Hundreds more PSAC members told they could lose their jobs - HRSDC hardest hit

OTTAWA, Sept. 13, 2012 /CNW/ - 589 PSAC members who work at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and 149 PSAC members who work for the RCMP received notices today saying they could lose their jobs. On September 11, another 20 workers in the Conditional Release Program Unit at the Parole Board of Canada were told their jobs were either ending or could end. Another two members at the RCMP Public Complaints Commission library and the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal Canada were told this week their positions were being eliminated.

"This is another sad day for our members, and a troubling day for Canadians across the country," said PSAC Executive Vice-President Chris Aylward. "Hundreds more workers and their families are being handed an uncertain future, and Canadians across the country will inevitably be affected by service cuts."

Of the 589 HRSDC workers receiving "affected notices" today, 482 are located in the National Capital Region, 48 are located outside that region in Ontario, and 5 more in Quebec, 19 in the prairies, 2 in British Columbia and 33 in the Atlantic provinces. Most of the notices went to workers in the NCR who work in Citizen Services, Payment and Processing, Innovation, Information and Technology, Integrity Services, Skills and Employment and the Learning Branch.

"The employer has so far told us little about what these cuts will mean for services but we do know that these are the people who support and deliver services to Canadians," said Don Rogers, president of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union. "Canadians will clearly be affected."

"We are talking about cuts to a department that has already been hit hard by the 2012 budget, and in the years before, so any cuts at this stage are a huge concern," he added. "What's even more troubling is that we've received no assurances that the cuts won't continue in the next budget."

The 149 PSAC members who received affected notices at the RCMP today are located at divisional headquarters across the country and at the national headquarters. Notices went to those who work in Regular Member Recruitment (recruiting new police officers), member pay, forensic labs and records.

Since the 2012 budget, 3,478 PSAC members who work at HRSDC have received notices saying they could lose their jobs. The department has told all unions representing HRSDC workers that 2,100 positions will be eliminated because of the 2012 budget.

This brings the total number of PSAC members handed notices since the 2012 Federal Budget to 18,019. For a full departmental breakdown of those numbers see WeareALLaffected.ca

SOURCE: PSAC

Shelina Merani, Communications, Public Service Alliance of Canada, [phone]
Alain Cossette, Communications, Public Service Alliance of Canada, [phone]