776 jobs to be cut from Environment Canada

The Hill Times:

Ottawa — Environment Canada workers are in "complete and utter turmoil" as 776 public servants wait to learn where they will be working, or if they will be working for the government at all in 90 days, says Bill Pynn, national president of the Union of Environmental Workers, which represents 476 of the workers affected.

Inside the department, "people are questioning, 'Why you, not me?' " said Mr. Pynn.

The department's announcement on Aug. 4 that it is putting 776 workers on notice, with plans cut 300 of their positions in the next three months, caught public service unions by surprise, Mr. Pynn told The Hill Times last week.

Among the affected workers are almost 100 physical scientists, 19 meteorologists, 45 computer scientists, chemists, biologists and engineers.

The restructuring at Environment Canada affects 11 per cent of the department's 7,000-person workforce.

"I've never seen a cut like this in my 15 years as president of the Union of Environment Workers," said Mr. Pynn, whose union is a branch of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and represents 5,700 workers.

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