Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

An ongoing series of articles and information of interest to PSAC stewards. See more at the stewards network pages.

During a severe winter storm a few years ago two UTE members were unable to make it to work. They applied for leave with pay under Article 54.01 (a) of the collective agreement between the PSAC and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The employer denied their request and instead granted them annual leave. They felt that the grievors did not make a reasonable effort to get to work, further that other employees at the grievors work location either made it to work or requested annual leave.

In a decision issued June 30, 2009 Adjudicator Paquet allowed the grievances. He also indicated in his decision that the grievors should not have their rights restricted by other employees’ interpretations of the collective agreement.

To read the complete decision and reasons visit the PSLRB website.

The YVR Negotiation team is pleased to announce the tentative agreement was ratified by the membership yesterday.  Highlights of the 4 year agreement, which expires December 31 2012 include

The team would like to thank all PSAC members at YVR for their support in this round of bargaining.

Thousands of British Columbians celebrate BC Rivers Day on the last Sunday in September each year, making it Canada’s largest river appreciation event – this year BC Rivers Day coincides with World Rivers Day.

Rivers Day generates public awareness about British Columbia’s waterways and provides an opportunity for diverse groups to show why BC waterways are important. Recreational clubs, conservation organizations, community groups, schools, and local governments host BC Rivers Day events across the province. More information at the following websites:

• BC Rivers Day
• List of events taking place in BC
• World Rivers Day

Your bargaining team received the arbitral award for the TC group and is deeply disappointed with the results. Your Union’s sidesperson on the arbitration panel has filed a dissenting report stating our objections to the outcome.

This award, along with other outstanding language will become the new collective agreement. Despite the bargaining team’s call for increases reaching beyond the legislated wage restraint, the arbitrator limited the award to four years. The four-year deal expires on June 21, 2011.

Your bargaining team went to arbitration with the hope that we could obtain a market increase for members at the end of the restraint period. We are dismayed that the arbitrator did not hear us and ruled against us.

The union’s arbitration brief made key arguments and presented data on a number of monetary issues that clearly demonstrated compensation gaps, all of which were ignored by the Arbitrator.

The monetary increases were awarded as per the legislated wage restraint:

• 2.3% pay increase on June 21, 2007
• 1.5% pay increase on June 21, 2008
• 1.5% pay increase on June 21, 2009
• 1.5% pay increase on June 21, 2010

We appreciate and recognize the patience that the members have shown throughout this process. The agreement will soon be signed and the new terms and conditions will soon be implemented.

We tried every possible avenue to get the best deal for members and we will continue our fight to get members the remuneration and the conditions of employment they deserve.

Download the following documents (pdf)

• Arbitration award
• The PSAC summary of the decision
• The PSAC sidesperson’s dissent

Workers on strike, seeking fair working conditions and protections against contracting out

Ottawa/Gatineau – Workers are on strike at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the War Museum.

Represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the 420 workers are demanding the same protections that are in place for other museum workers in the Ottawa/Gatineau region. The Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC) continues to deny their demands for workplace fairness and protections against contracting out.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization and the War Museum had the highest attendance and brought in more revenue than any other museum or gallery in the National Capital Region last year. Meanwhile, workers’ salaries at the two museums are lower than all of the other federal museum workers in the Ottawa/Gatineau – in some cases 40 per cent lower.

“The mandate from our members is to close the wage gap and protect them against the threat of their jobs being contracted out,” says Maria Fitzpatrick, PSAC Vice-President for the National Capital Region. “As it stands, ticketing agents and several security guard positions, as well as cafeteria and boutique employee jobs have already been contracted out to private companies. Our workers are seeking some guarantee that they won’t lose their jobs, especially in the face of an economic recession.”

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OTTAWA – Government plans to de-staff 27 lightstations on the West Coast and nine on the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador are dangerous and must be reversed, say New Democrats.

“They want to run oil tankers in and out of some of the most rugged coastline in the world, and now they are saying they want them to do it without the help of lighthouse keepers,” said Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley).

“This minister is completely out of touch with our coastal communities.”

“This decision is very short-sighted,” said New Democrat Fisheries and Oceans Critic Peter Stoffer. “The remaining lightkeepers at these stations provide very important services that, in the interest of public safety and security, cannot be replaced with automated equipment.”

“Quite frankly, our lightkeepers are the eyes and ears of our coastlines. I know personally of situations where, especially in storms, lighthouse keepers have made the difference,” MP Denise Savoie (Victoria) added.

