September 12, 2005

REPORT OF UMCC HR SUB-COMMITTEE MEETING

ADM HR Civ opened the meeting by welcoming everyone back after the summer and congratulating all on their recent elections/re-elections. Brother Hugh Price advised that he would be co-chairing in the absence of Brother Yves Ducharme.

The agenda and minutes of the June 7, 2005 meeting were accepted.

Old Business:

PSMA and Public Service Labour Relations Act – presented by Louise Teckles . All the related policies (DAODs) have been completed and posted on the ADM HR Civ website.

Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) – presented by Louise Teckles . Implementation date has been confirmed as December 31, 2005 . All on-going staffing actions in progress at that time will continue under the current PSEA. Staffing actions commenced as of January 1, 2006 will fall under the revised act.

Ms Teckles gave a very in-depth presentation on progress to date and the way ahead. She identified that consultation with the stakeholders took place in June/July 2005 and that written comments had been received from UNDE and one other bargaining agent.

The unions again voiced their concerns that serving military will be permitted to apply for civilian positions and the foreseen abuses in the staffing processes. The unions asked how far down the management chain will the staffing delegation be? Who will be responsible and how will staffing actions be monitored in the regions? ADM HR Civ stated the same concerns were expressed by some Managers at the Civilian Human Resources Planning and Coordination Committee (CHRPCC) meeting held September 8, 2005 . But at this time, the answer to either question has not been confirmed.

Slide 6 – Ms Teckles stated that the HR Plans should include perspective Employment Equity staffing initiatives. And that the HR plans should be open and transparent and should be discussed at the various level of the organization. Brother Luesby, PIPSC, stated that his experience has been that Managers take the “allowed vs should” approach to some staffing initiatives; whereas, open communications, transparency and fairness should prevail. Brother Taylor stated that Managers’ activities should be reflected in their Performance Management Evaluation.

UNDE raised a concern that representation is not permitted at a post board because it is not a formal process and that the unsuccessful candidate may not know what information to look for or what questions to ask. It was agreed that there should be a trust and sharing of Human Resources Plans and processes. The person accompanying should be permitted to participate at the post board in an attempt to avoid a formal appeal process. Common sense should prevail.

Slide 18 – bullet 3 – who would represent a military candidate?

Slide 28 – CIF (coming into force) 31 December 2005 . Existing lists can remain valid until June 2006.

Slide 29 – example, an employee on staff as of December 30 having been on staff as a casual for 120 days, could be offered a new casual contract for an additional 90 days on January 1, 2006.

Joint training – Management and Labour (not jointly facilitated) – is being offered by the Department. Unions were asked to canvas their constituency to see where the interest to participate lies and to provide names back to the ULO.

Brother Taylor identified that the Canada School of the Public Service offers PSMA training to the unions at no charge to encourage the unions to attend. The “Get Ready” Information sessions offered were also recommended. Further information can be obtained by contacting Lorraine Villeneuve, PSC Strategic Staffing Consultant at (613) 943-3079 or lorraine.villeneuve@psc-cfp.gc.ca

UNDE cannot stress again how important it will be that the UNDE Executives monitor staffing actions in their immediate locations and regions . UNDE will have to identify perceived abuses, ie, qualifications requested specific to the military that have no civilian equivalency; civilianizing a military position so that a military person can parachute in. One of the Bargaining Agents stated that the changes to the PSEA will set us back 10-15 years.

For the latest information on the new PSEA, visit:

Public Service Modernization – www.psmod-modfp.gc.ca

New PSEA website – www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/psea-lefp

Recruitment Strategies – presentation by Louise Teckles . Activities identified to date include: reinforcing Management’s participation at job fairs; the apprenticeship program; flyers/pamphlets advertising “employer of choice”.

Ms Teckles stated that the Recruitment Strategy Committee, currently comprised of HR personnel, is intending to expand to include a Management and Labour representative.

UNDE asked how and where the $1.8M funded for the 2005-2006 apprenticeship program was allocated. Ms Teckles responded that Commands submitted business cases and that quarterly reporting is required to monitor that the monies are being used in accordance with the submitted business case. She also stated that it has not been confirmed if additional funding will be available.

Brother Taylor requested a more detailed breakdown of the allocated funding and also asked for a report on funding that may have been received from other sources for recruitment initiatives (received after meeting).

Retention Strategies - presentation by Louise Teckles . Ms Teckles stated that there is an anticipation of a high level of retirements over the next 5 to 7 years. In the scale of percentages, 7.5% is considered high; DND’s current percentage is 4.6%.

