Baird mum on gov’t position during encounter

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird did not have much to say to striking Canadian foreign service officers when he visited the Canadian consulate general Hong Kong last week.

The awkward meeting between Baird and eight members of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) was captured in a YouTube video, posted by the union on June 30.

PAFSO, which represents 1,350 non-executive-level Canadian diplomats, has been in a legal strike position since April 2 and without contract since June 2011. The union is demanding equal pay for equal work because some junior diplomats earn up to $14,000 less than colleagues doing the same work in Ottawa. The union has been participating in rotating strikes aimed at missions and sections where job action will have the strongest impact.

Baird was visiting Hong Kong at the end of June as part of his eighth trip to Asia as foreign minister.

In the video, Baird gets out of his vehicle and is greeted by eight PAFSO members holding signs reading “Same work = same pay.” After Baird comments on how hot the weather is and removes his sunglasses, a member asks him if he has a minute to talk. Baird shakes each members’ hand and then listens to the union member describe his concerns for more than three minutes.

“What we’re fighting for here is a question of equity. It’s a very simple question I think. Same work for same pay, right?” says the unidentified PAFSO member in the video. “When you take into fact that most foreign service officers’ families are one-income families … it makes for a pretty significant issue and important impact on our lives.”

As the member explained the union’s concerns in English and French, Baird listened, occasionally playing with his sunglasses. After more than three minutes of listening to the member, Baird had a short response.

“

Okay, well I’ll take that message back,

” Baird said as he shook the member’s hand. “Thank you very much. Take care.”

Baird did not make any mention of the Treasury Board’s side of the argument.

Treasury Board has said PAFSO members have been presented with a fair offer. It argues the foreign service is “a well-paid and highly sought after posting” that offers salaries that often go into six figures with “generous benefits” worth tens of thousands of dollars per officer.

Some of those perks, outlined in the Foreign Service Directives, include a reimbursement of up to 50 per cent for dry cleaning expenses, the shipment of personal vehicles and household items such as furniture to the diplomat’s posting, and a foreign service incentive allowance recognizing the challenges associated with living abroad. Treasury Board said it invests $126 million a year in said Foreign Service Directives, most of which is dedicated to PAFSO employees.

But a union spokesperson said Treasury Board’s reference to the Foreign Service Directives is irrelevant to the negotiations currently at stake, which are focused on issues of pay. More information about the program is available on the web site at aulaundry.