Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Upcoming courses put on by the BC Federation of Labour Health & Safety Centre. For more information, course descriptions or registration call the Fed @ 604-430-1421, 1-888-BCFL NOW or visit www.bcfed.ca. There is an $85 registration fee for most courses.

• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Cranbrook - Feb 21
• Workplace Ergonomics OHS Course Fernie - Feb 22
• Basic OHS Course Greater Vancouver - Feb 26
• Basic OHS Course Nanaimo - Feb 27
• Prevention of Violence in the Workplace OHS Course Victoria - Feb 28
• Workplace Ergonomics OHS Course Parksville - Mar 4
• Basic OHS Course Campbell River - Mar 5
• Basic OHS Course Salmon Arm - Mar 6
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Revelstoke - Mar 7
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Surrey - Mar 7
• Prevention of Violence in the Workplace OHS Course Greater Vancouver - Mar 11
• Workplace Toxins OHS Course Greater Vancouver - Mar 12
• Basic OHS Course Powell River - Mar 13
• Basic OHS Course Kimberley - Mar 14
• Stress in the Workplace OHS Course Victoria - Mar 25
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Duncan - Mar 26
• Advanced OHS Course Greater Vancouver - Mar 28
• Workplace Ergonomics OHS Course Chilliwack - Mar 31
• Whole Body Vibration OHS Course Greater Vancouver - Apr 2
• Workplace Ergonomics OHS Course Greater Vancouver - Apr 3
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Nanaimo - Apr 8
• Stress in the Workplace OHS Course Surrey - Apr 14
• Basic OHS Course Abbotsford - Apr 17
• Advanced OHS Course Victoria - Apr 21
• Basic OHS Course Courtenay - Apr 23
• Advanced OHS Course Parksville - Apr 24
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Creston - Apr 29
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Prince George - May 1
• Basic OHS Course Prince George - May 1
• Advanced OHS Course Prince George - May 1
• Workplace Ergonomics OHS Course Prince George - May 1
• Whole Body Vibration OHS Course Victoria - May 6
• Workplace Ergonomics OHS Course Surrey - May 9
• Stress in the Workplace OHS Course Greater Vancouver - May 12
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Powell River - May 15
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Chilliwack - May 20
• Prevention of Violence in the Workplace OHS Course Nanaimo - May 22
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Greater Vancouver - Jun 4
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Campbell River - Jun 5
• Accident/Incident Investigations OHS Course Abbotsford - Jun 9

• Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
• Time: 7-9 PM
• Location: The Richmond Caring Place,
• 7000 Minoru Blvd @ Granville
• Cost: minimum donation of $5 but no one will be turned away

Since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed power in the Philippines in January 2001, there are now more than 830 reported cases of extra-judicial killings and almost 200 cases of forcible disappearances in the Philippines. Despite this terror, the Filipino peoples resistance continues. The killings, mostly carried out by unidentified men often wearing face masks who shoot the victims before escaping on motorcycles, have rarely led to the arrest, prosecution and punishment of those responsible.

Come to a forum at the Richmond Women’s Resource Centre and learn more about the situation of women in the Philippines and how you can be a Sister In Solidarity.

For more information contact Philippine Women Centre of BC (604) 215-1103, pwc@kalayaancentre.net, www.kalayaancentre.net/pwcofbc or Richmond Women’s Resource Centre (604) 279-7060, www.richmondwomenscentre.bc.ca

Endorsed by the PSAC Vancouver Regional Women’s Committee

PSAC Regional Council Youth Representative and co-chair of the BC Fed Young Workers’ Committee, Jamey Mills, will be speaking at this event. The PSAC Vancouver & District Area Council is a member of the May Day Organizing Committee.

