Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Employer concedes before court that contract workers are Parks employees

Halifax - Parks Canada Agency’s strategy of replacing its unionized employees with contract workers has taken three steps back.

After years of insisting that three contract workers are employees of the employment contractor, Parks Canada Agency has finally been forced to admit that the three are, in fact, Parks Canada employees. At the request of the three workers, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) provided support in taking one of their cases to the Tax Court as a test case after seeing an increase of members’ work being handed over to contract workers.

“The Tax Court, on the consent of Parks Canada Agency, determined that these workers are employees of the Agency,” said PSAC National President John Gordon. “This means that their working conditions and treatment at work should be the same as those of our union members working for Parks Canada.”

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Our bargaining team began a week of mediation with Parks Canada Agency Monday, September 29. We reviewed our package of demands and focused on some of the priority issues of the membership, particularly no contracting out, privatization, hiring of students instead of bargaining unit members, and the arming initiative.

The employer’s response to contracting out, privatization, and the student issue was completely unsatisfactory to your bargaining team and offered no collective agreement language that protect bargaining unit jobs.

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The employer has tabled a proposal to eliminate your current sick leave and family-related leave entitlements. Canada Post is seeking to replace them with a new, corporate short-term disability program. This would represent a large concession and the loss of substantial benefits that we fought hard for in previous rounds of negotiations.

The employer says its program will benefit employees, but at the bargaining table — when your union asked Canada Post how much they would save through this program — the employer was too embarrassed to give us an answer. Clearly, this plan was designed to benefit Canada Post’s bottom line at your expense.

This document will lay out exactly what leave entitlements the employer proposes to roll back. The main differences between the current plan and the employer’s proposed plan are as follows:

• Currently, you are entitled to 20 annual days of paid sick and/or family-related leave, of which 15 days can be rolled over if unused.
  • The new plan would reduce this to seven “personal days.” These days would not roll over, but would be paid out if unused.
• Currently, if you have banked sick leave, you have 100% income protection when on short or longer term sick leave.
  • The proposed plan would provide only a 70% income replacement for extended sick leave and you would be required to apply for Employment Insurance (EI). However, there are some cases where accumulated sick leave could be used as a supplementary top-up.
  • However, note that there would be no more accumulation of sick leave. Currently, after 13 weeks of extended sick leave, you would be put on long-term disability.
  • The new plan would extend this period to 30 weeks.
  • And, if you have no sick leave banked, you would only receive 70% income replacement.

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This is a call out for interest with a deadline of midnight, Sunday, October 12th. Visit the CLC website for more information about the conference.

The PSAC Alliance Executive Committee has approved funding for one member per Region to attend this Conference. This opportunity is open to PSAC members who identify as a person with a disability.

The Conference will focus on doing more to build the voice of activists with disabilities and allies, on doing more to build the political agenda, and doing more to shatter the barriers which prevent persons with disabilities from getting employment, keeping it, and thriving at the workplace. Conference participants will discuss work strategies and access to information, transportation, and income and service supports. Participants will look at emerging issues and approaches at the workplace, share breakthroughs, and leave with a plan to shatter barriers and move forward.

The member selected must commit to:

• writing a report for an article on the Conference for distribution to PSAC members
• making a presentation to PSAC B.C. Human Rights Committees or other PSAC body
• organizing one follow-up activity involving PSAC disability rights activists

To be eligible to apply you should support disability and human rights issues, be a member of the PSAC, and self-identify as a person with a disability.

Please send your interest in attending the Conference to Kay Sinclair in the B.C. REVP’s office at sinclak@psac.com or by fax to (604) 430-0194 by midnight Sunday, October 12th with a paragraph of 400 words or less describing your perspectives with respect to disability and human rights, any involvement in PSAC disability/human rights activities, any involvement in community disability activities, and why you are interested in attending. Please also indicate whether you are a member of another equity group, i.e. woman; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender; aboriginal; or racially visible. (This is optional.)

Please provide your contact information and membership number.

In Solidarity, Kay Sinclair, Regional Executive Vice-President, BC

MONTREAL — Canada Post employees demonstrated in Montreal on Monday in a show of protest against their employer’s latest contract offer. The workers are members of the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE) — a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

“The employer’s last offer is an insult. We have no choice but to take a strike vote and to move our members towards strike action,” says Richard Des Lauriers, UPCE National President. Des Lauriers was speaking at the demonstration in front of Canada Post’s Montreal plant.

The protest comes in response to a “take it or leave it” offer tabled by Canada Post on August 21. Des Lauriers characterizes the employer’s behaviour as “completely unacceptable” and warned that his members will not be bullied into accepting concessions.

“We are determined to get the best possible deal for our members,” says Des Lauriers, reminding the members that they can count on support from the labour movement and from their fellow workers at Canada Post.

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