News release

June 23, 2006

PS workers committed to high quality service, face some barriers to doing their jobs: survey

OTTAWA – Despite feeling that they are overworked and have had no improvement in working conditions, public service workers are still strongly committed to their job of providing quality services to Canadians, according to the latest results of the federal government's Public Service Employees Survey.

The survey, released today by the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada, found that 90 per cent of federal public service workers admit to being proud of the public services they deliver, and 96 per cent say they are committed to making their organization successful.

“These results confirm what we've been saying all along: That our members care deeply about their work and that public services need to be defended from cutbacks and privatization,” says Public Service Alliance of Canada National President John Gordon.

Indeed, the survey indicates that cutbacks in resources are posing challenges to federal public service workers as 42 per cent say that the quality of their work suffers from having to do the same or more work with fewer resources.  As well, 41 per cent of respondents say that their ability to provide quality services is compromised by the frequent organizational changes that are occurring in the federal government.  In the meantime, a majority of respondents feel they have very little say in important decisions affecting their workplaces, with 61 per cent saying they are left out of important decisions.

“This is a serious finding, given the high rate of change in many departments and the legislated requirement for more consultations,” says Gordon. “How can the government get service to the public right when the people providing the services aren't being consulted?”

Finally, there has been an increase of public service workers who experienced harassment, with 22 per cent saying they have been a victim of harassment on the job in the past two years, compared to 21 per cent who responded like-wise in 2002.  There has also been no improvement in reports of discrimination, with 17 per cent of respondents saying they have been victims of discrimination in the past two years.

“The fact that there's been no improvement in this area in the last three years is worrisome,” says Gordon.  “The government has to realize that quality public service means having a diverse and inclusive public service workforce that reflects the diversity of the public it provides services to.”

The PSAC was invited to participate in the survey and fully expects to be involved with the government in addressing the issues raised in the survey, as part of its responsibility towards its members.

The PSAC will be undertaking a more extensive analysis of this survey in the coming weeks.

For information:
Joselito Calugay, PSAC communications officer, (613)  560-4235 or (613) 293-9324

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