National Defence
Consultation Team
Winter 2015
DND Consultation:
2014 Reports
COMMUNICATION IS KEY
It’s an exciting time to be involved both consultation and
communications within PIPSC! Our first ever Consultation
Symposium was a fantastic success and the DND Consultation Team played a key leadership role in that event. We
received a lot of recognition for our efforts and we are well
positioned to influence the Institute’s way forward with regards to consultation.
Within our team, we continue to use a variety of means to
communicate and co-ordinate. Though we had some challenges arranging our in-person regional team meetings this
year, we have reorganized our online collaboration tools to
be more effective and our National Executive had our first
online meeting.
In the big picture, PIPSC communications fundamentally
changed in 2014 and is evolving rapidly. President Daviau
has broken new ground on member engagement and com-
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
President’s Report . 2
CFHS Report ........... 4
Carling Campus
Update..................... 6
Prairie Region
Report ..................... 6
DND ADM(Mat) Engineering Forum
Report ..................... 8
Team contacts ......... 8
Next Issue ............... 9
munication with her telephone town halls and our Better
Together campaign has us talking about our union and our
issues with a confident, cohesive voice.
Social media use has hit critical mass among our activists;
look no further than the 2014 National AGM for evidence of
this. We saw a flurry of Tweets and Facebook updates before, during and after the event. Many of those Tweets
were re-Tweeted by other unions and union-friendly organizations across Canada. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that
the most active members on social media are also on consultation teams.
I hope you enjoy the 2014 reports newsletter and look forward to communicating with many of you in 2015.
Matt Vanner
It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind,
too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise
most effectively have prevailed. —Charles Darwin
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
To my fellow PIPSC members
and especially those working
within the Department of National Defense, I am pleased to
present my report for the 2014
calendar year.
The continuous pressure applied by the DND Consultation
Team with the support of the
Office of the President of
PIPSC has resulted in a change in the default staffing practice for Mental Health workers in the department. Managers within the Health Services Group have
been instructed to hire Public Service Mental Health work2
ers instead of issuing contracts to outside agencies.
There are already a number
of staffing pools for Nurses
(NU), Physiologists (PS),
and Social Workers (SW)
which are actively being
used to fill vacancies.
The next step in our plan to
help the department improve the value and quality
of the Health Care services
it delivers is to target the
provision of Physiotherapy
service. While there are a
number of contracted Physiotherapists providing service to National Defence,
the DND Consultation team
is in the process of creating
a business case to illustrate
the fact that public service
workers are less expensive
and the resulting quality of
“Continuous pressure applied by the DND Consultation Team with the
support of the Office of the President of PIPSC has resulted in a change in
the default staffing practice for Mental Health workers in the department. “
care is better and far more
manageable by the Wing
and Base surgeons responsible for patient care.
Deputy Minister Richard
Fadden was informed at the
National Union Management Consultation Committee (UMCC) that the Institute would be creating business cases and he agreed to
review them through the
Defence Renewal initiatives
and Blue Print 20/20 initiative for reinvestment of savings within the department.
It is our hope that these savings will relieve some of the
pressure placed on managers and result in the use of
public service employees
instead of contract workers.
Privatization activities are
being monitored by the Institute staff, consultation
teams, stewards and active
members. There must be
continued effort on all
fronts in order to make the
public aware of expensive
and wasteful contractingout of work. Our message
continues to be that the interests of the Canadian public are best served when the
work is being performed
cost effectively by public
workers and we will provide
the data to back up that
message.
3
With your help, we will continue to speak out against
“outsourcing”, “insourcing”
or “alternate service delivery” simply for political ideology reasons and not by
evidence based research and
data. In solidarity,
Glenn Maxwell
President
DND National Consultation
“Privatization activities are being monitored by the Institute
staff, consultation teams, stewards and active members. “
2014 CFHS REPORT
This year was marked by several changes to the committee composition: Every
member changed in the last
year. Unfortunately this significantly altered the group
dynamic and resulted in difficulties moving issues forward.
Our most pressing issue no
doubt was professional dues
reimbursement. Several
members experience lengthy
delays getting reimbursed
last fiscal year. Apparently
the delegation instrument
was cancelled by the Treasury Board (no doubt in an
4
attempt to save money). The
employer agreed that although the collective agreement creates an obligation to
pay they pointed out that it
does not create the mechanism for reimbursement.
The Surgeon General’s office
ultimately had had to create
a new instrument which will,
hopefully, prevent a reoccurrence in the future.
We continue to address the
issue of contracting out. Unfortunately due to the effect
of the current government’s
fiscal policy the Branch continues to employ approxi-
mately 400 contractors in
Health service position in
spite of the fact that PIPSC
is certified as the exclusive
bargaining agent. The employer claims that Calian
contractors are only to be
used as temporary replacements or when they are unable to attract Public Servants. This is of particular
importance given that we
branch has a well developed
continuing education plan
for its uniformed members
so this isn’t foreign to them.
After initially refusing to
consult, they did provide a
draft of their guidelines.
This continues to be a work
in progress but at least they
seem committed to codevelopment of this policy.
