Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

OTTAWA - IMP Group Limited, which is charged with maintaining and repairing Canadian search and rescue helicopters, refuses to address some important labour issues with its employees, according to the union representing the employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

“Our members perform work that is of great importance to the safety and security of many Canadians,” said PSAC National President John Gordon. “IMP management should do everything they can to resolve the labour problems within the company and to develop harmonious work relations with the employees.”

For Gordon, the time has come for IMP management to learn how to deal fairly with its unionized workforce. “Many Canadian companies deal with unions representing their employees,” he said, “and in doing so they are able to ensure labour peace in their workplaces. IMP should do the same.”

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PSAC members want better health, safety and environmental regulations and more rigorous enforcement

PSAC members must make use of every forum available to speak out against deregulation and the implementation of measures that weaken their health and safety protection and their environment.

This was one of the messages heard at the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) National Health and Safety Conference held in Ottawa from January 19 to 21, 2007. PSAC National President, John Gordon, told delegates that “Canadians need a government that responds to the public’s needs, not to the desires of large corporations. We all need quality public services provided by our unionized members, who enjoy good health and safety protection. It’s our challenge, but it’s also our right,” he added.

• You can also read John Gordon’s speech at the Conference.
• See some pictures of the Conference.

More than 300 PSAC members attended the Conference, the theme of which was “Regulation Works”. Together union members devised strategies to: counter the federal government’s push to scale down occupational health and safety and environmental regulations; improve enforcement of health and safety legislation to better protect workers; and, dispel the myth of the careless employee. Members also debated resolutions some of which will be forwarded to the Alliance Executive Committee for action and the rest will be forwarded to the next PSAC Triennial Convention.

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OTTAWA - The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is putting the defense of quality public services on the bargaining table in the upcoming round of negotiations with the federal government for over 100,000 federal public sector workers.

“PSAC members are proud of the role they play in the daily lives of Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” said National President John Gordon. “Our negotiations serve a larger purpose as Canadians across the country want more public services and are prepared to pay for them, not further cuts to our public services. The work we do at the bargaining table and in the community is about building a better Canada.”

The union has been holding a national bargaining conference for its five Treasury Board bargaining units and for its bargaining unit at the Parks Canada Agency. PSAC members, who attended regional bargaining conferences in late 2006, have spent the last four days reviewing bargaining priorities established by the 2006 PSAC triennial convention and bargaining demands submitted by PSAC Locals.

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Every year Canadians are invited to take part in the festivities and events that honour the legacy of Black Canadians, past and present, during Black History Month.

This is a time to celebrate the many achievements and contributions of Black Canadians, who, throughout history, have done so much to make Canada the culturally diverse, compassionate and prosperous nation we know today. It is also an opportunity for the majority of Canadians to learn about the experiences of Black Canadians in our society, and the vital role this community has played throughout our shared history.

• Read more at the Canadian Heritage website and the PSAC national website.

Celebrate Black History Month with the PSAC! Dinner & Film Screening of The Road Taken - A Portrait of Black Sleeping-Car Porters

• February 13, 2007
• dinner @ 5:30 PM | film @ 6 PM
• PSAC Vancouver RO, 200-5238 Joyce Street

Film: The Road Taken - A nostalgic ride through history, this film documents the experiences of black workers who worked as sleeping-car porters on Canada’s major railways from the early 1900s through the 1960s. The film will be introduced by Irma Mohammed, BC Fed Director of Education & Black Labour Activist

• Read more about the Brotherhood of Sleeping-car Porters at wikipedia.

I think the story of the porters is a story of the pain and the beauty of survival. – Clifton Ruggles (teacher and artist whose father was a sleeping-car porter)

All members are invited to this forum. Please RSVP by February 7th to Amal Rana, 604.430.5631 or ranaa@psac.com, as a catered dinner will be served.