A Message from President Gary Corbett on the Proposed Dues Increase October 2013

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1 A Message from President Gary Corbett on the Proposed Dues Increase October 2013 Fellow members, As promised in my previous correspondence, please find here additional detail regarding the Board of Directors motion for a dues increase which will be decided by the 423 delegates to this year s Annual General Meeting (AGM) later this fall. First, I want to thank you for your feedback. I have consistently heard that you want to learn more about what the Professional Institute is doing for you, you want a clear picture of the challenges that lie ahead and, of course, you want to know that you are getting value for your money. The information that follows will help answer these questions and, I hope, prepare you and our AGM delegates to consider the proposal for a $7-per-month dues increase. Our primary goal is to ensure that members are informed and that AGM delegates are properly prepared for this decision. These are certainly tough times for the federal public service and for many PIPSC members. The Institute s Board of Directors and I believe that in these tough times we need a strong Institute. We believe that our members deserve a union that is well-prepared to face what are truly unprecedented attacks from the current government. We also strongly believe that the dues increase that we are proposing is essential if we are going to be able to provide effective representation for our members in the difficult days ahead. Since the PIPSC AGM last approved a dues increase, nearly six years ago, our world has changed significantly. We have been through the most dramatic economic downturn in generations and, like everyone, we are all still coping with a slow and very weak economic recovery. I would like to reiterate my hope that this information helps you and our AGM delegates to understand what is at stake. Without a dues increase this year, both services to members and participation by members will be impacted. Without a dues increase, the Professional Institute will be weaker. Without a dues increase, we will be unable to defend our members precisely when they need us most. With a moderate dues increase, I know we can more than meet the challenges ahead of us. In Solidarity, Gary Corbett President and CEO

2 How has our financial situation changed since our last dues increase in 2008? While our external auditors have given the Professional Institute s financial statements and controls a clean bill of health, our financial position has deteriorated since It is important for you to know why this has happened and what we have done to address this important challenge. In 2012, the Institute posted a $3.1-million deficit and projected an AGM-approved budgeted deficit of $4.4 million for The transition from a budget surplus in 2008 to a deficit can be attributed to a number of factors. While some growth in our membership (3,200 between 2008 and 2011) generated increased revenue, this was by far outstripped by expenditures associated with the organization s decision to increase member participation. As a result, we now have many more active and engaged members than ever before in our history. Chart 1 - PIPSC dues vs. cumulative inflation since 2008 This is important and valuable, but it has also required greater investment in training and education and also generated additional costs in other areas. For example, Professional Institute representatives now sit on 104 Consultation Teams on behalf of members working in federal (and a number of provincial) departments and agencies, attending hundreds of meetings with employer representatives at the national, regional and local levels every year. More members, and more active members in particular, have also increased the demand on our services. Whether it is representation, legal counsel, advocacy, or networking and outreach, all of the avenues we pursue to advance issues of concern to our members and defend their interests have been in greater demand. The gain in membership between 2008 and 2011 has by now been partially offset by the impact of the current government s Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP). Over the last two years, PIPSC has lost almost 2,200 members and this has resulted in decreased revenues while contributing to increasing costs as we moved quickly to support these members when they needed it most. And while costs were increasing, the dues paid by Professional Institute members have been frozen at their 2008 level. In contrast, inflation, which applies to most expenses incurred by PIPSC, has risen a cumulative 10.31% during this same period. So while our costs have risen steadily since 2008 due to increased demand on our services and inflation, our revenues dues paid by our members have not kept pace. 2

3 What have we done so far to address this? We have taken some important and often difficult decisions to deal with our deficit position. First, we have frozen our budget and held the line on expenditures for 2013 and Second, we conducted a detailed review of our organizational structure and our operations, enabling us to identify areas for cost reductions. Measures taken ranged from reducing spending on travel and accommodations and suspending purchases of promotional items to a major organizational restructuring that included refocusing staff capacity to provide more efficient support for priorities such as training and mobilization. With these and other changes, including the cancellation of our regular 2012 and 2013 staff training conferences, we generated $1.2 million in savings in 2012 and more than $2 million in In addition, we updated all Institute policies with financial implications, and identified further targets for But how do we compare? Chart 2 Expenses are frozen through 2014 Professional Institute members often wonder how their dues compare to those of comparable federal public service unions. The numbers tell the story: PIPSC is an extremely cost-effective, full-service organization. Chart 3 How PIPSC dues compare to those of other federal public service unions 3

4 Our dues currently stand at less than half those of the union with the highest dues, and at approximately 50% of those paid by Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members. And, while our range of services is comparable to those offered by the PSAC, our service model is very different. At any time, any member can pick up the phone and speak directly with a trained employment relations officer. PIPSC is truly special in this regard. And it is important to note that should a $7-per-month dues increase be accepted at this year s AGM it will not affect where we sit in this comparison with other unions. What does the Professional Institute deliver for you? Some members have asked, What do I get for my dues? Here are just a few of the ways in which you are getting real value from PIPSC: Negotiating Your Pay In difficult economic times and a challenging labour relations environment, PIPSC negotiators have still delivered economic increases that have kept up with inflation since Chart 4 Salary increases vs. inflation Of course, contracts aren t just about better wages and our negotiators are often faced with demands for concessions from an Employer looking to take back benefits we have previously won for our members. Protecting Your Benefits This has been and will remain a PIPSC priority and our bargaining teams need to be wellprepared to try to hold back these demands at the bargaining table. In the coming discussion on sick leave, as the largest union of professionals in Canada, PIPSC has the strength in numbers to give real voice to its members concerns. Our goal is to ensure you keep more of what s been won in previous bargaining rounds. That can make all the difference during a period of cutbacks. Timely Expert Service Our entire team from committed stewards to highly trained employment relations specialists to our expert legal advisors - provide our members with excellent service. The sheer volume of work involved is not always apparent - for example, in 2012 our staff handled over 4,000 inquiries and were involved in more than 3,000 grievances and other cases. Classification issues alone affected more than 1,000 members, and successful resolutions resulted in salary increases and retroactive payments that affected members in six different Institute Groups. 4