We also were able to have
some constructive discussion around performance
management. We Pointed
out the disciplinary nature
of the measures contained
in this policy and warned
are in a collective bargaining cycle. How effective is
job action if you have as
many employees as contractors in the workplace?
In accordance with Article
18 of the SH collective
agreement we requested
consultation on the development of selection criteria for
continuing education. The
them that grievances are
likely to follow if they are
used in name of performance management.
I’m optimistic the committee will mature and become
more effective in the upcoming year.
In solidarity,
Richard Smith, PT
Union-management
consultation is the forum to raise issues,
share information, advice and concerns
about programs, policies and procedures,
with a view to resolving
issues.
Generally speaking,
any issue of general
(not personal) interest
can be discussed.
Topics for consultation
could include work environment issues, performance appraisal
processes, workload
distribution, employer
policies and directives,
reorganization and
workforce adjustment,
appointment processes
and area of selection,
staffing of vacant positions, recruitment and
retention, career development and training,
job classification, employee assistance programs, use of employer
e-mail, etc.
PIPSC Pocket Guide
on Consultation
5
The following are excerpts of a DND presentation regarding the
move to Carling Campus.
Current NDHQ NCA real
property:
· 70+ locations (48 leases, frequent moves, not
economically sustainable)
· Significant infrastructure, IT and security deficiencies
· 20,400 military and
civilian personnel
PRAIRIE REGION REPORT
Greetings from the Prairies!
Back in April our DND National Consultation exec
(Glenn Maxwell, Pete Jozsa,
and Matt Vanner) and I had
the opportunity to meet
with 5 stewards over a day
and a half in Edmonton.
This was the first regional
DND Consultation meeting
we have held in the Prairie
region, and while it was a
small group we were able to
cover most of the bases in
the region. Our agenda included an introduction to
Consultation, communication and collaboration tools,
the role of the National
Team and current national
· Poses significant challenges to operate effectively and efficiently
Numerous Transformation/Defence Renewal
initiatives being implemented
Clear desire to find operational efficiencies, increase collaboration and
improve strategic effectiveness
Principles of Move
• Optimize and eliminate
existing leases
• Transform Campus to
WP 2.0 to accommodate
8500 people
• Use Campus as a catalyst for change
• Enhance Security
• Consolidate Security
Zones
6
Photos from the new NDHQ Carling Campus.
issues being dealt with. We
were also able to get into
local and region issues within the Prairies. During these
talks it was discovered that
there are some
base\detachments where
local UMCC's are not taking
place or there is no PIPSC
representation. We have
been working to resolve this
to ensure all our members
are being represented. In
2016 we will be hosting another larger DND Prairie
Regional meeting and I
hope that we can get as
many of our stewards as
possible to attend. This is a
great opportunity to net-
“In 2016 we will be hosting another larger DND Prairie Regional meeting and I hope that we can get as many of our stewards
as possible to attend!”
work with your fellow stewards as well as provide feedback to the National team as
to what our issues are in the
Prairies as well as get firsthand information about
what issues the National
team is handling.
Finally I would like to take
this opportunity to remind
everyone to ensure that they
try to find a balance between work and home. I
know for myself trying to
find a balance between
home\work\union can at
times be overwhelming.
Most members myself included are in work environments that are short staffed
yet the work load is ever increasing. Demands on our
time are ever increasing yet
there is still only 24 hours
in the day. Please ensure
that you are taking time for
yourself to relax and unwind. If you are in a situation where you need to talk
with someone please do so,
the Employee Assistance
Program (EAP) is a great
resource for you to use.
Please if you need it make
the call, 1-800-268-7708
(or 1-800-567-5803 for persons with a hearing impairment) the service is free!
Carmen Payne
7
NATIONAL DEFENCE
CONSULTATION TEAM
REGIONAL LEADS
Everett Scott, Atlantic
[email protected]
Mario Guertin, Québec
[email protected]
Tom Zaharopoulos, Ontario
[email protected]
Carmen I. Payne, Prairies
[email protected]
Efrain Andia Rodriguez
B.C. \ Yukon
[email protected]
Richard J. Smith , CFHS
[email protected]
Matthew R. MacLeod, DRDC
[email protected]
Additional reps and contact info
can be found on the DND consultation website on www.pipsc.ca
National Defence
Consultation Team
Executive
President:
Glenn Maxwell
[email protected]
Vice President:
Pete Jozsa
[email protected]
Communications Director:
Matt Vanner
[email protected]
ERO (national):
Huguette Chevrier
[email protected]
Admin Support (national):
Caroline Létourneau
[email protected]
250 Tremblay Road
Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 3J8
Tel.: 613-228-6310/ 1-800-267-0446
Fax: 613-228-9048/ 1-800-465-7477
DND ADM(MAT) ENGINEERING
FORUM REPORT
Editor’s note: The ADM(Mat) Engineering Forum is an annual
consultative event and this report
was provided by Lynn Mayes who
was recently appointed as our
new Eng Sector Rep for DND Consultation. Welcome to the team
Lynn!