MAY DAY 2008: May Day Organizing Committee presents ‘Young Workers Unite!’ a community Forum & Discussion on the present issues and struggles of young workers in Vancouver and how they are organizing themselves

• Thursday, 7 February 2008, 6:30 PM
• Organizing Centre for Economic & Social Justice
• 672 E. Broadway, Vancouver BC (Take the #8 or #9 and get off at Broadway and Fraser)
• Speakers: IWW-Vancouver, Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance-Vancouver, Bus Riders’ Union, B.C. Federation Young Workers’ Committee
• With feature film: “Eyes on the Fries”

more info: ilps_canada@shawcable.com

Minutes - BC Regional Union Safety & Health meeting

Attending:

• Bob Jackson
• Monique Bakker
• Mel Dureen
• Jason Komaromi
• Wayne Little
• Floyd Knelson
• Chuck Leach
• Bill Pleming
• Thomas Gallagher
• Steven Chesser
• Mandi Schubert
• Gail Jewsbury
• Sam Weiss
• Kelly Megasi
• Joy Hennen (Chair)
• James Little (Staff H&S Rep)

Previous minutes accepted as reviewed. Bob Jackson, Jason Komaromi M/S.

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The BRUSH Committee will be meeting on January 23, 2008 at the Renaissance Hotel, 1128 West Hastings Street, 5:00 p.m. in the Harbour Side II room. Those that can not attend in person are welcome to join in on the discussion via teleconference  - please contact James Little for details.

We will be launching our brand new BC PSAC - H&S Website and Interactive Forum

Tentative Agenda Items

• BC PSAC - H&S Website and Forum
• The new Ergonomics Regulation XX update
• Regulation XIX Hazard Prevention amendment to include Violence
• Succession Planning
• Report from the PSAC National H&S Rep’s Meeting
• H&S Logo Contest

Recruitment rate drops as pool grows; critics call for penalties if government can’t reach hiring goals

Kathryn May, The Ottawa Citizen (Monday, January 14, 2008)

The federal government’s multimillion-dollar plan to hire and promote visible minorities has failed and it’s time to start imposing tough penalties if departments don’t meet hiring goals, critics say.

Despite the government’s push, visible minorities are losing ground in the public service, and their under-representation will only become more marked as their share of Canada’s population increases.

Staffing watchdog Maria Barrados, president of the Public Service Commission, raised the alarm when she found the recruitment rate of visible minorities fell last year even though overall hiring in departments increased. Despite that hiring spree, recruitment of visible minorities dropped from 9.8 per cent to 8.7 per cent of all hires.

“I was optimistic we could close the gaps more rapidly. I had not expected that downturn and that is quite a significant downturn. … It means that we have reached a level that we seem to be getting into the public service and we are not going beyond that because all of our recruitment is going up and the proportion is not going up,” she told a Senate committee.

In a bid to catch up, Ms. Barrados has asked Statistics Canada to determine how many visible minorities departments will have to recruit “within a reasonable amount of time” so its workforce reflects Canada’s labour force. She also launched a series of surveys and reviews to determine why visible minorities can’t land jobs in the public service in anywhere near the large numbers that apply.

What’s worrisome is that this dip comes at a time when the number of foreign-born Canadians — who are mostly visible minorities — in the labour market continues to climb.

Last year’s census revealed Canada’s foreign-born population grew four times as fast as that of the Canadian-born population during the first half of this decade and accounts for nearly one in five people who live here, a 75-year high.

“One in five Canadians will be visible minorities by 2017. That’s like the population of Quebec, which brings a lot of social, economic and political power with it,” said Errol Mendes, a law professor at the University of Ottawa.

“This is as much about the economy and sustainability of the public service and the private sector has caught onto this much faster.”

Under Canada’s employment equity laws, the government must hire women, people with disabilities, aboriginals and visible minorities in proportion to their share of the labour force. Departments are only trailing in the hiring of visible minorities, who make up 10.4 per cent of the labour force but have 8.6 per cent of federal jobs. Women, people with disabilities and aboriginals are hired at rates higher than they represent in the labour force.

On paper, getting more racial minorities into the public service has been a federal priority since the Liberals approved targets in 2000 recommended by the Embracing Change task force. It called for one in five new hires to be a visible minority by 2003. Similarly, one in five promotions into the executive ranks was to be a visible minority by 2005.

