Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

On Thursday your team continued to have productive face-to-face negotiations with the Agency.

We are still on track to reach a tentative agreement before the October 31 expiry date of our current contract.

Another day at the table and we are continuing to make progress. Your bargaining team has countered the employer’s offer on almost all of the outstanding issues. We are waiting to hear back from the Agency team on a number of issues.

We continue to be optimistic that we can negotiate a tentative agreement before October 31, the expiry date of our current contract.

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

The B.C. Federation of Labour is pleased to announce that the BC Fed Health & Safety Centre is continuing the Occupational Health & Safety and Labour Education Program into the 2007/2008 school year.

For the past four years, the Centre has been training young workers from various affiliates to facilitate high school sessions across the province.

In 2003, the B.C. Federation of Labour and the BC Teachers’ Federation introduced this Program to prepare young workers to talk to the students in the high schools about their rights in the workplace. Since then, over 30,000 high school students have participated in the workshops, and over 40 young union members have been trained to deliver these workshops. The success of the Program is due to the commitment and passion of these young facilitators.

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114 women missing from just 2 areas in British Columbia, the Highway of Tears between Prince Rupert and Prince George and the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

• OCTOBER 4, 2007 VIGIL 1:00 PM—5:30PM
• CRAB PARK 101 E. WATERFRONT ROAD, Vancouver

Please join us for a vigil, BBQ and benefit to remember the well over 500 missing and murdered Aboriginal women across Canada, and to honour the missing and murdered Aboriginal women who have disappeared from the Down-town Eastside and the Highway of Tears here in British Columbia.

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This years Union School will be held November 2,3,4 in Burnaby. The Application deadline is September 28th.

What is the Union School? Union training at its best! It is an opportunity for active PSAC members to gain more specialized knowledge and skills. You will network with other members from BC and return to your workplaces and locals energized and educated to work on behalf of the membership.

• Apply on-line here.
• More information & course descriptions.

The theme of this year’s union school is “Public and Proud! Building Union Resistance to Privatization.” Our goal is to organize and mobilize members of our union and our communities and build an agenda of resistance to the privatization of public services.

The employer has now responded to all of the union proposals on the table and continues to show a willingness to discuss improvements on issues our members have indicated are important to them.

The ACS-SP sub-committee met again on Tuesday and is having ongoing discussions on the classification conversion. While these discussions take place, negotiations are occurring simultaneously on all the other issues.

Your team remains positive with the progress of negotiations.

We will continue to issue bulletins this week as bargaining continues

PSAC-BC Human Rights Committee Invites You To Make Submissions To Our Poster Contest

The PSAC-BC Human Rights Committee is made up of PSAC members from the Aboriginal, Racially Visible, Persons with Disabilities or GLBT groups. We meet with other members from these groups about once a month to discuss items of interest, for group discussions and to build our confidence by practicing public speaking.

The goal of our committee is

• To actively promote and encourage members from Human Rights/diversity groups to participate in the union and in society as a whole
• To educate union members at large on sensitivity and inclusiveness in the union

Our responsibilities include:

• To attend Committee meetings or send alternates to ensure that each group has a voice
• To serve as positive spokespersons for respective constituencies
• To organize activities and events for special “diversity days”
• To forge links with other human rights groups/coalition partners in the community
• To raise the profile of the equity/diversity union members in a positive manner within the union and the workplace

As such, we are offering all of our members the opportunity to present, in art form, a poster submission on what they feel the PSAC-BC Human Rights Committee represents, to, for and about its members.

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Your negotiating team is back at the table with CRA after a first productive week. On our first day back, there was movement by the employer’s team on a number of our demands. The ACS-SP joint sub-committee met again on Monday and their work is proceeding well. Your team continues to be encouraged by the pace of bargaining.

On Saturday, your team provided an update on bargaining to the UTE Local President’s conference being held in Ottawa. We offer a heartfelt thank you to our Local Presidents and other participants at the conference for their demonstrations of support.

Keep reading our bargaining bulletins.

OTTAWA – The Harper government, having finally figured out that being seen to be “green” could translate into votes, is in the process of sacrificing other vital Environment Canada programs in a misguided attempt to focus almost exclusively on climate change.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada’s Union of Environment Workers (PSAC/UEW) takes strong exception to Environment Minister John Baird’s claims that no programs have been cut and that spending is just being prioritized for climate change initiatives.

