Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

via Muti-Union Pride

A gay Israeli couple who married in Canada has won a legal battle to have the union recognized in Israel.

In a precedent-setting ruling Tuesday, Israel’s High Court of Justice decided that the couple, as well as four others wedded abroad, should be allowed to register their marriages, and have the same rights as heterosexual couples marrying out of country in civil ceremonies.

The court has ordered the government to adopt its stand.

“We’re delighted but the struggle is not over,” Yossi Ben-Ari said in the Jerusalem Post.

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Ottawa–Canadians are outraged at the $5M cuts to Status of Women Canada (SWC) and the changes in the guidelines which saw the elimination of funding for research and advocacy for women’s equality rights.

To add insult to injury, under the guise and premise of “achieving efficiencies” at SWC, the government has decided to eliminate almost half its workforce across the country.

“How can Minister Oda expect Canadians to believe that she and her government are acting in the best interests of women? We are calling on this Minister to resign. She simply cannot profess to represent Canadian women, nor can she claim she is defending women’s equality” stated Robyn Benson, PSAC Officer responsible for women’s rights.

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Fraser Valley Area Council -Annual General Meeting, 2006-11-01

In Attendance:

• Jayne Johns, CEIU Local 20903
• Anne Marie McCully, CEIU Local 20903
• Edi Martin, USGE Local 20141
• James Little, PSAC
• Chuck Leech, USGE Local 20054
• Mel Dureen, USGE Local 20054
• Anthony Friesen, Agriculture 20038

Meeting called to order at 1810 hours.

Introductions were made.

Guest Speaker - Amber Hockings

Amber Hockings - CLC representative, provided information on the Canadian Labour Congress and how their system works. All major national unions are affiliated to the CLC. The CLC is represented regionally by Labour Councils. There are currently 135 labour councils across the country. The Fraser Valley Labour Council will be affiliated in January 2007. It is important that we get involved in political action as union members have a larger number of voters. The CLC looks at major issues and helps to find out how the politicians are directing their votes and how we can influence them. They also provide information to the councils on issues for municipal and provincial elections. Non-union people may contact the CLC as well if they have labour issues. This sometimes results in new locals being developed. The CLC is working to change their education programs to suit the people they are there to help. They will be providing some courses on evenings and weekends. Locals are responsible to pay their own costs for any training.

Labour councils will be asked to give support to the promotion to have the government increase the minimum wage. Support is also needed for the “Not Working Alone” campaign.

We have a quorum with 3 of the 4 officers present and 4 locals represented.

Continue reading below, or download the Fraser Valley AGM minutes, November 1 2006 (.pdf)

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Annual Human Rights Day Dinner & Forum

• December 8^th
• dinner @ 5:45 PM
• dessert @ 7:00 PM
• Maritime Labour Centre, Boardroom 3, 111 Victoria Drive at Triumph

Join the Public Service Alliance of Canada BC Human Rights Committee and Agriculture Union Equal Opportunities Committee for dinner at this annual event …

Our speakers:

• Todd Wong: Save Kogawa House, Japanese internment and gunghaggisfatchoy.com
• Sid Chow Tan: Head tax update
• Sargy Chima: The Komagata Maru
• Carol Pegura: same-sex school curriculum update
• Mabel Elmore: World Aids Day (December 1^st)
• David Dennis: Vice-President, United Native Nations

Tickets for the traditional turkey or vegetarian dinner are $18, drink and dessert only tickets are $6. (the BC Human Rights committee will subsidize tickets for committee members). For more information - Jennie Chu at (778) 230 3987

Request: Please check your closets for spare, clean, blankets, jackets and socks. The Committee will collect these and donate them to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. It’s cold out there, and these items are always in need.
Please RSVP before Dec 7^th to (604) 430 5631 or braggp@psac.com.

Minutes of the November 8^th, 2006, BC-PSAC HRC Meeting

• Chair: Carol Pegura
• Minutes: Kim Forster
• Food: Tracey
• Staff Rep: Monica Urrutia
• In Attendance: Tracey, Rhonda, Carol, Deanna, Kim, Craig, Vicki [Hugo], Joanne, Marshall, Ethel, Diane, Linda, Sanda, Floyd (on teleconference).
• Guest Speakers: Harry Monk - Director BC Region of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Rhonda Brain - PSAC member,Paul Tubbe - City of Vancouver Advisory Committee on Disability Issues

Continue reading below, or download BC Human Rights Committee minutes, Nomember 8 2006 (.pdf)

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Strike Up The Band! 50 Years of Making Trouble For All The Right Reasons

• Date: Thursday, November 30, 2006 Time: 8 pm
• Venue: The Orpheum Theatre Admission: $35 (plus gst & service charges)
• Tickets:604.231.7535 or www.ticketstonight.ca
• Information: www.thefestival.bc.ca

The BC Federation of Labour celebrates its 50th anniversary Thursday, November 30, 2006, with a star-studded gala at the Orpheum Theatre, produced for the Federation by the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.

