The labour-management relationship in the public service will benefit
significantly from more dialogue, and less confrontation, between the parties.
The measures being taken to address this issue are to improve labour-management
consultation at the departmental level and enable co-development of workplace
improvements.
Why all these changes?
The Advisory Committee on Labour Management Relations in the Federal Public
Service, chaired by John Fryer was mandated in the Fall of 1999 by the Secretary
of the Treasury Board to undertake a thorough review of union, management and
collective bargaining relationships between the federal government and public
service unions.
In its first report (2000), the Fryer Committee indicated the need for a more
constructive labour-management relationship in order to build a public service
capable of meeting the challenges of the future. One of the key recommendations
of its second report (2001) was for the Public Service Staff Relations
Act to be amended to provide for consultation and co-development of
policies at the service-wide, departmental and workplace levels. Co-development
was described as the joint identification of problems and the analysis and
development of solutions by labour and management.
The Public Service Labour Relations Act and the amendments to the
Financial Administration Act came into force on April 1, 2005. These two
pieces of legislation were part of a larger process which began on November 7,
2003, with the implementation of the Public Service Modernization
Act.
The Public Service Modernization Act (PSMA) is the most significant
reform of federal human resources management in more than 35 years. It has four
main objectives:
- creating a more flexible framework, with adequate protections, to manage and
support employees and to attract the best people, when and where they are
needed;
- fostering more collaborative labour-management relations to ensure a
healthy and productive workplace;
- providing employees at all levels with better adapted and better integrated
learning and training opportunities; and
- clarifying the roles and reinforce the accountability of the
various human resources management stakeholders.
Public Service Labour Relations Act
The PSLRA will require each deputy head, in consultation with bargaining
agents, to establish a labour-management committee for their organization, which
will give unions and management the opportunity to discuss workplace issues of
joint interest.
The PSLRA provides for better dialogue, joint problem solving, mutually
agreed-upon solutions and more effective collective bargaining.
As all departments are required to establish informal conflict management
systems, the ability of managers and employees to resolve workplace disputes
informally will be improved. The Act enables managers, bargaining agents
and human resource advisors to work together to cultivate a climate of trust and
co-operation.
Financial Administration Act
The FAA gives deputy heads direct authorities for human
resources management. They were previously delegated these authorities by the
Treasury Board.
Deputy heads now have direct authority for the following:
- learning and development for their staff;
- provision of awards;
- establishment of disciplinary standards; and,
- termination or demotion measures, where appropriate.
When exercising these authorities, deputy heads are guided by Treasury Board
guidelines and the Values and Ethics Code for the public service.
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