Welcome back everyone. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a restful one! 

This is the fifth year for the Hear Ye! Hear Ye! I hope you all enjoy reading it. Anyone who would like to submit an article, please contact me at Local 3551 or by e-mail. All articles are greatly appreciated. 

Michel Latreille, Chief Human Resources Officer for Parks Canada sent out a memo(see below) to all Parks Canada staff regarding the National Classification Review 

"One of the questions that often comes up when people talk about our becoming an Agency is "How are things different from before?" One of the answers lies in our new responsibility as a separate employer. For the past few years, we’ve been working on an initiative driven by our value of fairness—the review of work descriptions. This undertaking has been called the National Classification Review. 

This Review, which also encompassed the idea of using generic work descriptions to describe similar work done in different locations, ensures that positions are looked at and people are properly compensated for the work they do. 

It turns out that although we have over 5000 work descriptions, most of them appropriately reflected the level of responsibilities, skill and effort associated with the position. We were able to greatly reduce the number of work descriptions in the Agency by coming up with approximately 120 generic work descriptions to describe over 3000 positions. 

Over the next few months most employees affected by the Review will receive individual letters telling them the results of the National Classification Review. However, not all Agency employees will be directly affected by the results. There are employees whose positions were created or reviewed after April 1, 1998 and not matched to a generic work description. These people will not receive individual letters. 

April 1, 1999 will be the effective date for the National Classification Review results as this is the date of the creation of the Parks Canada Agency, of the reorganization of work after program review and of management’s decision to proceed with these reviews. If you are an employee who occupied any position upgraded through this review, you will receive retroactive payments where applicable. 

An information presentation designed to give you more specific detail on the National Classification Review project and on the development of generic work descriptions will be offered to staff throughout the Agency. Your manager or supervisor will provide details about local presentations. 

Attached, for your information, is the list of generic work descriptions that will be implemented over the next months. (see attachment) 

If you have any questions concerning the information in this letter or about the National Classification Review please contact your local Human Resources Manager. 

Michel Latreille

Chief Human Resources Officer, Parks Canada 

Former employee, Vinal Robinson, passed away suddenly December 16, 2002. Vinal worked here at the Fortress for 27 years before he retired. There are many current employees who remember Vinal with fondness.