But a recent Senate study found the government went backwards and only one in 10 new hires is a visible minority.

Many say the poor showing will ratchet the pressure for new targets and tough penalties to enforce them.

Fo Niemi, the director general of the Centre of Research-Action for Race Relations, said the problem is Canada’s laws and policies aren’t enforced and there are no consequences.

The Senate’s human rights committee echoed that criticism and urged a cut in pay for deputy ministers, such as withholding their performance bonuses, if departments don’t hire enough visible minorities. Mr. Niemi, however, said ministers should be “accountable” if departments fall short.

The Embracing Change targets, led by Lewis Perinbam, lost momentum and the Harper government has shown little enthusiasm in pursuing them. Ms. Barrados said those targets are now being reworked and will have to be increased to catch up with the growth of visible minorities in the labour market. (Mr. Perinbam, a longtime bureaucrat, died last month.)

Governments have been bedeviled why visible minorities don’t get more jobs because they show such high interest. The commission’s studies reveal they accounted for 25.7 per cent of applications, but have 10.5 per cent of the jobs. This discrepancy is larger in some regions, departments and occupations.

Visible minorities are also more educated than most applicants; half have bachelor degrees or higher. Language doesn’t seem to be a barrier, especially for entry jobs, and neither does the preference for Canadian citizenship.

Ms. Barrados said the commission has been studying the recruitment process for about a year to determine where visible minorities drop out. She said they meet the advertised job requirements; fill in all forms properly and sail through the first screening. She now plans to survey visible minority applicants to ask them why they don’t think they landed the jobs.

Mr. Niemi said he suspects the dropoff happens after the interviews, which are often done by panels without visible minority members. The public service has long been dominated by white men and people tend to hire those who look like them, the Senate report said.

“It’s natural for people to like to hire and retain those they are most comfortable with. That’s the natural rule of selection and why men hire male buddies and work with people from the same cultural group,” he said.

Deborah Gillis, vice-president of the research firm Catalyst, said her studies show visible minority managers, professionals and executives in the private sector feel excluded from relationships that often help people get ahead, such as those forged by networking or with mentors and role models. She said many don’t feel comfortable going for drinks, paying golf or to see hockey games, especially women. She said nearly half felt they were held to higher performance standards and said who you know was critical to getting ahead.

Ms. Barrados said the big problem is departments aren’t strategic in their personnel planning, which should include plans for visible minorities.

She said she hoped that would change now that departments have been ordered to publicly post staffing and business plans on websites by the end of March.

She said the fact that departments rely on term and casual workers as their main pool of talent for permanent jobs also affects the number of visible minorities. These short-term workers are typically hired locally, through networks or contacts. Once hired, they get the inside track on permanent jobs. Visible minorities, however, don’t have the same contacts and are also concentrated in big cities of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2008

The next Vancouver & District Area Council meeting is one week away.  It’s scheduled for Tuesday, January 22, 2008. Dinner at 5:30, meeting to start at 6 pm.

Location: Vancouver RO Boardroom, #200 – 5238 Joyce Street, Vancouver, (1 ½ blocks south of the Joyce Street Skytrain Station)

Agenda:
- election of VAC delegate to the BC Regional Convention
- discussion on resolutions to be submitted to BC Regional Convention

If your local/branch has not yet paid its 2008 dues, please ensure it does so at this meeting in order to have full voice and vote during the election and discussions on resolutions. Dues are .50 per member, per year, and calculated only for the number of members who are in the area of Vancouver & District catchment area (this includes New Westminster, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Squamish). Cheques can be made payable to “PSAC Vancouver & District Area Council”.

Please RSVP to urrutim@psac-afpc.com to ensure that there is quorum and enough food for all!

See Poster.

