Ottawa (26 Aug. 2008) – The Public Service Commission of Saskatchewan has issued a scathing indictment of the right-wing government of Saskatchewan Party Premier Brad Wall over its decision to fire professional public employees when it took over after the last election.
Specifically, the Commission has overturned the firing of former Assistant Deputy Minister of Labour Allan Walker. Walker, a career public employee who had been promoted through the ranks of the public service over his 34 year career, was fired by the Wall government on January 24, 2008. Dozens of other public employees were also fired about the same time.
Apparently, the new government of Premier Brad Wall was following a familar script of political interference – written by former Conservative Party Premier Grant Devine – by hiring a loyal party insider as a consultant who in turn hand-picked certain government employees and recommended they be fired.
However, in its ruling released yesterday, the Commissioners said such firings destroy trust and create an environment of intimidation that's not good for the government, the public service or the people of Saskatchewan.
The 19-page ruling says the government did not have sufficient cause to fire Walker and that he should be put on a list to be rehired as a senior manager and receive the equivalent of his salary from the time he was fired to the end of July.
Perhaps more importantly, the commissioners' comments uncharacteristically go beyond the single case of Mr. Walker and criticize the Wall government’s general practice of firing classified public employees just because there had been a change in government.
"To arbitrarily end the careers of competent public leaders without cause based on political direction sends a message to the remaining and prospective employees that a public service career is at best a matter of who you know rather than what you know or what you are capable of accomplishing," the commission said.
Two anti-labour Bills introduced by Sask. government
The firings followed the introduction of two anti-labour bills which the Wall government made as its first priority after winning power last fall.
The measures are widely seen as pay-offs to the business community for longstanding financial and ideological support.
Bill 5, the Essential Services Act, and Bill 6, amendments to the Trade Union Act, strengthen the hand of employers at the expense of workers and unions.
Bill 5 gives enormous powers to employers to designate essential employees while Bill 6 makes it easier for employers to coerce and intimidate employees during organizing drives.
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has filed a complaint with the International Labour Organization (ILO) on behalf of its Saskatchewan Component, the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU/NUPGE).
The ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for formulating international labour standards in the form of Conventions.
“We will be asking the ILO to find the government of Saskatchewan in violation of ILO Conventions that have been ratified by the federal, provincial and territorial governments of Canada,” said NUPGE president James Clancy at the time the complaint was filed.
“These international Conventions commit all governments in Canada to adhere to the international human rights standards which give meaning to freedom of association and the right to join a union and engage in collective bargaining. Bills 5 and 6 simply don’t comply with these standards,” said Clancy.
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