Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Cheers to Steve Houston, GLBT Rep on the BC Regional Council for passing on this timeline documenting the changing rights landscape for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in Vancouver and around the world.

1940s:

• In 1944, Sweden decriminalizes homosexuality.
• In 1945, the liberation of concentration camps by Allied forces; those interned for homosexuality are required to serve the full term of their sentences.
• In 1946, the COC (the Dutch acronym for Centre for Culture and Recreation), the earliest homophile organization, is founded in the Netherlands.

1950s:

• In 1950, the Mattachine Society, the first American homophile group, is founded in New York.
• In 1955, the lesbian homophile group Daughters of Bilitis is founded in San Francisco.
• In 1958, the Homosexual Law Reform Society is founded in the United Kingdom.

Continue reading more at thetyee.ca!

2007 PSAC National Health and Safety Conference - “Regulation Works!”

Conference objectives

• The objectives of the 2007 PSAC National Health and Safety Conference are:
• To outline the current government and employer agenda which includes deregulation and to demonstrate how it will affect our health, safety and environmental rights.
• To develop a union agenda to counter the move towards deregulation of health, safety and environmental protections and employer voluntary compliance.
• To expose the misrepresentation behind the current “behavioural-based safety programs” being promoted by employers which rework the classic “blame the worker” theory.
• To develop union tactics to counter the “myth of the careless worker”.
• To examine the current state of enforcement of health and safety legislation in order to develop union-based strategies that will better protect workers.

The conference will take place January 19-21, 2007 in Ottawa. The registration deadline is October 5^th and the resolutions submission deadline is October 20^th.

Visit the national website for more information, and to register online.

Please note, due to an out of region work assignment and annual leave the PSAC Victoria Regional Office will be closed from Tuesday August 8th to Friday August 11th inclusive.

If you have an emergency during that time period please contact the PSAC Vancouver Regional Office at 1-800-663-1655.

In Solidarity, Dave Jackson & Rosemary MacKenzie

Public health care is Canadians’ proudest achievement. We embrace it as a social right in Canada, one that speaks to our best values of fairness, pragmatism, inclusion and hope.There is no other social program or national initiative that we identify with so passionately, but it is being weakened by private forces and complicit governments.

We are standing up to defend, expand and improve public health care and we invite all Canadians to join us.

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Greetings Everyone!

Vancouver Multi-union Pride evolved from the BC PSAC LGBT Support Group a number of years ago. Sister Diana Smith (National Component) successfully promoted the concept of a Multi-union Pride Committee that would represent the face of labour in the Vancouver Pride Society Parade and Festival.

We have grown in leaps and bounds over the years. We continue to be the largest single group in the Vancouver Pride Parade. We have won a trophy for “Best Political/Union Float” and are extremely well received by thunderous applause as we march past spectators along the parade route.

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Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians marched in Sao Paulo on June 17 in the city’s 10th Annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March, which organizers said was the world’s largest pride event. The police gave the French wire service AFP an estimate of 3 million participants, at least 500,000 more than in 2005. Organizers had been afraid turnout would be lower because for the first time the event was being held on Saturday rather than Sunday, to avoid conflict with the Australia-Brazil World Cup soccer match, held in Germany on June 18. Many participants wore the national team’s colors.

Despite the festive nature of the march, the organizers stressed a call for an end to attacks on gays. A homosexual, male or female, is murdered every three days in Brazil because of sexual orientation, according to Brazilian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March Association spokesperson Nelson Matias Pereira. [El Universal (Caracas) 6/17/06; El Nuevo Herald 6/17/06 from AP]

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On July 21, 2006 the PSAC-BC Youth Caucus held a very successful BBQ at Trout Lake Park in Vancouver.

Organized by Jamey Mills, Regional Council Youth Representative, and Amy Painter, 1st alternate to Jamey, the event was hot, fun and relaxing. Many young workers and supporters came to the BBQ, got to meet one another, and took part in a “union benefits” scavenger hunt with prizes donated by the PSAC-BC Regional Organizer.

Check out the photos from the BBQ and contact Jamey if you want to get involved!

EI appeal for Lebanon

Education International, the global organization representing education workers, is deeply concerned about the current situation in Lebanon and the impact it is having on innocent civilians, including many children. EI has issued a statement on the situation which it has published on its website and brought to the attention of the international community.

Both of EI’s members in Lebanon have requested EI solidarity assistance and any humanitarian aid possible.

LabourStart.org is responding to these pleas for help by issuing an urgent action appeal to member organisations seeking financial support for the teachers and their families who have been adversely affected by the situation. EI itself has made available immediately an initial amount of 20.000 EUR from the EI Solidarity Fund, which is being forwarded to EI affiliates in Lebanon, to provide humanitarian support to teachers and their families. The funds will be provided on an equal basis to the Teachers Syndicate of Lebanon (TSL) and the Ligue des Professeurs de l’Enseignement Secondaire Public du Liban (LPESPL). EI is asking affiliates to ensure that the funds are allocated to those teachers and their families affected most adversely by the current military activities.

EI is also in contact with international humanitarian aid organisations seeking their immediate assistance for Lebanon and encouraging them to make contact with our affiliates.

Continue reading the appeal for aid and find out how to donate at labourstart.org or visit the Education International website.