The gala concert will be a highlight of the Federation’s 50th Annual Convention, taking place November 27 through December 1, 2006, at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. The theme of the anniversary convention is “A Proud History. A Strong Future.” |inline

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I am writing to you today to ask for support for a group of PSAC members that have been locked out by their employer since October 23, 2006.

These twenty two workers, members of UNW Local 6 in Hay River, Northwest Territories, work at “Nats’ejee K’eh”, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre. Their contract has expired three and a half years ago and they have been without a salary increase for over four years. It was with great reluctance that they eventually served notice of strike action, but their employer instead of returning to the bargaining table chose to lock them out and transport the clients who were in treatment at the facility to a non-unionised treatment centre in Alberta.

The employer’s latest offer includes monetary roll-backs, entire control on lay-offs and the right to dismiss anyone at any time without cause, complete unilateral control over hours of work, gutting the union rights and activities and doing away with parental leave.

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How important is your CLC Winter School? Would you believe us if we say that it will help improve the lives of millions? The accomplishments of the labour movement in Canada over the last 50 years have raised the quality of life of the vast majority of Canadians to a point envied by many nations. In the beginning, each and every one of these accomplishments started out as a struggle for union activists and their allies.

But these were activists that were trained to win. You will acquire some of that knowledge and many of these skills during your week at winter school.

The Canadian Labour Congress Winter School will take place January 21^st to February 16^th in Harrison Hot Springs.

Visit the CLC Winter School website for more information, including online application and course descriptions. The registration deadline is December 15^th

Women in Canada Want Answers

(Vancouver - November 22, 2006) Women in want to know details of the $5 million cut to Status of Women. There is growing concern that regional offices may be closed and that regional staff may be pink slipped. The fate of the long established, independent research fund also remains unknown.

Since the announcement in September 2006, women across the country have not been informed about which parts of Status of Women’s functions will be cut. “We know that Minister Oda has been presented with some options, but the women of Canada have had no input,” says Alison Brewin of West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund. “It seems that the ways in which women’s equality will be protected and advanced in Canada is being decided without any involvement of women themselves.”

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It has been three months since the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto and the Government of Canada has yet to announce its plans to combat the pandemic.

On August 18th, the day the conference closed, Health Minister Tony Clement promised the Government would act. He said: “Is there more to do? Yes there is and we’ll be announcing that in the near future.”

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper today established an Advisory Committee of nine eminent Canadians to advise him and the Clerk of the Privy Council on the renewal and future development of the Public Service of Canada. The Advisory Committee will also report annually as part of the Clerk’s report to the Prime Minister on the state of the Public Service, which is tabled in Parliament.

“The public service must continue to adapt to meet the changing realities of Canadian society and be well equipped to best serve Canadians in the coming years,” the Prime Minister said. “This is particularly true as the current baby boom generation retires. The future development of the Public Service requires sound advice, innovative solutions and strong support from both within and outside government.”

Read more at pm.gc.ca.

The 2007 Pride Conference will take place March 30^th to April 1^st. The theme of the conference is “Include and be Included” and the objectives of conference are:

• To educate, politicize and mobilize PSAC GLBT members by making the links between union, workplace and GLBT rights within a safe space;
• To strengthen solidarity and build coalitions;
• To enhance, support and promote inclusive GLBT self-organizing strategies in our Union and our workplaces.

A PSAC member who is a member in good standing and who self-identifies as belonging to the GLBT communities can apply to be a delegate to this Conference. The selection of delegates will take into account union and GLBT rights activism, as well as representation (Region, Component, language, gender and additional equity group representation). The application deadline is January 11^th, 2007.

Visit the national website for more information about the 2007 PSAC National Pride Conference, as well as an online registration form.

Via Nick Humphreys, Political Action Committee

Amnesty International Announces 5th Annual Human Rights Film Festival: University of Victoria to host this very special 3 day event from November 17-19

Victoria, BC: In spite of the increasing influence of human rights organizations around the world, and the improved flow of information to and among concerned citizens, tragic abuses continue to occur with alarming frequency. Amnesty International is committed to shining a light on these events through these sometimes stark, but always honest, films capturing the reality we face.