“Program budgets that are being slashed by 50 to 100 percent are cuts,” says UEW National President Bill Pynn, “regardless of what the government may claim.”

“The government’s decision to cut programs not related to climate change demonstrates their lack of a comprehensive plan for sustaining and protecting our environment and their abysmal lack of understanding of the important work Environment Canada performs,” says Pynn. “It is also one more move by the Harper government to reduce if not eliminate the federal government’s responsibility to provide necessary public services at the national level.”

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After a week at the table with the CRA, your bargaining team is pleased to report that we’re continuing to make progress and that negotiations are moving at an unprecedented pace.

Why are these negotiations different? This time, both parties have come with a real willingness to negotiate. The process is less formal, less structured and as a result, more productive. A significant change from past rounds is that the employer’s team is at the table with the authority to negotiate. Instead of continually checking with their “principals”, the Agency team is ready and able to make some decisions.

The use of joint sub-committees to tackle some of the more detailed and complex issues is also helping move the process forward. The ACS-SP sub-committee has been putting in considerable work on the details of applying a salary schedule to the new SP classification plan. Workforce Adjustment (WFA) issues are also being discussed in a joint sub-committee and many of the union’s concerns already have been addressed.

We have agreement in principle on a number of proposals that may eventually be part of a settlement package. The employer’s team has indicated they are prepared to table a full economic package once the ASC-SP sub-committee has finished its work, which is expected to happen early next week.

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Meeting Of The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance

• Thursday, September 27, 7 PM
• BCGEU HQ Auditorium
• 4911 Canada Way, Burnaby (half block west of Norland, entrance at Iris Crescent)

Join other Asian Canadian union members at a meeting of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance to discuss plans for upcoming events. Also, hear about the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Convention that took place in July and the recent Anniversaries of Change conference and reconciliation dinner. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance provides a forum for Asian Canadian Union members to connect, encourages the increased participation of Asian Canadian union members in the labour movement, and works to strengthen the relationship between labour and our Asian Canadian communities.

For more information about the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, or for more directions to the meeting please contact: Lorene Oikawa at 604-291-9611 or lorene.oikawa@bcgeu.ca

Northwest B.C. Area Council Meeting September 8, 2007

Attendance:

• Phyllis Bortignon USGE 20071
• Barry Cunningham UCTE 20213
• Penny Dickson CEIU 20926
• Benilde Gomes USGE 20071
• Scott MacPhee UCTE 20213
• Nikki McVey CEIU 20926
• Colette Savarie PSAC BC Regional Representative

Call to Order: Benilde opened meeting at 11:15am

Adoption of Agenda: Motion made to accept Agenda as read and carried.

Continue reading below or download the NorthWest Area Council meeting minutes - Sept 8 2007 (pdf)

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On Thursday, your bargaining team spent more negotiating with the Agency. The employer’s team continues to respond in a positive way.

After an initial face-to-face session scheduled for Friday morning, two sub-committees with representatives from both the union and employer will continue their work. These are the ASC-SP sub-committee on classification conversion and the Workforce Adjustment (WFA) sub-committee. Both of these sub-committees are working hard to complete the work that needs to be done on these two critical issues.

Stay tuned for our next bulletin.

OTTAWA – In spite of election promises by Stephen Harper, women’s groups who track women’s inequalities and advocate for change, such as the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) are being forced to close their doors, according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

“During the last election campaign, Harper promised to do more to meet Canada’s international obligations to women’s equality,” says PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President Robyn Benson. “Less than a year after forming the government, then Minister responsible for the Status of Women Bev Oda declared women equal, closed most of the Status of Women Canada (SWC) regional offices and cut funding for research and advocacy.”

“Now, one by one, women’s organizations who lobby for change are being forced to shut down. Today, NAWL’s offices are closing and others are expected to follow.”

Women’s inequality in Canada is still very much an issue. Women are more likely to be poor and almost half of Canada’s poor children live with a single female parent. Women’s earnings are still 71% of men’s earnings and average incomes for Aboriginal, disabled and racialized women are even lower. Women make up 51% of the population but still only hold 20% of the seats in the House of Commons.

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The second collective bargaining session between the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation – Granville Island Office and the Public Service Alliance of Canada was held from September 17 to 19, 2007. As with the first session held from June 19 to 22, 2007, the parties were unable to reach agreement because the employer representatives did not have the mandate to conclude a tentative agreement.

