Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

The Issues: Quality jobs, quality public service

Parks Canada Agency’s mandate is to protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage on behalf of all Canadians. The Agency meets this mandate through the work of PSAC members. Parks workers are committed to preserving an important part of Canada’s heritage and to keeping visitors to national parks, canals and historic sites safe and well informed.

However, many of our jobs have been or are under threat of being contracted out. The quality of our jobs is deteriorating as the Employer takes advantage of our most vulnerable members: the term and seasonal work-ers. The work of our members is a valuable public service to Canadians. To defend the quality of this service means to defend the quality of our jobs.

Contracting out

Parks Canada Agency continues to contract out bargaining unit work. However, reverting to private companies to deliver services is not a solution. The primary motive of private companies is to make profit. Putting profit before people has high social costs. The quality of jobs of the people who deliver public services, the quality of these services and the access to these services inevitably suffer.

Furthermore, experience and studies have proven that privatization and contracting-out actually end up cost-ing tax payers more.

Abuse of Term and Seasonal Workers

Term and Seasonal Workers, because of the nature of their status, do not enjoy the same level of job security as their indeterminate co-workers. Their job security is further threatened by the Employer’s abuse of student hiring. Many term and seasonal workers are concerned that they will not be renewed or recalled and will be replaced by students who are paid lower wages for doing bargaining-unit work. Our experience in the field and what our team hears at the bargaining table make the Employer’s position clear: They will use students as cheap and flexible labour to cut costs and undermine our bargaining-unit work.

The Union’s position

Our goals in these negotiations are clear: Protect bargaining unit work, protect the standards that we have won and defend quality public services. Our bargaining demands include:

a no-contracting-out clause

proposals designed to improve the working conditions and job security of seasonal and term employees

language which more clearly defines the appropriate use of student employment in the workplace.

What Union members can do

• Get involved in Union activities, such as plant-gating, attending meetings, or distributing Union materials (e.g. bulletins, Union stickers, etc.).
• Let your manager know that this is an important issue for you in this round of bargaining and that you support your bargaining team.
• Keep yourself updated regularly on our bargaining issues through these flyers and the PSAC web site and share the information.
• Sign up for BC Negotiations bulletins - You can sign up now on the regional web site – www.psacbc.com/parks-bulletins/ - to automatically receive negotiation updates as they are issued.