In reference to retention issues, UNDE raised a concern that some members may be leaving DND for other departments because of the inflexibility of DND to waive the requirement of degrees for specific functions. UNDE identified that examples have been provided where other departments are willing to accept a “secondary school diploma or an acceptable combination of education, training and/or experience”.

ADM HR Civ stated that there is flexibility and waivers have been granted especially at the entry levels. After we talked ourselves around in circles about waivers and the wording of competition posters, it was agreed that UNDE would meet with DGRCHRS to discuss this matter further and the specific issues forwarded by the Nova Scotia Region.

Employment Equity . UNDE submitted the following questions:

1. Workforce analysis Date complete with numerical goals.
2. Status of EE Action Plan.
3. Status on Training requirements identified in the CHRC Audit.
4. Updated report on hiring under the CF Program (report begins March 2001).
5. Report on hirings under the new Veterans’ Act. Have there been any. If so, how many and where.

1. Workforce Analysis Data – Ms Teckles reported that DND has improved its overall representation but needs to work on certain occupations - Scientific and Professional, Technical and Operational particularly in middle and higher level positions and particularly for visible minorities.

DND reported the following statistics as of July 2005:

Persons with Disabilities - 5.8% vs LMA of 4.0%
Visible Minorities - 5.1% vs LMA of 5.9%
Aboriginal People - 2.4% vs LMA of 2.3%
Women - 39.5% vs LMA of 40.4%

In comparison, the statistics provided as of December:

Persons with Disabilities - 5.6% vs LMA (2001 Census) of 4.0%
Visible Minorities - 5.0% vs LMA of 6.0%
Aboriginal People - 2.1% vs LMA of 2.3%
Women - 38.7% vs LMA of 40.3%

2. DGCESP is working with DGLPD and a consultant to assess the information on hand and to determine the way ahead.

3. Diversity training is being coordinated by the Learning Centres. Since April 1, 2005 , nine (9) courses have been conducted with 130 military and civilian participants. Good feedback has been received from the participants. Mark Paine has been appointed as the Director for Diversity.

4. CF Disabled Program - Since 2001, DND has had 100 appointments of military disabled - in 2004 there were 34, in 2005 there have been 26 to date.  Currently there are 53 mil disabled in the system compared to 2 civilian disabled.

 5. No appointments as yet. Changes take effect January 1, 2006 .

UNDE identified that due to a breakdown in communications, the Ontario EAP RAP has been cancelled this year. Although alternate arrangements were discussed in a timely fashion to resolve the concerns raised by UNDE, nothing was done. It was further stated that UNDE, as well as the other Bargaining Agents, wholeheartedly support EAP as a very beneficial program for our members. And that it is unfortunate that such a worthwhile forum had to be cancelled.

DGLPD reported that the DND Mentoring Program has been approved by CHRPCC. A 1-year pilot project will commence in November 2005 with approximately 20-30 pairings. This program is open to all classifications, however, the mentor should be a minimum of two levels higher than the person being mentored. More information will be posted on the ADM HR Civ website.

PIPSC identified that a civilian dress code has been implemented in Kingston and although it was attempted to resolve the issue at the lowest level, no policy could be found to support the union’s position and subsequent grievances have been filed. DGLRC stated that there is no policy on civilian dress. UNDE responded that there is, it is the Canada Labour which addresses dress in regards to health and safety. Otherwise, UNDE agreed, no dress code exists. Making a presumption of where the majority of CS employees are located in Kingston , UNDE also has members in that workplace. Since this issue could impact on these members also, UNDE agreed to follow-up with higher Management.

Brother Taylor identified that a competition was conducted whereby the poster identified military occupation codes (MOCs). Based on the concerns raised by IBEW, the poster was amended to include the civilian equivalencies and the competition was extended for one week. Brother Taylor further identified the LCMM positions and the perceived “Military pool”. Brother Taylor reinforced that LCMM positions are EL 6 positions and there is no military pool.

Brother Price commented on the proposed new grievance forms will apparently only be available on line and they are not in the multiple copies format that we have now. Brother Price reminded ADM HR Civ that not everyone has access to a computer and asked if alternate arrangements will be made? To be followed up.

DGLRC advised that the Recourse Committee recommended that grievances be centralized. Therefore, as of January 1, 2006 control of grievances will be centralized with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) under DGLRC with regards to intake and tracking. It is forecasted that five additional staff will be hired for this function.

DGLRC further advised that three focus groups were consulted on the issue of time off for union business – Labour, Management and the HR Community. All groups agreed that the current arrangement of local agreements should continue to be the way of doing of business. It was also agreed that high level guidance, encouraging reasonableness and cooperation, should be developed.

Fraternally,

M.L. Chamberlain