Human Rights Committee Meeting, November 6th

In attendance:

• Chair - Sargy Chima
• by phone – Floyd Knelson
• Food - Wanda Mundy and Sharon Tieman
• Alexander Bishop
• Tracy Shudo
• Carol Pegura
• Rhonda Brain
• Kim Forster
• staff resource person - Regina Brennan

Regrets from Todd Harding, Carolyn McGillivray, and Valerie Hargreaves

Agenda

1. Chair and minute taker
2. Planning for the Human Rights Day dinner
3. Poster contest
4. Announcements
5. Conferences and Conventions
6. Planning for next year

Continue reading below or download the BC Human Rights Committee meeting minutes - Nov 6 2007

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A quick update:

The initial meeting between the PSAC/CFIA negotiating team and the employer are scheduled to take place on January 15th and 16th in Ottawa. Notice to bargain was served on the employer on September 28, 2007.

source: The Ottawa Citizen, Jan 11, pg A1

Fat City is back. And according to a study of federal public service employment trends released yesterday, it’s putting on weight at a rapid rate.

The Statistics Canada study also found that, on average, public servants in this region are younger and more highly trained than those elsewhere in Canada.

The study reported that the number of people who work for the “core public administration” in the national capital region, which includes Ottawa, Gatineau and surrounding areas, grew by a stunning 20 per cent between 1995 and 2006, an additional 12,800 jobs.

By contrast, federal employment in the category fell 5.6 per cent nationally during the same period, shrinking by more than 10,000 to just under 178,000.

The core public administration represents nearly half of all federal employment and includes almost the entire public service other than the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canada Border Services Agency.

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via Vancouver & District Labour Council

A Chance to Go to School in Cuba

Wouldn’t it be great to have a place to meet other activists, learn something useful and have some fun in the sun at the same time?

Well how about getting together in Havana, Cuba in May, 2008 for a week of global solidarity courses and a program of events designed especially for activists.

That is the idea behind a Global Solidarity School. Its being organized in Cuba by a group of Canadian labour activists and educators. The school will run from May 4 to May 10 and offer five week-long courses designed to interest activists and their spouses.

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New Health Canada regulations that ban gay men from donating their organs slipped through unnoticed in December. Even the head of Canada’s largest organ transplant program at Toronto’s University Health Network, Dr. Gary Levy, didn’t know about the changes.

The new regulations will ban any men who have been sexually engaged with another man in the previous five years. The rejections are based solely on sexual orientation rather than on unsafe sexual practice.

Health Canada is essentially telling Canadians that unprotected sex is safe as long as you aren’t a gay man.

Egale Canada believes that the regulations are discriminatory and should be suspended. Health Canada should be making sure the regulations stop unsafe organ transplants not creating a situation where healthy viable gay organs will be thrown in the garbage.

Let Health Canada know how you feel:

• Call the Minister’s Chief of Staff, William King at 613-957-0200 or email him at: william_king@hc-sc.gc.ca
• Contact the minister’s constituency office too! Toll free: 1-866-375-8669. Email: Clement.T@parl.gc.ca

The minister’s web site says, “Tony will return all calls.”

Source: The Ottawa CitizenThe federal government has been discriminating against a group of federal nurses on the basis of their gender for more than three decades, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ruled.

The ruling could potentially expose the government to hundreds of millions of dollars of liability for back wages and compensation, according to the lawyer for most of the nurses.

And the principles it endorses could apply to other employee groups as well, said Philippe Dufresne, senior counsel for the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

The human rights tribunal found that the nurses, who determine the eligibility of applicants for CPP disability benefits, perform essentially the same core functions as government doctors who are paid about twice as much.

The group of nurses, called medical adjudicators, is 95-percent female, while the doctors’ group, known as medical advisers, is 80-per-cent male.

Under the Canadian Human Rights Act, it is illegal to treat a female-dominated group differently from a male-dominated group when both perform the same or substantially similar work.

