Dear Editor,
Last week we celebrated National Public Service week and we want to take a moment to recognize the hard work and dedication of so many thousands of public servants from across our region. We value the excellence of our national public service and this is why our government has worked so hard to repair its relationship with this most important set of institutions.
When we came to office in 2015, not a single one of the 27 collective bargaining units in the core public service had a contract, and some had even been stalled for years – the result of a decade of hostility and neglect under the previous Conservative government. They limited the right of public service workers to strike, gave themselves the unilateral right to change negotiated sick leave for public servants, and attacked organized labour more broadly by creating barriers to unionization.
This was part of a Conservative effort to discredit and sideline Canada’s world class, non-partisan public service, including by muzzling scientists and killing the mandatory long-form census. That’s why we repealed a number of unfair Conservative laws that targeted unions and their members.
In the first round of collective agreement negotiations, we reached out, sat down, and bargained in good faith, and by doing so we reached deals with unions representing more than 99 percent of our employees. The work, however, is not done yet. In this next round of negotiations our government will continue to bargain in good faith to reach agreements that are good for public servants, and fair for Canadians. We’re making good progress in this round with new tentative agreements covering nearly 60,000 employees.
We have worked to make the public service more inclusive, by creating a proactive pay equity regime, by passing new laws to protect employees from harassment and by enhancing flexible work arrangements.
Everyone in our region has a family member, a neighbour or a friend who is a public servant. Let’s recognize the important work they do throughout the year, not just during National Public Service week!
Will Amos, MP for Pontiac
Greg Fergus, MP for Hull-Aylmer