• November 17,18,19
• Location: University of Victoria David Lam Auditorium (MacLaurin Building)
• Tickets: All screenings by donation. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
• more information: www.amnestyfilmsvictoria.ca

Now in its fifth year in Victoria, the event has seen a remarkable increase in attendance and is now the second largest Amnesty Film Festival in the nation. It is a showcase for talented filmmakers who work against long odds, short finances and threatening politics to bring to the screen powerful stories of human struggle, sacrifice and triumph. This year, the festival is honoured to present eight exceptional and timely new films of global importance, with guest speakers introducing and discussing content and implications.

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Draft Minutes of the Prince George Area Council meeting

November 4, 2006

In attendance:

• Patt Holmes
• Debbie Stangrecki
• Sandy Stephens
• Val Bergey
• Ren MacDonald
• Freda Anthony
• Julie Jacobsen
• Ruth Stewart
• Diane Beaulieu
• Floyd Knelsen
• Narinder Minhas
• Judy Fowlie
• Doreen Le Ves Conte

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“Making the Filipino Community Count in British Columbia”: A BC-wide Gathering of the Filipino Community and Beyond

On February 9-11, 2007, the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC-BC) and the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC) will host a BC-wide gathering of the Filipino community. Appropriately themed “Making the Filipino Community Count in British Columbia,” the gathering aims to advance the community’s full participation in BC and to contribute to the strengthening of social cohesion in a multicultural society like Canada.

The Filipino community in BC and Canada continues to rapidly grow in numbers. There are an estimated 500,000 Filipinos in Canada, making them the fourth largest visible minority group in the country. Filipinos are the third largest visible minority group in B.C. and the second in Vancouver.

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• Thursday, November 16, 2006
• Rally 4:30pm in front of the Philippine Consulate at
• 700 Pender St., (at Granville St. downtown Vancouver)

Since assuming power on January 20, 2001 until June 30, 2006, 64 leaders, members, organizers and supporters of trade unions and informal workers organizations have been killed. They are but part of the more than 770 victims of political killings under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime.

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To: BC Federation of Labour Officers

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

You are likely aware that Bill C-257 passed at a second reading vote in Parliament last week. The vote was 167-101, with the entire NDP and Bloc caucuses voting in favour. Most of the Liberal caucus and a few of the Conservatives also voted in favour. Attached (below) please find a list of how the BC MP’s voted, and provincial totals from across the country.

I would like to thank you, your organization and activists for the tremendous effort that helped to get this result. Some MP’s received huge numbers of calls and letters, and these undoubtedly influenced how they voted. BC Labour Councils did a great job of getting in to see all MP’s, many of them for second and third times.

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The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 402 has established, through the BC Federation of Labour, a memorial scholarship for a union woman to attend the “Women In Leadership” course at the Canadian Labour Congress Harrison Winter School, January 21 - 26 2007.

The scholarship will cover the costs of tuition, accommodations and meals for this event.

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On October 3^rd, 2006 the PSAC National Board of Directors adopted a motion allowing a vote to be conducted by the 10,000 members of the Technical Services Group at Treasury Board. This vote will determine whether this group chooses the conciliation/strike or the arbitration route for its next round of bargaining.

The vote will be conducted by mail ballot. Members will be receiving their mailing kits at home by mid-November and will have until December 11^th, 2006, to return their ballot to the PSAC. 

Once the ballots are counted and verified, the results will be announced by the PSAC. Under the Public Service Labour Relations Act, the members have to choose between conciliation/strike or arbitration before the PSAC serves the notice to bargain to Treasury Board. This is why this vote has to take place at this time.

• Visit the national website for letter by National President John Gordon explaining why PSAC favours the conciliation/strike route.
• Visit the national website to read a leaflet that gives an outlook of each option.

For any question about the vote process, please send an e-mail to bargaining@psac.com.

This months topic is Disability Awareness, and the meeting is open to all PSAC members. Our speakers on the topic:

• Harry Monk - Canadian Human Rights Commission
• Rhonda Brain - PSAC member
• Paul Tubbe - City of Vancouver Advisory Committee on Disability Issues

When: November 8 2006, 5:45 PM (meetings are normally about two hours long)
Where: Vancouver: 200 - 5238 Joyce Street & via Conf. Call
Please RSVP to Monica Urrutia, (604) 430 5631, as a light dinner will be served. On site childcare, and / or participation from other areas via conference call is available, if requested before November 6th, please call Monica for details.