Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Photo day at psacbc.com! Thanks to Amal Rana and Aly Kanani (President, CEIU 20901) for this report and photos from the Union Pride Celebration at Library Square in downtown Vancouver.

On Thursday, July 29th, CEIU Local 20901 held their 1st annual Union Pride Celebration at Library Square. Everyone was invited to celebrate the LGBT community. The event was also a celebration of culture and diversity. A number of people came out to mingle, enjoy wonderful food and conversation, fabulous decorations and great music. Congratulations to the local executive for such a successful event! We look forward to next year!

PSAC members of the Servisair Fuellers Supervisory and Admin group, UCTE Local 20221, ended a second week of being locked out by their employer, a Paris-based company, in high spirits despite the employer’s reluctance to return to the bargaining table in a timely fashion. The weather has been good, and there’s plenty of propane for the barbeque!

The workers were locked out on Monday, July 19th and the bargaining team had a response to the very few outstanding issues left on the table prepared the next day, Tuesday the 20th. With the assistance of a mediator, the employer promised our bargaining team an offer they termed a “last and final offer” on Friday the 23rd, then delayed until Monday, and the offer finally appeared on Tuesday the 26th – a full week after receiving the Unions proposal.

After holding a membership meeting, PSAC responded to this offer, and was ready to meet with the employer on Wednesday the 27th. The employer agreed to meet the next day.

Our team was then very disappointed to hear the employer had decided to take the weekend off and would not be returning to the table until Tuesday, August 3rd.

Members have decided not to take the weekend off, and will continue to picket at YVR.

Here are a few photos from the picket line …

Cheers to Garry Fraser and Jennifer Ho (NAT 20088) for these photos and report from the PSAC Think Public booth at Surrey Fusion Festival, July 17 and 18!

PSAC BC set up a Think Public Booth at the Surrey Fusion Festival on July 17th and 18th. Many members volunteered to help promote Public Services and encourage the public to sign a petit…ion to the House of Commons urging them to reverse the decision to eliminate the mandatory long form Canada Census questionnaire.

The event was a celebration of community diversity in the second largest city in BC, Surrey. We had many good discussions with the public on why Public Services are critical for Canada. Many people played our game of spot the Public Service and were given a Think Public prize.

Continue reading ‘Photos: PSAC BC Thinks Public at Surrey Fusion Fest’

Come down to the Van Pride festivities and join PSAC and other Union members in the parade, Sunday August 1st.  To march with Multi-Union Pride, be at the staging area (AS – on Robson, south side, between Thurlow and Alberni) by 11:30AM.

Also, be sure to visit the PSAC Think Public booth which will be in the Pride Festival area at Sunset Beach – stop by, say hi to fellow PSAC members, sign a petition, and play “Spot the Public Service”.

OTTAWA – First the Harper Conservatives cancelled the mandatory long-form census, now they’re going after the federal Employment Equity Act that depends on this data with the announcement that they will be reviewing employment equity policies and practices in the federal public service.

“The government claims to support diversity but its news release implies the opposite”, says PSAC National Executive Vice-President Patty Ducharme. “It reinforces the misconception that equal opportunity is threatened by employment equity measures and that employment equity hiring policies are not based on merit.”

The purpose of employment equity is to ensure equal access to jobs for all and to make sure that workplaces reflect the diversity of the Canadian population. The Employment Equity Act and the Public Service Employment Act already require all hiring to be based on merit and qualifications.

Less than 2% of job competitions in the federal public service are designated for equity group members, and managers have to justify the use of these designations with data showing large gaps in their workforce representation.

“In fact, the government needs to be doing more to ensure diversity throughout its workforce,” says Ducharme.

Continue reading at the national website.

PSAC BC has been out and about this summer promoting our Think Public, Workplace Watch and other campaigns.  Here are some photos from the Surrey Pride Festival at Holland Park last July 11th.

Thursday July 22, 2010     NEWS RELEASE    For Immediate Release

Servisair now admits major flight delays at Vancouver International Airport due to lockout of refueling supervisors – files legal application detailing extensive delays & complaints from Air Canada, WestJet, international airlines – after Servisair and YVR administration denied delays previously

Vancouver – Servisair now admits in a legal document filed this afternoon that there have been major flight delays at Vancouver International Airport since it locked out refueling supervisors on Monday – delays it and YVR management denied publicly until now, says the supervisors’ union.

A Servisair application to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board states that WestJet complained of “quite significant” delays and that “Air Canada advised Servisair that it could not afford a repeat” of delays experienced Monday July 19 when replacement workers took over from existing trained supervisors, says Stephen Dunsmore, Regional Vice-President Pacific of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees – a component union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

The Servisair application says Air Canada complained of “cost attributable to fuelling delays” and that United, KLM, Continental, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, US Airways and Air North all reported fuelling delay, Dunsmore said.

A WestJet official quoted in the documents says the delays were significant and impacted well over 140 other flights in the WestJet system.

