Dear Members,
The chill in the air here in the NCR is undeniable. Fall is upon us, and with it comes a heightened risk of yet another COVID wave. Ottawa Public Health is reporting that all monitoring indicators are showing an increase of COVID-19 in the region. And as we head into the respiratory illness season and spend more of our time indoors, it becomes more important for everyone to keep up with the protective measures that have kept us healthy so far: limiting contacts, masking, and keeping up with our vaccinations.
Whether or not we find ourselves in an eighth wave, fall continues to be a busy season for us at PAFSO. Here’s what’s going on at the moment.
Annual General Meeting
We are just over two weeks away from our 57th Annual General Meeting. As I’ve mentioned before, the AGM is the perfect time to get more involved with your union and association. Join us virtually on Monday, 24 October at 1600, Ottawa time, to see what’s happening at PAFSO, to learn more about the vision for 2023, and to have your say on important issues like the budget. To participate, all you need to do is to send an email to agm-aga@pafso-apase.com with your name and department, and we will add you to our list of attendees. Registered participants will receive a formal invitation to the meeting with the MS Teams link. Ahead of the meeting, I invite you to consult various relevant reports on PAFSO’s programs and initiatives, our audited financial statements as well as the 2023 budget and the agenda via this link. I hope you’ll be able to join us.
Tradecraft Week
The Professional Committee is putting the final touches on the programming for our second annual Tradecraft Week. Throughout the week of the AGM, we will be holding several roundtables and panel discussions covering a wide range of topics from how to work with regional offices, assessing and managing hardship in a rotational Foreign Service, to the intricacies of multi-country coverage missions. These sessions are designed for peer-to-peer sharing of lessons learned, best practices, personal experiences and advice on how to do our work in the best way possible. The schedule should be finalized soon, so keep an eye on your inbox for more details.
Collective bargaining and the FSD cyclical review
Bargaining is about to get underway at the end of this month. Our lead negotiator, Paul Raven, will be meeting with the Employer at the bargaining table for an initial 3-day round starting on 25 October. We will be sure to keep you updated as the process unfolds.
As our FSD specialist, Paul will also be kept busy with the upcoming cyclical review of the directives. The National Joint Council has just submitted a call for proposals for the review, opening a six-month window within which we can put together our proposed amendments to the FSDs. And, as we always do, we want you to have your say throughout this process. In the coming months, we will be reaching out for your thoughts and input on how the FSDs can be improved better serve the FS community. If you would like to get more involved, we would also welcome your participation on PAFSO’s internal FSD Committee. Please reach out to our office via info@pafso.com if you would like to take part.
Competitions at GAC
The results of GAC’s FS-03 competition, and of the next phase of the EX-01 competition, have been released to candidates over the past couple of weeks. While we would like to congratulate the successful candidates, we understand that others may not be satisfied with the results. As always, your first step should be to ask for an informal discussion of your results and assessment. If you are not satisfied with the explanation you receive, and are considering filing a complaint about either competition, we recommend you check out PAFSO’s Staffing Complaint FAQ for information on possible recourse.
The first annual Randy Orr Memorial Award
I wish to thank everyone who took the time to nominate a colleague or to lend their name in support of a nomination for this award. I could not be more pleased with the enthusiasm and interest this first iteration of the Randy Orr Memorial Award has received. We received several excellent nominations and will be announcing the winner and two honourable mentions at a virtual event immediately after the AGM on Monday, 24 October. I hope you will consider joining us to help recognize your colleagues for their outstanding contributions.
2023 calendars and bout de papier
Many of you have been wondering about when you should be receiving the latest issue of bout. It turns out that we decided to wait a bit before mailing them out as we were about to receive the 2023 PAFSO desk calendar and wanted to send both out at the same time. I am pleased to say that the calendars have now arrived at the office, and we are beginning to work on mailing them out to you, bundled with the latest issue of bout de papier. Both should soon be arriving in your mailbox. If your physical mailing address has changed, make sure to let the office know so you don’t miss out. And while you’re waiting, you can check out a few of the latest articles online at boutdepapier.ca.
PAFSO Breakfast on Tuesday, October 18 at 0900: Meet our new General Manager
Bertrand Myre, PAFSO’s new General Manager, will be joining me for a virtual breakfast discussion on Tuesday, October 18 at 0900 Ottawa time. Many of you know Bert from his work with our Labour Relations Team, and this will give him an opportunity to discuss his new role and vision for PAFSO. We’ll also have a chance to review the issues that will be before the AGM on October 24, and to answer your questions. Please register for the session here.
That’s all for this week. As always, we’ll let you know if anything comes up before my next message in two weeks. I hope you will be able to attend the AGM on the 24th. Again, just send an email to agm-aga@pafso-apase.com with your name and department, and we will add you to our list of attendees. For all your concerns at work, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our General Manager, Bertrand Myre. Give him a detailed account of your concerns and he will connect you to one of our Labour Relations Officers. For just about everything else, just email info@pafso.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
We’ll chat again in a few weeks. In the meantime, I hope that those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving this long weekend will enjoy your time with friends and family. For everyone, please stay safe, and take good care of yourselves, and of each other.
All the best,
Pam Isfeld
President