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Northwest B.C. Area Council General Meeting November 21, 2007

Attendance:

• Phyllis Bortignon USGE 20071
• Penny Dickson CEIU 20926
• Benilde Gomes USGE 20071
• Dale Gueret UEW 20147
• Helen Hill CEUDA 20042
• Scott MacPhee UCTE 20213
• Gail Moore CEUDA 20042
• Rachael Mosley CEUDA 20042
• Nikki McVey CEIU 20926
• Amal Rana PSAC BC Regional Education Representative
• Colette Savarie PSAC BC Regional Representative
• Dave Thompson PSAC BC Regional Organizer Representative

Download the NorthWest Area Council meeting minutes - Nov 21 2007 (pdf) or continue reading below.Call to Order: Benilde opened meeting at 7:20pm. Harvey Russell of AGR 20042, Prince Rupert submits his regrets for not being able to attend this meeting.

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

Previous Meetings Minutes: Motion made to accept Minutes from September 8, 2007, as read and carried.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer, Barry Cunningham read the balance of $1,367.04 plus $27.57 in shares for the bank account. Barry is still actively collecting dues from locals and he will report on these at the next meeting. Motion made to accept report as read and carried.

VIP Guest Speaker: Dave Thompson, PSAC BC Regional Organizer Representative is introduced by Benilde. Dave gives a brief history of his work history as being an electrician by trade; having moved from Yellowknife this past June, where he participated in 8/9 successful unifications. Since his arrival in Vancouver region in June, he has organized 2 unifications for commissionaires. Organizing has been very successful in Quebec, East Coast and Ontario, with Regional Police on Reserves and Casino workers in gambling dens on race tracks.

Dave is the contact in this region for organizing any group(s) interested, more specifically commissionaires, call centers and universities. His mandate is to organize for PSAC.

Update on Bargaining – Colette Savarie: Colette provides a brief recap of the negotiations at the Prince Rupert Airport, at the end of October 2007. Talks have broken off and the employer has applied for conciliation. Members are very disappointed at this turn of events and Benilde encourages other locals’ members to show support whenever travelling through the airport.

Colette reports that the Women’s Regional Conference, whose theme this year was Environmental, was very successful. Though still busy getting to know the region, Colette will be getting this report out soon.

TB Bargaining has been postponed due to extensive discussions on Essential Services and delays in completion of the Pay Study. Should resume in late January, early February of 2008. Updates will be sent through Benilde.

Supporting our Bargaining Units: Benilde gave out stickers and information sheets for distribution among locals to bring awareness and support to the bargaining teams. Updates can be found at psacbc.com.

PSAC BC Regional Education Representative – Amal Rana: Benilde introduces Amal and takes the opportunity to thank the Regional Office for accommodating members by extending dead lines and modifying courses.

Amal commends Benilde on getting members out and developing interest in union education.

Amal speaks of there being 6 members on the Education Committee and Education Open Houses, where it is a good forum to find out what’s wanted for education, what’s working – formats.

Education is offered in every region to facilitate, advance and organize union courses.

• Handouts distributed for Basic and Advanced courses.
• Union School is held usually every November. 80-100 members from across the region participate.
• Education forums are held on Bargaining
• Special Interest Evenings – i.e. Black History in Canada

Amal encourages members to think about what kind of courses they are looking for. Brainstorming results in the time of year that works best for this area is February – June. Suggestions for courses noted by Amal who will be researching and getting information back to members of this area council, for distribution.

Further discussion result in requests for more JLP sessions to be facilitated by the Union and Management. The 4 topics covered by the JLP are:

• Understanding the Collective Agreement
• Anti-Harassment
• Union-Management Consultation
• Respecting Differences and Anti-discrimination

Amal emphasizes how important it is to encourage managers to attend the JLP sessions. And encourages members to consider opportunities to become facilitators for JLP.

Nikki reminds members that CEIU is hosting the Anti-harassment session in Terrace, February 18, 2008.

District Labour Councils: Discussion on who this council is affiliated to. Benilde responds that we are affiliated to Kitimat-Terrace Labour Council who meets every 4th Thursday and Prince Rupert Labour Council who meets the last Thursday of every month. Barry says that he has been voted into the Prince Rupert LC as the Sergeant of Arms.