Says Dunsmore: “This CIRB application is a legal document that demonstrates irrefutably that both Servisair and Vancouver International Airport management deliberately misled the public and the media about what Servisair admits have been quite significant delays due to their lockout of experienced refueling supervisors.”

“The solution is obvious – negotiate a fair first collective agreement immediately, as the union has been trying to do from the start – and end this lockout now,” Dunsmore said.  “We were at the bargaining table Sunday night when Servisair walked away without even hearing our counterproposal and instead locked out our members.”

Dunsmore said the Servisair application is a clumsy attempt to blame refueling workers who are continuing to work under their own existing collective agreement for problems when the obvious reality is that inexperienced replacement supervisors don’t know how to manage Vancouver International Airport’s complex refueling procedures.

“There have been many documented mistakes – some of which are health and safety concerns – that these replacement supervisors are making,” Dunsmore said.  “We are now documenting safety concerns and will be making the appropriate complaints shortly to bring this to the attention of authorities.”

Dunsmore said the union is confident that the CIRB will reject the Servisair allegations, noting that the union advised refueling workers prior to the dispute that they must obey their collective agreement even if supervisors were locked out.

Employer Servisair is a Paris-based company that provides fuel to Air Canada, WestJet and other airlines at Vancouver International Airport as well as at more than 128 locations worldwide.

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For further information contact: Stephen Dunsmore UCTE at cell 778-998-1491 or Bill Tieleman, West Star Communications at cell 778-896-0964 or 604-844-7827.

Tonight, at approximately at 22:25 hours our Union received notice that the Employer intends to lockout members at GlobeGround/Servisair effective 00:01 Monday July 19, 2010.

In spite of this set back, our Union remains committed to reaching a negotiated first agreement and we have asked the Federal Mediator to convene another bargaining session at 17:00 hours on Friday July 16.

A bargaining update meeting will be held at #113-5200 Miller Road this Saturday July 17, at 12:00 noon. This is a very important meeting and all members are strongly encouraged to attend.

The Union met with the Company in mediation on Monday July 12.  The employer provided only a few responses to some of the Union’s proposals, but was unable to agree or respond to most of our package.  The employer chose to spend all of Tuesday July 13, working on further responses to the Union.

As the deadline for a possible Strike/Lockout approaches, we recognize that members are concerned about what this will mean. Please be assured that the Union’s bargaining committee remain committed to reaching an agreement before the time expires 12:01 July 17, 2010.

In the event of a Strike/Lockout either party is legally required to give the 72 hours notice of their intentions to do so. At that time, the Union will notify you of our Strike/Lockout headquarters office where you can report for a membership meeting and schedule for picket duty.

If there is a Strike/Lockout, for those members who work in the Fuelers bargaining unit no strike action will be authorized. You will have to continue to work under the terms of your collective agreement and the Canada Labour Code. This means you will have to report to work and perform your usual duties. However, section 94 of the Canada Labour Code and the collective agreement both provide that you have the right to refuse to perform struck work.  If a member is concerned for their safety in crossing a picket line, the employer has to provide an escort to ensure your safety.

At this time solidarity is very important for all PSAC members who work for GlobeGround Fuel Services/Servisair. We need to work collectively to send a clear message to the employer that we are a strong group of union members.

For more information contact Janelle Ho-Shing at 604.430.5631.

Regular updates will be posted at www.psacbc.com or www.local20221.com

Click here to download a PDF poster: The-Right-to-Refuse-struck-work-final2

PSAC and CRA exchanged bargaining demands today and in BC members plantgated worksites with a leaflet promoting the UTE email update service. Download the leaflet here (.pdf).

Your CRA BC Regional Strike Committee:

• Pamela Abbott, UTE Regional Vice-President and Bargaining Team member
• Robert Hume, UTE Alternate Regional Vice-President
• Kurt Munger, UTE 20002
• Alex Cook, UTE 20003
• Terry Ruyter, UTE 20007
• Sharon Hickey, UTE 20026
• Janet Graham, UTE 20027
• Wayne Little, UTE 20028
• Johann Ackermann, UTE 20029
• Richard Hyatt, UTE 20050

Check back here at the regional website, or sign up for email bargaining updates at the UTE website and keep up to date with CRA Bargaining!

Are you a PSAC Member under the age of 30? Are you interested in getting more youth involved in the union? Are you interested in gaining valuable experience working in the PSAC office?

The PSAC BC Region is looking for a union member under the age of 30 who would like to work on a one-month project to:

1. target recruitment for The New Steward! A Young Worker Focus course set for our Union School for November 2010;
2. recruit more young members to join the Youth Caucus and encourage their active participation in the Union more generally; and
3. create and compile content for a Young Worker Outreach/Resource Guide that will be useful for all Locals, Area Councils, Committees, and Union leadership at all levels.

To be considered for this opportunity, please provide an expression of interest covering how your skills, interests, and experience would complement this project by the deadline of Friday, July 23rd to Monica Urrutia, attn: Youth Outreach Worker, at urrutim@psac.com.

