26 July 2013 - Statement by the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers: PAFSO Responds to Government's Rejection of Arbitration
Shortly before noon today, PAFSO received a letter from the President of the Treasury Board in which he rejected our offer of binding arbitration. Minister Clement's decision was based on the grounds that PAFSO would not accept all six of the preconditions he wanted to impose on the arbitration process.
The Canadian public must understand two key facts:
Two of Treasury Board's preconditions were so paralyzing that their acceptance would have predetermined the outcome of arbitration in the Government's favour and negated the purpose and integrity of the process. Specifically, they wanted to exclude from consideration any mention of other professional groups in government who perform the same work as us – often in neighbouring offices – which has been at the heart of our position since day one.
PAFSO made a reasonable and responsible effort at finding common ground by accepting two of the six preconditions, and committing to a goodwill gesture – a suspension of service withdrawals while arbitration is ongoing – which would have satisfied a third.
Let us be clear: PAFSO has not rejected binding arbitration. We offered it in the first place. We agreed to pursue it even with three of Treasury Board's preconditions. This offer still stands.
If Minister Clement truly believes his offer is “fair and reasonable”, he would not have shied away from arbitration without preconditions. Rather, he would have welcomed the opportunity to submit his offer to independent scrutiny. Instead, he sought to stack the deck in his favour by cherry-picking criteria which would have favoured Treasury Board's position. He is trying to tilt the playing field to the Government's advantage, and is clearly uninterested in a fair contest.
The Government has reached tentative agreements in two other long-outstanding contract negotiations during the last month, and will return to the table on Monday to address a third. PAFSO is one of the smallest unions in the federal government. Equal pay for our members could be achieved for $4.2 million – 1.5% of the impact this strike is having on the tourism sector alone. PAFSO can only conclude that the Government is behaving prejudicially toward the Foreign Service and is therefore negotiating in bad faith. This should be of serious concern to all Canadians.
Effective Monday, in order to persuade the Government that binding arbitration remains the responsible way forward to resolve our dispute, PAFSO members will withdraw all services until further notice at Canada's fifteen largest visa processing centres abroad: Abu Dhabi, Ankara, Beijing, Cairo, Delhi/Chandigarh, Hong Kong, London, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, Paris, Riyadh, Sao Paulo, and Shanghai.
We take no pleasure whatsoever in these strike actions and their real, severe, and mounting effects on the Canadian economy. But it should now be evident to all Canadians that from this point forward the Government of Canada bears sole and complete responsibility for these impacts. PAFSO has made every reasonable effort to resolve this situation; the Government has not. PAFSO encourages all individuals, businesses, and industry associations with a stake in the outcome of our dispute to intervene with the Government and urge them to bargain freely and flexibly with their own employees.
For immediate release
July 26, 2013
Ottawa – On July 26, the Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board, and Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Chris Alexander, made the following statement:
"The Government of Canada has put forward an offer to the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) that is fair to PAFSO members and taxpayers. We are disappointed that PAFSO was so quick to reject our willingness to enter into a binding arbitration process that the union itself requested.
"In the past month, the Government has reached tentative agreements with two unions representing aviation inspectors and correctional officers. These deals were reached because the bargaining agents' approaches were fair and reasonable.
"In contrast, PAFSO continues to insist on making unreasonable comparisons between substantively different jobs in the Public Service.
"We will continue to bargain in good faith and welcome constructive efforts to reach a timely and reasonable settlement that fully restores the diplomatic, consular and other services Canadians pay for and expect.
"In the meantime, we continue to take steps to ensure the timely processing of visas. The Canadian public is deeply concerned by PAFSO's willingness to disrupt international business, including tourism, during our busy spring and summer seasons.
"However, we want to reassure Canadians and our international friends that, despite PAFSO's actions, Canada remains open for business, and that we continue to welcome visitors and international students to experience Canada."
