In a recent Toronto Star Article OPSEU President Smokey Thomas has voiced an idea that many of us with the OPS IT community have been trying to be made heard. The idea is that a equivalent Sunshine List be created for Fee for Service consultants. The Toronto Star article quotes Smokey as saying that the legislation “doesn't go far enough” and the sunshine list of public servants earning $100,000 a year and up should be expanded to include private contractors working for governments. Thank you Smokey for unknowingly supporting what many IT workers in AMAPCEO have been talking about.
The most recent count that we have tells us that there were roughly 1800 Information Technology Fee for Service Consultants working within the OPS during this fiscal year. The projections are that there will be more Fee for Service Consultants hired in the new fiscal year as new business requirements result in new projects that require Information Technology to become reality.
Lets look at what some Fee for Service Consultants can make using the daily rates set by the Government of Ontario. I'll use IT Architects as the example because I am one and am most familiar with that group. Lets annualise those rates over a fiscal year. It becomes readily apparent that the payments to Fee for Service Consultants are much higher than that paid to AMAPCEO represented employees for equivalent services.
| Role | Min Salary | Avg Salary | Max Salary | Median |
| Application Architect 1 | $ 73,515 | $ 125,071 | $ 152,945 | $ 124,722 |
| Application Architect 2 | $ 104,273 | $ 156,436 | $ 198,575 | $ 156,325 |
| Application Architect 3 | $ 122,525 | $ 188,083 | $ 236,600 | $ 185,900 |
| Business Architect 1 | $ 73,515 | $ 125,229 | $ 156,832 | $ 126,750 |
| Business Architect 2 | $ 104,273 | $ 156,982 | $ 194,350 | $ 158,860 |
| Business Architect 3 | $ 122,525 | $ 188,170 | $ 236,600 | $ 185,900 |
| Data Architect/Modeller 1 | $ 73,515 | $ 120,443 | $ 152,945 | $ 118,300 |
| Data Architect/Modeller 2 | $ 98,020 | $ 149,459 | $ 186,238 | $ 149,143 |
| Data Architect/Modeller 3 | $ 122,525 | $ 180,764 | $ 228,150 | $ 179,732 |
| Information Architect 1 | $ 73,515 | $ 122,949 | $ 158,860 | $ 122,525 |
| Information Architect 2 | $ 104,273 | $ 153,974 | $ 194,350 | $ 152,100 |
| Information Architect 3 | $ 122,525 | $ 185,152 | $ 236,600 | $ 185,900 |
| Security Architect 1 | $ 73,515 | $ 128,132 | $ 160,550 | $ 126,750 |
| Security Architect 2 | $ 104,273 | $ 161,147 | $ 202,800 | $ 160,550 |
| Security Architect 3 | $ 147,030 | $ 193,618 | $ 245,050 | $ 194,350 |
| Solutions Designer 1 | $ 73,515 | $ 113,087 | $ 147,030 | $ 114,920 |
| Solutions Designer 2 | $ 94,978 | $ 140,910 | $ 183,872 | $ 139,425 |
| Solutions Designer 3 | $ 114,920 | $ 166,054 | $ 214,630 | $ 167,141 |
| Technical Architect 1 | $ 73,515 | $ 125,450 | $ 160,550 | $ 125,060 |
| Technical Architect 2 | $ 104,273 | $ 155,440 | $ 194,350 | $ 155,903 |
| Technical Architect 3 | $ 122,525 | $ 185,581 | $ 228,150 | $ 185,731 |
It is clear to see from here that almost all the Fee for Service Consultants make it to the Sunshine List if they are paid the minimum rate let alone the average salary.
Just for reference a new employee entering any of those positions will earn at most $99,600 while the Fee for Service person sitting in the next cubicle is making much much more -- without their salary being frozen. At these pay rates the OPS unionised employee will beat out any Fee for Service Contractor if they were required to compete for work within the OPS.
So I say bring it on! If the Wynne government wants to be transparent and accountable post the Fee for Service Sunshine List and let the Ontario Tax Payer know exactly how much they are paying for private contractors. Let the Ontario Tax payer decide where they are getting value for money.
On average, a contractor would make $800 per day. This is 4,000 per week. This is more than double what a full time architect makes at the top of his/her pay. Most of the I&IT Architects employed by OPS were contractors, are seasoned professionals. Full-time employees care, grow and build capacity inside - not in and out with intelligence leaving. Also, contractors typically are hired to do a job and get out - not be a full-time member on the backs of taxpayers (which by-the-way the full time members are as well). The FFS (fee for service) $ comes out of a different bucket - the operating expense bucket - no different than a desk or chair. So the next time the politicians stand up and say they reduced the civil service, do not assume that this means they reduced the spend. The spend has actually increased with Fee-For-Service workers hidden within general operating expenses. People need to see this. As for the union, AMAPCEO, they made a slime ball deal with the government in 2010 to get a kickback from these FFS workers to a tune of 1.4%. Full time architects pay the union 1%. If they are replaced, the union receives 1.4%... so why did the union hand to the liberal government the JE which took out architects at the needs - to make them leave so that Wynn can pretend she reduced the sunshine list and the union comes out ahead with an extra .4% payment. This is wrong. This is 1/2 truths from both sides. This is why employees are so upset and why we need to undo the horrible wrong inflicted in the last contract. Unions are for all - our union put forward a contract acknowledging that IT was getting screwed, did not put a focus on fee for service and the government took this and ran us into the ground.
ReplyDeleteHi Marg. A quick and likely not 100% accurate search of the internal email addresses and the AMAPCEO Seniority list (2013Q4 AMAPCEO seniority list) shows that there are 758 AMAPCEO IT06 positions and 728 IT Consultants (search GAL for jobtitle = "Consultant" and department = IT or cluster).
ReplyDeleteA search of the same AMAPCEO seniority list shows a total of 1009 OPS IT positions (IT01-IT06) and from the internal email systems a total of 904 where job title = "Consultant".
It would seem to indicate that at least 728/904 (81%) of entries where job title is consultant, are employed in an I.T. organization. Roughly that would mean that the OPS is employing almost the same number of IT Consultants in those job classifications as there are full time IT employees. As you point out at often twice the salary paid to the full time IT employee, but yet the employer is more than willing to pay that same full time IT employee anywhere from 17% to 20%+ BELOW the current market rate let alone the comparable consultant rate.
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