Guidance and assistance will be provided by PSAC Staff.  If you are interested, but are concerned about accessing leave with out pay for a month, please send in your expression of interest regardless. If you are the successful candidate our office would definitely work with you to access this leave even if it isn’t something you have accessed before. More questions? Email Monica Urrutia.

We hope this work will occur over a one month time period sometime between September – October 2010 (start date is negotiable). The minimum salary would be at the PM 1 or SP 3 level or wage-replacement, whichever is higher.

June was a busy month around the province! Here are some photos and a video of some of the activities PSAC members participated in.

Under the theme “Step In to Something That Moves You” PSAC women activists, old and new, joined together at the 2010 BC Regional Women’s Conference in Vancouver. They heard from guest speakers and held discussions and workshops on a variety of topics including childcare, women and pensions, pay equity, work-life balance, violence against women, lobbying and political action/campaign work, and debated resolutions to be sent to the PSAC National Women’s Conference. Huge thanks to Virginia Vaillancourt for putting together a most excellent video!

In Victoria, PSAC staff and members from the South Island marched in the 2010 Pride Parade under the theme “Gay Rights are Human Rights” and hosted a booth at the festival held at MacDonald Park.

• Read the PSAC Pride Statement at the national website.

In Cumberland, a delegation of PSAC members from the Campbell River and District Area Council attended the Miners Memorial Day Weekend, where they laid a wreath to commemorate the miners who worked and lost their lives in the mines of Cumberland and other workplaces throughout BC.

Meanwhile, back on the mainland, PSAC BC hosted a Think Public! booth at the Surrey Canada Day festivities. Staff and members met with the fair goers and spoke with them about the value of strong, quality, public services and public pensions.

“Read more” for the photos and video …

Continue reading ‘PSAC BC photos & video – June’

Negotiations for the renewal of the collective agreement between PSAC/UNDE Local 1018 (Comox) and IMP Limited will commence Tuesday July 6th. The parties meet again on Wednesday July 7th. Lloyd Barrow, Grant Golem and Alex Martell are the Local representatives on the PSAC negotiating team. The PSAC negotiator is Dave Jackson.

PSAC members who work for IMP Comox perform first and second level maintenance activities on Comorant helicopters. Some of these workers are employed as technicians, crew chiefs, maintenance planners, storespersons and administrative assistant.

Mass arrests, detentions and abuses of power are an affront to democracy

PSAC members were among 25,000 people who protested against the G20 on Saturday, June 26

The Public Service Alliance of Canada condemns the mass arrests of peaceful protestors in Toronto at the G20 demonstrations this weekend and joins the growing cry for a public inquiry into police actions.

PSAC members were among 25,000 people who protested against the G20 on Saturday, June 26. But despite a largely peaceful convergence, more than 900 people were arrested over the weekend, in an alleged attempt to apprehend the small group of people responsible for acts of vandalism.

While PSAC remains committed to non-violent, peaceful protest, the union is joining the thousands of Canadians who are critically concerned about the vicious and disproportionate nature of the police presence in Toronto on Saturday and Sunday.

Read more at the national website.

PSAC will go to arbitration over a Treasury Board directive to managers aimed at silencing the union’s pension campaign.

• Did your employer take down PSAC petitions or otherwise interfere in the pension campaign? Let us know.

The Feb. 26, 2010 directive told managers:

• all requests to post petition sheets should be denied;
• all requests to distribute petitions via the Employer’s electronic networks should be denied;
• other than the actual petition, requests to post literature, such as general information on pensions, should not be unreasonably denied;
• the wearing of stickers should be permitted as long as the employee is not directly serving the public;
• the placing of stickers on the Employer’s property or equipment should not be permitted.

On March 10, 2010 the PSAC filed a policy grievance against the directive.

Continue reading at the national website.

The UN General Assembly has designated June 23rd – World Public Services Day – to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community and to encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector.

National President John Gordon, NVP Patty Ducharme, REVP BC Kay Sinclair, REVP North Jean-François Des Lauriers, REVP Atlantic Jeannie Baldwin, CEIU National President Jeanette Meunier-McKay, and UTE National President Betty Bannon are in Vancouver attending the International Trade Union Confederation World Congress. They joined many other PSAC members and elected officers at a rally commemorating World Public Services Day where they heard messages of Solidarity from labour leaders from around the world and rallied for strong public services. Formed in 2006, ITUC represents 175 million workers through its 311 affiliated organizations within 155 countries and territories. Here are a few photos …


The voices of Public Services International members are being raised from the streets of Europe to international trade union and government meetings in Canada this month.

The message is loud and clear: workers and their trade unions reject public spending cuts that reduce the wages, pensions and social programmes that families and communities rely on. Working people must not be made to pay any further to bail out banks and speculators.

Public Service International general secretary Peter Waldorff says, “Budget deficits and debts must not be used as an excuse to cut public services. This simply opens the way to privatizing desperately-needed public programmes, and will only further benefit financial profiteers at the expense of working people.”

Read more at world-psi.org