Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

PSAC members from Treasury Board locals who are interested in facilitating workshops for the PSAC-PSHRMAC Joint Learning Program (JLP) can apply on-line to become program facilitators.

The next JLP Facilitator Orientation course in the BC region will be in Vancouver from November 6 – 10, 2006. The deadline date for applications is September 25, 2006. For more information, visit the JLP web site.

A Labour Day Message from Ken Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labour Congress

OTTAWA – This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Labour Congress.

When a milestone like this is reached, it is only natural to look back and marvel at what we have accomplished. And what a difference unions have made in people’s lives!

Over the span of two generations, the unions of the Canadian Labour Congress have improved the way we work and how we live.

Many of the benefits that were first bargained in collective agreements one workplace at a time are now enjoyed by all Canadians and their families. In fact, they have become so much a part of everyday life that most of us simply take them for granted.

Thus, today Canadians enjoy the security of the Canada Pension Plan, overtime and holiday pay, or universal public medicare. But in 1956, these were only dreams for most workers unless they belonged to a strong union.

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Media Advisory – August 25, 2006

Head Tax Hip Hop for Redress in Saltwater City: no luck club (NLC) and Funk In Da Attic at Carnegie Hall!

Vancouver, BC – BC Coalition of Head Tax Payers, Spouses and Descendants invites citizens to a petition signing and letter writing dance party with music by no luck club (NLC) and performance by Funk in Da Attic. Colleen Hua, president of the Chinese Canadian National Council, will also be in attendance.

• Date: Sunday, September 10, 2006
• Time: 10:00am call time – program to begin shortly after
• Place: Carnegie Community Centre Main Hall, 401 Main Street at Hastings, Vancouver

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PSAC SOUTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND DISTRICT AREA COUNCIL MINUTES Aug 15, 2006 – Special Bylaws Meeting, PSAC Victoria Regional Office

Present:

• Nick Humphreys – UEW 20169
• Wayne Little – UTE 20028
• Sara Cousins- UTE 20028
• Todd Genereux – UNDE 21011
• Cindy Little – UTE 20028
• Rosemary MacKenzie RO/Admin.

Regrets:

• Renée Young – UCTE 20220
• Pat Maxwell – UNDE 21008
• Jack Gale – GSU 20001
• Dave Jackson – Regional Rep

Sister Cindy Little, President & Sister Renée Young, Secretary

“Premier Campbell, give low income British Columbians a raise.”

Here’s a Labour Day challenge to Premier Gordon Campbell: give low income British Columbians a raise.

BC’s unions are challenging the Premier to take three simple steps to tackle inequality, poverty and homelessness: first, eliminate the training wage; second, raise the minimum wage, and third, increase welfare payments.

Polls show that despite strong economic growth, a majority of British Columbians feel the benefits are passing them by. They’re right.

In May 2006, Statistics Canada figures showed that BC’s average wage for full-time workers is below the Canadian average. So are personal savings and per person disposable income. Premier Campbell may believe BC is the “best place on earth,” but that’s hard to square with the fact that BC has the highest poverty rate in Canada.

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Earlier this week Union of Solicitor General Employees (USGE) members held a workplace demonstration / plantgate at Kent and Mountain Institutions in Agassiz. They distributed leaflets and spoke with people as they arrived for work. Here is one of the leaflets (pdf).

The constant pressure to work harder and longer along with the stress from working outside of their job descriptions has forced USGE members to take action in an effort to bring recognition to their plight. USGE has repeatedly warned management that their bullying tactics in conjunction with their unwillingness to hire appropriate numbers of staff would lead to an unhealthy work environment.

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3 August 2006 Baguio City

Dear President Macapagal-Arroyo and Secretary Avelino Cruz,

I am writing to express my grave concern over the unabated political killings here in the Philippines, especially the recent killing and attempted assassination of key leaders of indigenous peoples’ organizations and members of their families here in the Cordillera.

