
	Monday September 8, 2008

Letter to the Editor

(sent to a few English newspapers which carried the article on the Lahey report)

August 3, 2007

Re: Recent Articles on the Public Service Report by James Lahey

Dear Editor

I have recently read several articles on the reaction of the press to the James Lahey report on the Federal Public Service and would like to provide the following comments in opposition to some so-called facts being presented by the press. Here are some of the comments that I have taken exception to and have taken the liberty to comment on: “highly paid public service”, the front line workers that the Canadian public rely on are certainly not highly paid; “what we demand of the institution consists more of thinking and less of doing”, if you believe this statement then you obviously have not had to have a Public Service worker “DO” anything for you lately; “benefits and pensions being more generous than they need to be”, the benefits and pensions of the front line workers have no comparison to their most senior bureaucrats at the top level and would not be described as “GENEROUS” by anyone; “ the collective bargaining system is only capable of yielding salary and benefit increases typically above the rate of inflation or growth in the economy”, I am guessing that the almost 7 years of a wage freezes and the need to “catch up” to even make ends meet for the front line workers has escaped your mind, “strict work rules dictated by collective agreements”, there are no WORK rules in our collective agreement; “seniority is rewarded over talent”, I don’t know how this can be true since “seniority” is not recognized in the Federal Public Service, at least for none of the unionized workers that I represent.

The articles did reflect however the fact that the number of stenographers and typist had fallen 82%. These positions happened to be at the lowest end of the salary scale and were virtually eliminated by technology. However, the number of lawyers and related workers had gone up 132% who I have to say are on the highest end of the salary scale. This broad extreme certainly does not reflect a well founded average salary of a front line worker. It is also pointed out that between 1990 and 2003 the number of computer system workers rose 174%. Frankly, I would be shocked if this had NOT occurred given the rate of new and emerging computer requirements over those 13 years. Our government and its workers need to be at the leading edge of technology to be more effective and efficient in serving the Canadian public.

The fact that this report and the news articles are coming out at the precise time when the largest Union for the Federal Public Service, the PSAC, is sitting down for contract negotiations with the Government and/or Agencies for the vast majority of its members is also not lost on your readers. Timing is everything for this Government.

In closing, I would suggest that you be more honest and factual with the information that is being provided to the public regarding our hard working Public Service workers who are providing a valuable service each and every day.

Betty Bannon
National President,Union of Taxation Employees

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