state of the Engineer-in-training
(EIT) program. This program was
launched in 2001 in an effort to
address a growing gap in the aging
engineering demographics and to
improve succession planning. His
report showed apparent healthy
functioning of graduates of the
program with about 90% of graduADM(Materiel) Civilian and Miliates receiving “working at level” or
tary engineers were welcomed by
above on Civilian Performance
the Engineering Champion Mr
Review Reports (CPRRs). During
Andre Fillion who gave an update
the years of workforce reductions,
on the state of the general employvery few EITs were accepted into
ment scene in ADM(Mat) postthe program. It has been recomDRAP. It appears that ADM(Mat)
mended to Material Group Manin general has met its reduction
agement Committee (MGMC), that
targets through normal attrition,
future hires into this 3 year proretirement etc.
gram be held at 15 hires/year. This
A presentation was made by Ms.
recommendation has been acceptJennifer Hubbard, Director of Mat ed.
Group Management Coordination
Mr. Gary Corbett presented an
(DMGMC). This directorate has
update to work being done to finaltaken over responsibilities for J2,
ize expected competencies for the
the General Safety Program, Mat
Engineering levels. Competency
Group accommodations, secession
profiles have been broken down
management and performance
into 5 work domains or work
management. Mat group has restreams and 4 major areas of exduced in engineering positions
pertise. There is to be expected
from 614 in 2012 to 579 in 2014.
levels of proficiencies by each subEngineer numbers in the 04, 05,
element for each level, i.e. ENG 04,
and 06 levels remained relatively
05 or 06. Information is soon to be
steady. The hardest hits were in
available on DMGMC website. This
the junior levels. In the past 3
format is intended to be used in
years, 97% of engineering retirees
performance agreements and as a
were ENG 04/05. Overall, 23% of
tool for the engineering learning
all Mat Group civilian employees
planner starting in 2015.
are engineers.
Mr. Corbett also discussed engiA presentation was made by Mr.
neering staffing updates. At that
Paul Ohrt of QETE (Quality Engimoment there was an ongoing
neering Test Establishment) of the
staffing process internally to create
an ENG 04 pool. He stated that
an external process for ENG 04
was to start in the coming days
and would be open to the public
for 2 weeks. Additionally, there is
the intention to run an internal
ENG 05 staffing process sometime in November. He stressed
the importance of paying attention to the details of the staffing
posters, especially emphasizing
the importance of the letter of
introduction. People in existing
ENG 05 pools were told to apply
to the new process anyway.
Mr. Corbett also discussed the
process proposed for ENG 04 deployment opportunities. He admitted that at the moment there
is no method to readily identify
positions available for deployment. There will be a draft process on the HR-Civ website where
an ENG 04 who desires a deployment will be able to complete a
survey and forward it with their
resume to HR-Civ. These files will
be accessible to ENG 06 reps chosen from each division. Deployments resulting from this proposed process would be subject to
SWE constraints and manager
“Right Fit” decisions. There then
followed a number of questions
centered on language requirements which can prove to be a
constraint for advancement since
there is little chance for second
language training. It was pointed
out that the “Right Fit’ for the
position may not be the person
who gets the advancement due to
the language requirement. It was
proposed from the floor that more
allowances be made in these instances to make the position
“bilingual non-imperative”.
National Research Council gave a
presentation on the various aspects which they can be of assistance to DND
Mr. Waldy Borys of QETE gave a
brief on changes being made at
QETE, specifically the beginning
of implementation of a Quality
Management System.
Rear Admiral Finn gave a high
level overview of major project
underway, including Artic/
Offshore Patrol Ships (A/OPS),
Chinooks, and the National Procurement program, adding that
DGs now have the delegation to
replace staff in the order of priority which has been established.
Members from QETE gave a
presentation on failure investigations which gave us a bit of an
insight into some of the work they
do.
Mr. David Morris of Director
General Major Project Delivery
(DGMPD) indoctrinated us into
the ways of systems thinking.
Ms. Pam Lewis from DGAEPM
explained the process and reasoning of Airworthiness Certification
for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAVs) which is becoming more
important due to changing regulations from Transport Canada.
Next Issue:
Starting with the Summer
2014 Newsletter, we will
begin a series of profiles on
the other bargaining agents
who sit at the consultation
table with DND. We will
share a bit of their history
and current concerns and
goals as well as a brief Q &
A with their current President.
We want your feedback! If
you have comments, article
ideas or other input for this
newsletter please send
them to [email protected]. The content is flexible and the purpose is to serve the DND
steward community. Help
us help you!
Meeting was closed by Mr. Fillion
thanking all for attending and for
continued good work and dedication.
Lynn Mayes
9
FIRST ANNUAL LEGACY CUP
COMPETITION
On behalf of the Legacy Foundation, President Debi Daviau and Director Del
Dickson launched the first annual Legacy Cup fundraising competition at the
2014 PIPSC Annual General Meeting. The Institute’s six Regions will engage
in a friendly competition to raise the most money (per capita) in the year
ahead in support of the
Legacy Foundation’s
scholarship program.
The winning Region
will be the proud holder of the Legacy Cup
for the following year.
The first winner of this
contest will be announced at the 96th Annual General Meeting
in November 2015