagship magazine, please do not hesitate to drop him a line at Adam.Beauchemin@pafso-apase.com.
It’s been a very busy couple of weeks here at PAFSO. But, now, I think you’re up to date. If there’s anything concerning you about your situation at work, just reach out to us. Make sure to include your name, department, and a detailed description of the issues you are facing. We’ll connect you to one of our Labour Relations Advisors who will be happy to assist you. For all other questions, just email info@pafso.com and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
We’ll talk again in two weeks. In the meantime, check out my President’s Twitter account. If you want my take on current issues, politics, and anything else newsworthy that impacts on our profession, follow me at @PafsoPresApase.
Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.
All the best,
Pam Isfeld
President
@PafsoPresApase