Updates

Despite recent assurances of some flexibility, the new Treasury Board directive is clear that federal employees must report to the worksite “a minimum of 40 to 60 percent” across the board, no matter the job, role, department or location. While a lack of consultation was hardly a good move, more problematic is that this new approach flies in the face of what we learned about workplace productivity during the pandemic.

National President David Neufeld has been appointed to a committee of the National Joint Council (NJC) that is responsible for the Isolated Posts and Government Housing Directive. The National Joint Council is comprised of employers and bargaining agents (unions) for the purpose of sharing information, consulting on workplace policies and developing directives for the Public Service.

While USJE is glad to see that the Treasury Board has recognized the value of a hybrid work environment, USJE strongly objects to the lack of consultation with federal public service unions in regards to the development of this policy. Further, USJE is deeply concerned about a lack of flexibility in the application of this policy, regardless of the particular work circumstances or capacities of individual employees.  

As part of the union’s overall response to the tragic situation, USJE has been reaching out to members at the Correctional Service of Canada, the Parole Board of Canada and the RCMP to ensure that they are aware of the support and assistance that is available to them (through the union) to deal with this tragedy.

Regional Vice-president Heather McKinnon’s schedule for the month of November was packed with a series of annual general meetings with locals in the Prairies region.

USJE has selected five great community projects from across the country to receive a total of $100,000 in Community Investment Initiative grants this year.

In his role as Chair of the House Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, Jim had built a fruitful working relationship with USJE. Jim Carr understood clearly the importance of the work our members perform on behalf of Canadians, a knowledge he longed to bring to the Standing Committee.

National President, David Neufeld, had the incredible opportunity to visit three very remote detachments in the Northwest Territories alongside Local President (X0149 Yellowknife RCMP/Justice/PPSC) Samuel Bourget. Both Neufeld and Bourget were extremely grateful for this opportunity to meet face-to-face with the Detachment Services Assistants who have not experienced a personal visit from USJE representatives due to the remoteness of their locations.

In April 2021, the RCMP retained the services of a third-party environmental consultant to perform an analysis and assessment of potential health and safety hazards associated with the Kemptville training facility that was used by RCMP from the late 1980s until 2005.
While the BluMetric report concludes that the risks associated with the exposure to each hazardous material ranged from no anticipated risk to low risk, the report does not eliminate the possibility that illnesses and injuries could potentially be linked to past exposures and conditions at this site.