I Hear You!
Your comments & concerns

Last updated: October 30, 2024

Comments are roughly sorted by topic. Highlights in bold are added to indicate items that require follow-up.
See also more detailed testimonials from members in Members Stories in No More Mandates! section.

No dues increase!

Good Luck!  But please ensure that you DO NOT increase the PIPSC dues from us. Absolutely no increase in PIPSC dues, we already pay too much and get very little done in return.  (Group: NP, NCR)

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Listening to all members 

This will be a challenging position where you will have influence over ensuring the views of all PIPSC members are fully represented. You will be a great addition to their team. (Group: SP, NCR )

Concerns: (true openness, inclusiveness, diversity) (listening to and support for all members, regardless of their cultural backgrounds and political  and medical preferences, not only for those are aligned with Union's and Employer's messaging)

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Fear of reprisal for speaking up

Almost everyone here [Health Canada] are term employees, tend to « shut » and not discuss problems or engage, because of fear of losing job. During some large townhalls, employees will rarely ask questions or challenge assumptions made by management. There is also very limited union representation there and when there is, it is not a comfortable discussion that occurs (Group: SP, HC)

Concerns:  (Union not prioritizing enough addressing this issue, Union should analyze and expose Fear of reprisal especially in health policy regulating units, and support those for most vulnerables members who work in those units)

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Fiscal responsibility, internal politics and feuding

"BoD using their energy and time and members dues(?) to fight against the President [link to PIPSC news,  to Ottawa citizen article]. President is using her energy, time and members dues (?) to fight back. I wonder who is paying for all that? and how much time is left in their busy schedules to work on issues that concern members??" -  (NCR)

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"[I] would like to see work planning reports how much money the union is proposing to spend on what activities and would like for the union members an opportunity to comment and have a say on the expenditures proposed. Also, would like to see reports on where the money was actually spent and what was accomplished. Are these issues something that the union can engage on?” - Anonymous, NCR

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"I tried posting in the NCR Facebook group, and even though my comments followed all the group’s rules, the admin seems to be picking and choosing who gets to post based on their own personal reasons. This doesn’t feel right—aren’t we supposed to be promoting openness and transparency?"  -  Anonymous, NCR.

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 I have been a NCR steward for over 10 years and have been entitled to a 10 year steward pin and the visibility with my fellow stewards at the NCR Steward Council. Yet no pin and a lost opportunity. PIPSC says I will get a pin in the mail or have the pin awarded at the next Steward Council? Where is the attention to detail and the appreciation of PIPSC stewards? I am tired of hearing "mistakes happen" ...  - . Anonymous, NCR.

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I was not selected the PIPSC AGM. I am a senior active steward and cannot get an believable explanation of why I was not chosen. Apparently there are no official guidelines for delegate selection which I feel leads to personal bias entering the process. I hope the new NCR executives will bring more attention to this matter. - Anonymous

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There is a real concern about the delegate selection for this AGM due to the dues increase motions. Have known anti dues increase members been purposely not selected? -  - Anonymous, NCR

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Supporting highly skilled expertise

I would like to bring to your attention the very important group of older employees who are very professional, on the other side may require special attention, respect and possibly support. .. The role of NRC is to keep Canadian Research and Engineering at the world level. Many older employees are asked to retire, kind of giving a way to younger generation.  It is probably not a bad overall idea, but should be exercised with care.  ... There is no simple solution, but some optimal ways may be found.  For example, if special funds could be allocated to pay retired personnel for part-time job.  (SS, Group: RCO)

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There is no double bar for research staff any more, free for all! At our time we had to delay applying for it to make sure we have enough publications and credit  to pass it, but now it is automatic, going thru even with no publication. It was not fair to previous people that had to fight for it. It (removal of the double bar) has affected the level of research in a bad way.  (AM, Group: RCO)

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Traumas related to the vaccination mandate, inadequate action from Union during the mandate

"I have been impacted terribly due to the injection mandate and how the union advocates on behalf of the employer instead of their members.  There are hundreds of federal employees across many unions that are owed compensation from November  2021 to June 19, 2022 from to being unjustly forced to go without pay due refusing the unjust injection mandates. During this time, I lost my home, my marriage and at times my sanity/mental health. 

My religious exemption was denied by YYY.  PIPSC has also been totally unhelpful and is advocating for the employer instead of their members, totally undermining the fundamental purpose of a union, which is to protect and represent its members' rights.  It's incredibly frustrating. 

I really don't know how our so called union reps sleep at night considering how they conduct themselves. 

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Brutal violation by the employer members basic human rights (bodily autonomy, freedom of religion) is not even listed on PIPSC website. What a shame… 

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"Dmitry, I am really afraid of another [vaccination] mandate. Union did not help us at all with  the first one. I doubt they will with the next one..." (Region: NCR, Group: SP) .  - Follow-up comment from L.: "I would only add a few references for unaware union members and officials on where the fear of another mandate is coming from: ... " - See this Substack issue for provided references.

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"Good luck with this, Dmitry. It is always good to get some new blood in organizations like our union. One thing I found particularly unsettling on a few occasions, when people have tried to file grievance, is that our union contact were actively discouraging people, instead of (imho) supporting them" (CG, Group: RCO) 

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 I’m very concerned about the vaccine mandates.  Not everyone survived the vaccines.  I had a sister who passed away 4 days after taking the vaccine.  ...  No drugs should be forced upon anyone and the union gave us absolutely no help on this at all...Not only that but now we know they were ineffective at preventing the spread of Covid 19.  People died.  People lost their jobs over this!!  These are dangerous and what the government did was plain irresponsible.  Then they told us we would continue working from home and suddenly they want us back to an office using shared desks, no privacy, no peace, and not even working along side our coworkers. ...  The union really needs to step up to the government and stop this insanity.  I really hope that you can make a difference Dmitry.  Best of luck.   (Anonymous, Group: AFC)

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I was hoping you can shed some light on where things stand with the PIPSC Policy grievance. I have gotten nowhere requesting updates from the President's office ... Still no information on when a decision will be made. As a new member of Executive, do you have any information on this?  I am no longer a PIPSC member as I was forced out of my position [because of mandate] but would like to see this grievance settled. ... this is totally unacceptable. How can we hold the union to account? I am beyond fed up and would like to wash my hands of the whole thing but without a doubt I feel compensation is due.  (NN, Region: NCR)

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Have you seen the Canada Post vs. PSAC judge decision? ( https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/canada-post-wrong-to-suspend-unvaccinated-remote-workers-during-covid-ruling). The judge ruled that mandates for people who worked remotely were unlawful and yet our Union is "recommending against" filing grievances that question the reasonableness of the vaccination mandate. See communications below  (Anonymous, Region: NCR)

"As you know, the Institute made the decision not to challenge the Mandatory Vaccination Policy from the onset, but filed a policy grievance in May 2022 for all members of the Core Public Administration who remained on LWOP beyond April 6, 2022. I ... did not recommend for the Institute to represent you in challenging the Mandatory Vaccination Policy as a whole as this was not in line with the Institute's position. The Institute's position can be found here: https://pipsc.ca/news-issues/information-members-regarding-covid-19-coronavirus/vaccine-mandate-policy-grievance"