PSAC Regional Convention: Benilde reads out an email from Kay Sinclair, regarding delegate selection from this council. This council can nominate 3 members, one each for geographical, equity status and member of council. Clarification given by Benilde regarding the definition of geographical and equity delegates. There has been no call out letter – it is anticipated later this month. Motion made and carried to pay for the registration of 3 delegates from this council, should they be accepted by regional.

Nominations to be made by email to Benilde with a deadline of December 14, 2007

Calendar of Events:

• November 29, 2007 Kitimat-Terrace Labour Council is hosting a Municipal Coffee House at BCGEU office in Terrace and in Kitimat on December 12, 2007 at the CAW Hall.
• December 1, 2007 Retirement Seminar being hosted by Kitimat-Terrace Labour Council
• December 6, 2007 Take Back the Night in Terrace
• December 10, 2007 International Human Rights Day

Discussion on council supporting events taking place on December 6 for Violence Against Women. Benilde suggests that $50 be contributed towards events in both Prince Rupert and Terrace. Dale will find out from the Prince Rupert Transition House if they are planning anything for that date.

Amendments to the bylaws: Tabled to next meeting.

Other Business: Discussion on the progress of the Regional Women’s Committee. Benilde has received the acceptance letter for USGE component.

Next Meeting: Scheduled for January 19, 2008 @ 1:00pm in Terrace at the Carpenters Hall. If weather prevents travel, there will be a conference call set up at the hall for members unable to attend.

Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 10:10pm

This is a reminder that the deadline date for PSAC racially visible members to apply to attend the upcoming 2008 PSAC National Conference for Racially Visible members either as a delegate or an observer is next Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 at 4 p.m. (Ottawa time). The deadline to receive resolutions for this conference is also January 16th, 2008 at 4 p.m. (Ottawa time).

Be The Change: Create A Better World!

The objectives of our 2008 PSAC National Conference for Racially Visible Members are to:

• Educate, politicize and mobilize racialized members by making links between the union, the workplace, the community and equality rights.
• Create and/or strengthen networks within our union and our communities.
• Enhance and support leadership development of racialized members in our union, workplace and beyond.
• Develop an analysis on what is racism, the impact of racism and how to fight against racism.

For more information visit the national website or go directly to the online application form.

The Agriculture Union is formulating a campaign against the politically-motivated job cuts at the Canadian Grain Commission.

There’s more ideology than common sense behind the December 13 tabling of Bill C-39, An Act to Amend the Canada Grain Act, in the House of Commons. If enacted, it would change the Commission’s mandate and gut inward inspection, inward weighing and CGC’s security program.

All this is being done by the Conservatives to pander to their base of ‘free market’ farmers who want little or no government regulation impeding their ability to sell their grain on the open market – when it suits them.

Given such a blatantly political agenda, our Union is preparing to fight political fire with fire.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008, 5:30 p.m.
PSAC Regional Office, 210-1497 Admirals Road

Agenda:
Election of Delegate to BC Regional Convention

Please RSVP to Rosemary at the Victoria Regional Office no later than January 28, 2008 at 953-1050 or mackenr@psac.com

Food will be served

The BC Fed Health & Safety Centre promotional video is now available on the WorkingTV website. Please have a look by clicking here.

Only Colombia is riskier for union organizers.

The Philippines provide a steady stream of hard working immigrants seeking a better life in British Columbia. For most of these newcomers, the pay may not stretch far, given the high cost of living here and, often, a chunk of the paycheque sent to help family back home.

• Send a message to the Philippine Government: stop the political killings! 

But at least in B.C., standing up for your rights on the job won’t get you killed.

Under the Arroyo government in the Philippines there has been a higher incidence of murders and assaults against union activists than during the notorious Marcos regime, according to a Philippine labour leader who recently toured Canada.

And an international study that reported a 25 per cent increase in murders of trade unionists around the world in 2006 says that the Philippines is the second most lethal environment for union activists globally, only topped for murder of union leaders by the blood stained record of Colombia.

Continue reading at thetyee.ca.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 29/08, starting at 5:30 p.m., at the Knight & Day Restaurant located at 9677 King George Highway.  On the Agenda is choosing the delegate to the Regional PSAC Convention.