The union representing provincial SAP workers has been told that a decision about outsourcing SAP jobs will be announced by the end of the month, and the union is pessimistic.
“I don’t think we’re going to win this one,” NSGEU president Joan Jessome told The Coast this afternoon, as about 50 union members picketed Province House, chanting “outsource the NDP.”
“I believe that ‘creating jobs’ is going to trump ‘securing jobs,'” continued Jessome.
SAP is shorthand for Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung, a German company that sells the ubiquitous SAP software system, which companies, organizations and governments use for planning and managing finances.
The province’s SAP department manages SAP operations for provincial departments, but also for Nova Scotia Business, Inc., most municipalities, school boards, the NSLC, Halifax Water, housing authorities and other agencies. It consists of 73 union members, but an additional 40 non-union employees working for the provincial health authorities will also be affected.
Provincial authorities have been mum on the outsourcing matter—spokespersons for the Finance Department did not immediately return a call for comment for this article—but Jessome says that she met with minister Maureen MacDonald last week, and came away feeling that the situation was probably hopeless.
Jessome says that Nova Scotia Business, Inc. has been in negotiation with a multi-national corporation to establish an operation in Halifax, and the deal is dependent upon outsourcing the province’s SAP operation. Jessome says she is sworn to not disclosing the name of the company, but published reports say it is IBM.
Nova Scotia Business, Inc. did not immediately return a call for comment.
“The premier has stated that this is an opportunity, for people in the IT world to work for a company of this magnitude is an opportunity, but there’s no job security,” said Jessome.
Jessome said she was assured by premier Darrell Dexter that the company will honour the existing contract with NSGEU. “I don’t believe that’s even possible,” said Jessome. “This company, they boast about not being union.”
IBM is well-known for being antagonistic to unions.
This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2012.
Best hope for the NDP is a resignation speech from ‘Our Dear Leader’, otherwise the supposedly socialist ship is going down.
He’s a bigger Tory than Baillie or Cameron.
Not a good sign when most of the info employees see is in the media and not from the so-called ‘leadership’ in government. Here is my question. As a taxpayer, beer drinker, and patient, how much of MY personal information is in this system, and does the Minister have the right to give MY consent for it to be shared outside government? I haven’t been asked for my consent to Allow a private company to access MY data.
@Blitzen well if you were in the Annapolis Valley your personal medical records were not secure in the hands of one public union employee who took tons of that info out of a hospital. As to SAP use in government it would hardly amount to medical files which if transmitted via the internet on a WAN or LAN would be subject to spying from foreign governments way beyond the Americas. The Chinese know what beer you drink Blitzen if it is indeed online.
IBM is well-known for being antagonistic to unions. Well that is an understatement if ever there was one. About the same a Joan Jessome she is antagonistic to me with her moaning and groaning about government cut backs. Well here is the drill, i am a taxpayer, not a tax sucker like the rest of the NSGEU and I am god dam tired of seeing the vast portion of my pay cheque disappear into the black hole that we know as the government/public service of Nova Scotia. It is time that someone took the reigns and disposed of half of the assholes that sit around getting paid and doing absolutely zero to help out this poor province, they are like the person with a pillow pushing it into a persons face trying to help them breathe.