5 Whether it is simply meeting with the employer, attending an adjudication, Board or tribunal hearing, or even appearing before Federal Court, we ensure that members are ably represented and their interests protected. The network of trained stewards who provide support to our members in workplaces right across the country are at the heart of member participation. These committed members are provided with training in a range of areas and work in concert with our professional labour relations staff to ensure that members receive the service they require. Representing Your Interests Not surprisingly, the Workforce Adjustment (WFA) process resulted in a great deal of pressure on our various Representation Services. Starting in mid-2011 and following the 2012 federal budget announcement, we provided timely and effective support to all those members who were directly or indirectly affected by the WFA process, while continuing to provide services on all other issues affecting our membership. For example, in the National Capital Region (NCR) alone we represented our members in more Chart 5 How your dues are used than 200 WFA Committee meetings. Meanwhile, we filed and won important WFA-related policy grievances, such as on the interpretation of the Transition Support Measure (TSM), which have had real benefits for members. And while more often than not the Institute s efforts bring about positive but low profile results for individuals or groups of members, sometimes our work initiates or contributes to a major victory. For example, on July 3, 2012 an eight-year pay-equity battle resulted in approximately 700 health professionals being awarded a milestone $150-million settlement. And just this month, another ruling determined that a PIPSC member should receive more than $35,000 after finding that his department had engaged in reckless discrimination. These are just a couple of examples of PIPSC s commitment to promoting and ensuring human rights and pay equity for public service professionals. 5

6 Professional and Respected Advocacy Bargaining doesn t end at the bargaining table, and non-partisan doesn t mean we don t have opinions to share. Through regular presentations to parliamentary committees, interventions in court cases, and timely media promotion and events we ensure our members concerns and their voices are heard by government and the public. For example, in recent years we have made major efforts to challenge the current government s approach to public science, by among other things, convening public symposiums and panels to highlight the silencing of federal government science and working with others to mobilize support for our science members. And we know that we can still do better! A detailed membership survey conducted this summer provides a crystal clear picture of where our members place their priorities and what they expect from the Professional Institute. While full results will be released later this fall, it was very reassuring to see that a very large majority of our members are supportive of the Institute. o But we can and we will do better. So, while we should be justifiably proud of our past performance, we are all aware that we will need to step up our game. While we have had some success Chart 6 Our members support us (*) (*) Based on responses to the question Please indicate your overall level of support for PIPSC Online survey of PIPSC members conducted by Probe Research in July 2013 in responding to the employer s ill-considered pay modernization proposal that threatened our members with a 4% pay cut, in the months to come, we will be facing the new performance management directive that was publicized with a thinly veiled threat of firing quotas, and, let s not forget, pending challenges to our sick leave, health care and pensions. These are indeed formidable challenges, all the more so because our Employer insists on using misleading data and disrespectful language to bolster its efforts to take back these hard-won benefits. Government representatives have also made it very clear that they would particularly like to eliminate the provisions of the Rand Formula for the federal public service which would even further limit the effectiveness of unions like the Professional Institute. Not surprisingly, the government has also put misrepresentation to use to support Bill C-377. This discriminatory legislation don t take my word for it, the Canadian Bar Association 6

7 says so is yet another attempt to hamstring unions in their work representing their members. Where do we go from here? While we do have a solid base to build on, we can always do better. We need to be ready to take up challenges that are beyond anything we have previously experienced. On performance management, we are already hard at work aiming to either block or substantially mitigate any negative impact on our members. With 35 collective agreements covering tens of thousands of our members at the bargaining table in 2014/2015 and an Employer with its eye on sick leave, we will be ready to defend our benefits. This is why this coming January we will bring all of our bargaining teams together for an Institute-wide Bargaining Conference. This will be a critical step as we plan, strategize and prepare for contract negotiations. More than ever, we will also need to be present on the public stage to rapidly counter the misinformation promoted by this government and its friends such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) and the Fraser Institute. We simply cannot allow misrepresentation of our members and their work to go unchallenged. We cannot sit by while the commitment and dedication of those who work to improve the public good is disparaged. We believe that PIPSC needs to be as strong, effective and efficient as we can be. Our Better Together initiative aims to build on and invest in our strength in order to meet this tremendous challenge. We know that as with this discussion of a dues increase, engaging with members and listening to their priorities and their concerns is essential. At the same time, we need to build on our commitment to efficiency. And that is why we will be initiating a value for money audit process in 2014 to continue to seek innovative ways to reduce costs and enhance the value of your hard-earned dues. Making the most of a modest increase With no dues increase since 2008, the proposed additional $7-per-month dues will compensate for the impact of the cost of living over the past six years. Combined with the efficiencies we have already achieved, this increase will place us on the solid foundation we need to step up, meet the challenge and defend our members in the days ahead. 7