Your bargaining team had to wait several hours before being told by the employer that we needed to schedule an additional day since they could not get a hold of the CMHC President in Ottawa. The bargaining team is very disappointed by the lack of respect shown by the employer. The membership had written to the President in June for exactly that purpose - asking that the employer representatives be given the mandate to deal with the outstanding issues to reach a tentative agreement.

The outstanding issues include payment of Medical Services Plan premiums, duration and wages.

Over 40 PSAC members work at CMHC - Granville Island. They perform a variety of duties including Administration, Grounds Maintenance, Market and Events Coordination, Janitorial, Painting, Building Maintenance etc. The collective agreement expired March 31, 2007.

PSAC member Be Gomes and the Terrace District Labour council successfully lobbies Terrace City Council to support the $10 minimum wage campaign.

source: The Terrace Standard.

TO ENSURE a healthy local economy and people’s survival, B.C.’S minimum wage must be raised to $10 an hour, according to a representative of the local labour council.

“Terrace is a perfect example,” Kitimat-Terrace & District Labour Council spokesperson Be Gomes says. Gomes attributes various job vacancies around town to potential workers not bothering to apply because of low wages.

“People can not afford to live off $8 an hour,” she said.

B.C.’s general minimum wage is $8 an hour though employees with little or no are categorized differently. The minimum wage for their first 500 hours of work is $6 an hour.

Gomes said many workers are also exhausted just trying to make ends meet. Her own daughter works two jobs a day for a total of 13.5 hours and is taking a year off school to save money. She was initially excited to be making money but quickly realized the minimum wage didn’t go far, Gomes said.

Gomes solicited the Terrace city council’s support for a minimum wage increase Sept. 10.

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Your bargaining team spent an intensive day at the table on Wednesday. We’re spending most of our time actually negotiating with the Agency team and a lot of work is getting done.

We have finished dealing with all the demands that fall into the housekeeping and procedural categories and are now starting to negotiate the major demands.

The strong support from our members is keeping everyone focused at the bargaining table and is contributing to the positive attitude and productive work to date.

Look for our next update.

After another day of bargaining, your team is pleased to report that the process is going well.

Today, your team tabled a new demand with the employer asking the Agency to provide ergonomic counselling and assessments through an in-house national program. The demand is in response to a CRA decision to shut down an existing ergonomic in-house service being provided by five of our members to offices in some regions.

We’ll be continuing to issue bulletins as the process continues. Remember, you can sign up now on the PSAC web site – www.psac-afpc.com to automatically receive Bargaining INFO bulletins as they are issued or by using the “Subscribe” feature on the UTE website at www.ute-sei.org .

More about those solidarity activities

Everyone was getting in on the act when Locals organized activities across the country in support of our negotiating team earlier this week. Saint John, New Brunswick boasted the youngest activist as 10 ½-month old Boyd Bembridge, wearing a big “I support my bargaining team” sticker, joined his mother and the Local executive who were plantgating on Monday.

Across the country, literally thousands of leaflets and stickers were handed out on September 17 as members showed their support for their negotiating team. Many wore their stickers in the workplace thoughout the day. The Sudbury Local also handed out PSAC’s colourful “Public Services are Cool” fans which members appreciated as something “bright and cheerful” for a Monday morning!

In Rouyn, 85% of the members wore jeans and a red shirt to work to show their solidarity, as did many others in Laval, Montérégie, Sherbrooke and Montreal. Members in a number of locations expressed a wish that we could make history by negotiating a new collective agreement before the old one expires. Your team is working on it!

Human Rights Committee Minutes September 12th, 2007

*In attendance: Members: Wandy, Tracy (chair of meeting), Carol (minute taker), Kim, Sargy, Craig Staff: Janelle*

Continue reading below or download the Human Rights Committee meeting minutes - Sept 12 2007 (pdf)

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Bargaining demands have been exchanged, preliminary meetings held and now bargaining is beginning in earnest with CRA.

Your negotiating team spent its first day meeting several times with the Agency negotiating team. The Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) Workforce Adjustment (WFA) committee also met with your team to provide us with a report and information that will be useful in our deliberations.

Your team is at the table expecting to spend the upcoming days in serious negotiations and the employer is giving indications that they are prepared to do the same.

Look for the union updates as negotiations continue.

Many thanks to our members

We started negotiations on a high note knowing our members were supporting us. We send a very big thank you to all the members who participated in Monday’s activities and to our Locals for organizing them. With your support, we’ll achieve a good agreement.