The attempted assassination of Dr. Constancio Claver, M.D. in Tabuk, Kalinga which resulted in the death of his wife, Alice-Omengan Claver and wounding of a bystander, Janet Ewag is the most recent incident which took place in 31 July 2006. This happened just two months after the killing of Rafael Markus Bangit, (8 June 2006) which up to now remains unsolved. To date there are 73 indigenous persons subjected to extrajudicial killings since 2005. Up to now not a single perpetrator has been identified and brought to justice.

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This course is a follow-up from the Women at Work Part I that was held last year. Each participant or group of participants from 5 geographic areas were asked to decide on a course that would be meaningful to women activists in their respective geographic areas, and to set a date and recruit participants for this one day course. The areas were to be each location where there is an existing Women’s Committee and one location where there might be sufficient interest to start another Women’s Committee. Therefore, the areas will be: Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George, Okanagan and North Island. We agreed to hold the Vancouver training in Surrey.

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OTTAWA – The federal government is refusing to release hundreds of pages of information regarding options for potential job cuts in the public service.In May, CanWest News Service made a specific request under the Access to Information Act for government documents which ”analyse or discuss job cuts in the public service, or the moving of positions out of the national capital region.”

Of the 484 pages identified as relevant to the request, only four containing benign talking points were released. They say only that government departments are ”developing options to restrain spending growth, while minimizing disruptions to the delivery of programs and services.”

To keep those options out of the public eye, Privy Council Office bureaucrats turned a Section 69 exemption under the access act, which apply to what the government considers cabinet confidences. It is the only one that can’t be reviewed by Canada’s information commissioner to ensure the censorship is legitimate.

Although the Stephen Harper-led Conservatives have said on numerous occasions that billions in proposed spending cuts will be ”friendly” to the public service, the union representing federal bureaucrats has expressed fear that longer-term plans may involve layoffs.

John Gordon, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said in an interview the government’s refusal to release so many pages leads him to believe the prime minister ”is not willing to show his true colours” on the subject.

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Update: Aug 22^nd – A mediator has been appointed and the strike averted. Details at cbc.ca.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is poised for strike action in their struggle to achieve a first collective agreement for unionized workers conducting perimeter security at YVR, the employer is Securiguard Services Ltd. There may be labour disruptions as early as tomorrow.

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We have another occasion to push for the adoption of an anti-scab legislation. Act now!

This fall, you can perform a simple act to stop the use of scabs by employers by asking your federal Member of Parliament to vote for Bill C-257, which would ban the use of replacement workers (scabs). If adopted, this legislation would apply to all employers governed by the Canada Labour Code.

The PSAC joins the Canadian Labour Congress and many other unions in supporting this Bill that was tabled the Bloc Québécois, as well as a similar Bill tabled by the New Democratic Party.

If you want to stop the use of scabs and restore a true balance between workers and employers, tell your MP that you want him/her to vote in favour of this amendment to the Labour Code. Remind your MP that she/he was elected to represent you.

Read more at the national website.

The Sky Is The Limit – 3rd annual AIDS Walk fund raiser

• Saturday September 16 2006
  (in the case of rain, the jump will be moved to Sept. 23)
• 12:00 to 5:00 pm
• 5112 Gladwin Road, Abbotsford

All Welcome! Join in the jumping fun or just come out to watch.

BBQ fund raiser at the jump site. All funds raised will go to the HEU Lesbian and Gay Standing Committee’s AIDS Walk fund.
Jumpers – please note:

• Jumps will be in tandem (with a certified expert instructor) from 10,000 feet.
• Cost: Jump day – $229^{.00 + tax}
• Prebook rate: $199^{.00 + tax}
• rate with a group of 10 or more: $189^{.00 + tax}
• A video of your jump is available for $95^{.00 + tax}

For more information or to join the team, contact Victor Elkins at 604-240-9880 or velkins@heu.org or visit heu.org

Starting August 17, almost 5,000 PSAC members in the Treasury Board, Parks Canada, Canada Revenue Agency and Canadian Food Inspection Agency bargaining units will be getting a call at home from their union.The union has prepared a survey that will be conducted by the Environics Research Group, asking members about bargaining issues and their priorities. The survey will help the union prepare its negotiating and political strategy for the next round of bargaining for these units.

