Able-bodied soldiers get inside track on PS jobs
Law designed to help injured vets extends to all military staff
The country's 80,000 reserve and full-time military personnel will have the inside track on winning federal government jobs under a new law that goes into effect today, warn public service union officials.
Union representatives say the legislation was originally supposed to help the new wave of injured veterans returning from war zones such as Afghanistan. But they are just now discovering that it also contains a little-known clause that gives able-bodied serving military personnel the option, for the first time, to compete in internal job competitions right across the federal government.
"They'd be able to take off their uniform on a Friday and become a public servant on a Monday," said John MacLennan, president of the Union of National Defence Employees, which represents the bulk of the department's civilian workers.
Mr. MacLennan said the union has no problem with legal provisions giving injured veterans priority for public service jobs. But allowing able-bodied Forces personnel to compete for the limited number of public service openings reduces opportunities for civilian employees, he said. Many of those same civilian employees have been waiting for years to advance, Mr. MacLennan added.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is also sounding the alarm on the new law, which it says was hammered out last year and fast-tracked without much public scrutiny or any consultation with employees.
"Members of the armed forces should be compensated for what they've done, but to give them an automatic buy-in for a job in the public service doesn't make sense and reeks from a lack of merit," said Ed Cashman, PSAC's executive vice-president for the Ottawa region.
But there appears to be confusion in the public service on who exactly is covered under the new law. Kathy Trim, spokeswoman for the government's Public Service Human Resources Management Agency, said the legislation applies only to those military personnel who have been injured. "You need a medical discharge to be able to qualify," for the jobs, said Ms. Trim.
Not so, say Defence Department officials. "This would be for able-bodied people as well," said Robert Newman, a department spokesman.
The Defence Department is the first federal organization to take advantage of the new law, but the same option will be available to other departments if they want to use it, noted Mr. Newman and the union officials.
But Mr. Newman said union concerns that military members would have an inside track on Defence Department civilian jobs is unfounded. He noted that job competitions will be held in a fair and transparent manner with existing checks and balances in place.
"The union members who are concerned have to realize there's a pretty rigorous process here," Mr. Newman explained. "They don't just cast the net and say all CF members are eligible. There's no preferential treatment."
Mr. Newman said the process will provide "an additional candidate pool of highly qualified individuals" that will help deal with concerns the department has employee shortages in particular jobs.
But Mr. Cashman and Mr. MacLennan said they have their doubts the job hiring process will be fair. Mr. MacLennan said the military has a history of pre-selecting job candidates and "parachuting" them into positions.
"Imagine that you will have a group of officers deciding who will get the job and they have to choose between a civilian and a retired military member," added Mr. Cashman. "Well, guess who is going to get that job?"
Mr. MacLennan said some in the department have admitted privately they are nervous the law might send large numbers of serving military personnel into the ranks of the public service. "Don't they think that putting this out in front of the military that there could be a mass exodus?" he added.
Canadian Forces officials have already voiced concerns about attracting and retaining people in the ranks.
Mr. Newman noted the Defence Department is focusing on specific areas for the recruitment of public servants. Those include tradespeople such as electricians, painters, plumbers, welders and mechanics, computer systems specialists, engineers, purchasing specialists, and financial and human resources professionals.
Some retired military personnel are also fighting the new law, warning that instead of helping newly injured veterans it will make it more difficult for them to obtain benefits. The law will also cut the amount of funding injured soldiers would receive, said retired Capt. Sean Bruyea.
"Anyone injured in Afghanistan after April 1, the day the legislation goes into effect, would actually get less than those hurt before that date," explained Mr. Bruyea, who served in the Gulf War.
The lifelong monthly disability benefit a veteran now receives would be replaced with a lump-sum payment, Mr. Bruyea said.
Previously, injured veterans were eligible for a disability pension worth up to $2,200 a month plus additional compensation if they were married or had children. In addition, there would be other allowances and benefits.
Under the new plan, injured veterans would receive a lump-sum payment of up to $250,000, Mr. Bruyea said. Most benefits would stop at age 65.
Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson, however, has defended the law, but added he could be open to changes at a later date.
Mr. Bruyea said he met the minister and presented him with the concerns some veterans had over the new law. "I think it's pretty clear the bureaucracy has misled him and I think he's sincere in rectifying the problem," Mr. Bruyea added.
But Mr. Bruyea said he doubts there will be changes until the new wave of injured veterans from Afghanistan start seeing that their benefits are not the same as those soldiers who served in previous conflicts. "Unfortunately it's likely nothing will be done until we start seeing those veterans coming forward with their families and talking about the unfairness of the system," he added.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2006
