Expanding the Power of Partnership
In our ongoing series marking the JLP’s 25th anniversary, let’s look at a period of growth and evolution for the Program. In the early 2010s, the JLP underwent some changes to its target audience and governance structure, and a makeover was needed to better represent those changes.
The collective agreements (PA, SV, TC, FB, EB) between the Treasury Board and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) that spanned from 2011 to 2014 were the first to expressly say that the JLP was to offer its opportunities to other bargaining agents.
Until that time, it had been understood that employees from other bargaining agents could be included in workshops as long as their participation didn’t prevent a member of PSAC from participating. This informal arrangement worked for a time but was not a permanent solution.
Thus, when the 2011-2014 collective agreements were negotiated, they included a clause opening the door to official participation by other bargaining agents. The clause also set aside an amount of money to promote the JLP to other bargaining agents and welcome its members officially.
The Program would still be governed by the existing PSAC-TBS structure, but did review that structure to include other bargaining agents in their operations.
This major
shift led to another significant change, one that was deeply symbolic to the inclusion of the other bargaining agents. In 2014, the JLP rebranded, developing a new logo and slogan that emphasized the power of partnership.
The new logo was an abstract tree made up of lines and circles. They were carefully arranged in a way that symbolized all the groups involved “coming together”. It also represented how each part affects the whole. The tagline “Learning and Growing Together” was intended to capture the Program’s essence, its goals and objectives.
The new logo conveyed a recognition of the past: the JLP’s former identity drew heavily on the symbolism of a seed and a tree. The updated logo honoured this by keeping the tree imagery, just reimagined in a more abstract form. It was also meant to symbolize partnership: the lines and 17 circles all coming together to form the overall symbol, representing the 17 bargaining agents who were now formally included in the JLP!
The purpose and objectives of the Program have not changed dramatically since its inception. However, more public-service employees have been able to benefit from our offerings since 2011. More people under the JLP tree means more chances to learn and grow together!