Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Civilian PS workers will be sent to Afghan war zone

'Generally voluntary' six-month missions to start next year

David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen

The Defence Department cleared the way last night to send federal public servants to the front lines in Afghanistan with an unprecedented new directive that will see workers serving overseas for six months at a time.

With the guidelines now in place, the head of the Defence Department's largest union said he expects federal public servants to be in Kandahar by next year.

The e-mail detailing the directive was leaked to the Citizen last night and comes the same day Defence Department officials told the newspaper they were not in negotiations with their largest union to send federal employees on international missions.

The e-mail was sent to senior defence officials by Shirley Siegel, assistant deputy minister for human resources, civilian branch. The directive, she says, "provides guidance" for sending civilian workers overseas.

"Assignment of such civilians is generally voluntary," according to the e-mail.

Public servants sent on international military operations will not be allowed to carry weapons, Ms. Siegel added.

Some job descriptions will also have to be changed for those positions that might involve overseas work, she noted.

The Union of National Defence Employees initially had reservations about allowing its members to be sent overseas. But union president John MacLennan said the labour organization supports the new policy since it provides public servants with many of the same benefits that Canadian troops have in Afghanistan. The union represents 15,500 workers.

Under the terms of the agreement, the public servants would not be allowed to leave the Canadian base in Afghanistan, Mr. MacLennan said. The workers would receive separation allowance, danger pay and liability insurance in case of injury or death, among other benefits, he added.

Mr. MacLennan said he was told by Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier that he wants the federal workers to be part of overseas operations.

"To what degree still has to be defined," said Mr. MacLennan. "Is it going to be 100 people or 10 people?"

The federal workers could include plumbers, electricians, clerks, cooks and mechanics, he said.

Although public servants have previously done one- or two-week stints in war zones to repair specific equipment, this will be the first time they have been assigned to a military mission for an extended period, Mr. MacLennan said.

He said the union has been in negotiations with the Defence department since September 2004 on the issue.

That's not what the department said earlier yesterday. "The Department of National Defence civilian labour relations division is not conducting any negotiations with the Union of National Defence Employees on the matter of civilians deployed to operations," Robert Newman, communications manager for the assistant deputy minister human resources, civilian branch, said in an e-mail to the Citizen.

He said the Defence department does consult with labour unions representing the civilian employees on a regular and frequent basis when policies and guidelines are being developed. Mr. Newman did not mention the new directive that Ms. Siegel said was posted on the department's website yesterday. An agenda for a Dec. 2 meeting between the union and the department obtained by the Citizen details the discussions dealing with compensation and benefits for civilian workers sent on international operations. One presentation outlined the criteria for sending public servants overseas and noted that, for example, a federal worker sent to Kabul would earn $2,139 in monthly allowances.

Mr. MacLennan suggested the Defence department at first denied the negotiations were ongoing because it was trying to mislead the public on the issue over concerns about any negative fallout during the federal election. "Maybe the minister (Bill Graham) might get a rash from it politically," he said.

Mr. Graham is a strong supporter of Canada's presence in Afghanistan but some critics have recently raised concerns that the mission is becoming too dangerous and Canadian Forces will be bogged down in the country for a lengthy period.

Mr. MacLennan said there is interest and support among his union members for going to Afghanistan. "I just came through all the Ontario bases and through Alberta and some (union members) are saying 'I want to go'," he added.

Private industry is already performing some duties in support of the troops in Afghanistan but Mr. MacLennan said there are jobs they can't do, such as maintaining and repairing light armored vehicles. Having public servants do that job would ease the workload on the troops who are now doing such duties, he added.