Over the last several weeks, the survey has been tested in a series of focus groups involving about 80 rank and file and activist members. Now it’s ready to go.

If you are one of the members called by Environics, we hope you’ll participate. Individual information is completely confidential and at no time will the opinions of individual members be identified.

If you participate in the survey, consider sharing the experience with others in your Local and conduct your own mini-survey to find out what other members see as bargaining concerns and priorities. It’s never too early to get ready for the next round of negotiations

updated August 23: A tentative agreement has been reached, and all job action has ceased, pending ratification.
The BCNU Members of Joye Morris Health Services Inc. voted across the Province July 27, 2006, 94% in favour of strike. BCNU represents the members who work in the Health Centres at ten Provincial Jails operated by the private contractor, Joye Morris.

The two parties have been in negotiations to secure a renewal collective agreement since May 1, 2006. The current collective agreement expired on March 31, 2006.

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from Monica Urrutia, PSAC Regional Representative

Hi all,

Many of you know that I am very active in the Filipino community. As the press release below states the political killings in the Philippines keeps increasing, so the Filipino community and our supporters and allies are also stepping up starting off with weekly actions at the Philippine consulate. International condemnation seems to be one of the few things the current Philippine President responds or reacts to. With that in mind I am sending this out to those within the PSAC and the labour movement whom I’ve met or worked with and ask for your support.

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The YOUR course application deadline is in 7 days …

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The YOUR course is a participatory, action-oriented course for PSAC members under the age of 30. It is a unique opportunity for young workers to share their experiences, discuss common struggles and analyze the issues they face at work, in the Union and in society. The course will take place in Vancouver, September 30 & October 1, 2006.

Click for more information, or go straight to the online application.

In 2001, the B.C. Ministry of Social Housing released a document reviewing the research on the relationship between homelessness and the health,social services, and criminal justice systems and estimated the cost of homelessness to governments …

Executive Summary

Some observers argue that homelessness costs the health care, social services and criminal justice systems at least as much as decent affordable housing. In fact, as one observer noted: “we continue paying to put the homeless in hospital beds, while not providing them with ordinary beds of their own,” (Starr 1998). The question is do we pay now by providing those ordinary beds or do we pay possibly more later by not providing them? The costs of dealing with the consequences of homelessness, such as increased health needs, must be weighed against the cost of investing in longer-term housing solutions. This research provides a preliminary estimate of the costs of homelessness to the British Columbia government.

The specific objectives for this exploratory research are:

• To present a cost analysis of homelessness in terms of the British Columbia health care, social services and criminal justice systems.
• To analyse whether the provision of adequate and affordable housing is a preventive cost to the government.

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On August 6, Prime Minister Stephen Harper came one step closer to issuing a federal apology over the Komagata Maru incident. At a meeting with Indo-Canadian community leaders in Surrey, Harper declared that the federal government’s decision in 1914 to refuse entry to more than 350 South Asian passengers—all British subjects—“remains a source of sorrow”.

“I also want you to know that the government of Canada acknowledges the Maru incident and we will soon undertake consultations with the Indo-Canadian community on how best to recognize this sad moment in our history,” Harper said.

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To Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Members,

The deadline of August 14^th 2006 for the submission of bargaining demands for the next round of negotiations for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is fast approaching.

The agreement expires December 31^st, 2006 and we anticipate serving notice to bargain in September.

Please be reminded that your bargaining demands must be accompanied by complete rationales and justifications: for more information please contact your local Executive.

Thanks to Steve Houston & Amy Painter, BC Regional Council, for sending in some photos taken at the Vancouver Pride Parade. The theme for the Vancouver Pride Parade this year was “Love and Joy” Multi-union Pride presented and promoted “Peace and Love” as the theme of their float.

Click for the photos!