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West Fraser Valley Annual General Meeting

• September 21,  5:30PM
• Knight and Day Restaurant 9677 King George Highway @ 96th Avenue
• Agenda items include election of officers

Vancouver Area Council Meeting

• September 22, 2009 5:30PM
• Vancouver Regional Office – #200 – 5238 Joyce Street, 3rd floor boardroom
• Agenda items so far include: planning for the AGM (scheduled for October 27, 2009), update on Vancouver Area Council local/branch affiliation campaign

BRUSH (Health and Safety) Committee Meeting

• September 23, 5:30PM
• Vancouver Regional Office – #200 – 5238 Joyce Street
• Members unable to attend the meeting at the Vancouver RO may join in the discussion via conference call – call the RO for details
• Agenda items: H1N1, Terms of Reference, Health Canada – Ergonomic, National H&S Conference

Brothers and Sisters of PSAC, we want to thank all of the Public Servants for all you do.  Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members are all part of a safety network for the Canadian people.  All of our jobs are connected in some way to the safety and security of the citizens of this country.  Lightkeepers are only one of the many faces of that service, but right now we are the one on the block.

On both coasts, and across Canada, the public is in an uproar over the potential loss of the services of lightkeepers.  They understand that this is the outpost, the beacon of the their society’s framework of social good.  They understand that the abilities of humans cannot be replaced by machines. They understand that investment in the safety of a society pays off.  They want to stop the dismantling.  We owe it to them, and each other, to help.  We cannot allow the government to pick apart public service bit by bit.  This is our line in the sand.  Let’s push back.

In solidarity, Lightkeepers of BC, Steve Bergh – President, Alice Woods – Vice President, BC Lightkeepers Local 20232 PSAC

Read letters and emails of support from …

• Gulf Trollers Assocation
• Commercial salmon trollers
• Village of Masset
• Area A Crab Association
• Pacific Coast Shrimpers Cooperative Association

Please ask you members to sign the attached Lightstation Petition in support of our cause and then to return the petition to the Victoria Regional Office at the following address: 210-1497 Admirals Rd Victoria, BC V9A 2P8.  Please return the signed Petitions by October 15, 2009.

For Immediate Release: September 10, 2009

Toronto – In a significant victory for University of Toronto students, all criminal charges have been stayed against campus advocates Chris Ramsaroop and Oriel Varga in relation to a peaceful sit-in on March 2008. Thursday’s decision, by Ontario Court of Justice Judge Paul Reinhardt, is the outcome of a Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge based on the right to be tried within a reasonable time (section 11 b).

Varga and Ramsaroop, known as the Fight Fees 2 were the remaining of the 14 students and their allies criminally charged after a peaceful sit-in against fee increases on March 20, 2008. Broad based community support by unions,students and over a hundred professors had decried the U of T’s blatant attempt to criminalize dissent on campus.

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source: The Globe and Mail

A lighthouse keeper’s schedule comes with a clock that never stops ticking, with tides that rise and fall and rise again, with winds that howl when not calm, with a radio that at any time can bring news of desperation.

Steve Bergh has kept an eye on the coast of Vancouver Island for 27 of his 59 years. For the past two decades, he has been based at Chatham Point Lightstation, about 40 kilometres north of Campbell River.

He lives in a house with his wife, Alice Woods, on a bluff overlooking the confluence of Discovery Passage and Johnstone Strait. A small building houses a fog signal. The yard includes a helicopter landing pad.

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Vote times and locations throughout BC

September 16 – Nanaimo, 6:30PM, Boston Pizza, 2-5779 Turner Road
September 17 – Victoria, 6:30PM, Boston Pizza, 100-3510 Blanshard Street
September 17 – Kamloops, 6:30PM, Starbucks
September 19 – Vernon/Kelowna, 3PM, Creekside, 3929 Lakeshore Road
September 21 – Prince George, 7PM, Main Depot
September 26 – Vancouver, 11:30AM to 2:30PM, PSAC RO, 200 – 5238 Joyce Street
September 27 – Vancouver, 11:30AM to 2:30PM, PSAC RO, 200 – 5238 Joyce Street

A tentative agreement was reached on August 19, 2009 between the PSAC and Purolator Courier Ltd. The tentative agreement is subject to ratification by both parties. Unless otherwise specified, the agreement will become effective on the date of ratification. The highlights of the agreement are:

DURATION:

• 4 years (expires December 31, 2012)

WAGES:

• Effective the 1st Monday in January 2009 – 3.0%
• Effective the 1st Monday in January 2010 – 3.0%
• Effective the 1st Monday in January 2011 – 3.25%
• Effective the 1st Monday in January 2012 – 3.0%

In addition, a special equity adjustment will apply to all classifications and levels:

• Effective the 1st Monday in January 2011 – 2%
• Effective the 1st Monday in January 2012 – 2.5%

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Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Location: PSAC Vancouver Regional Office – 300-5238 Joyce St., Vancouver, B.C.

*Note: Meeting will be held on 3rd floor.

Agenda items so far include:

• Planning for the VAC Annual General Meeting (scheduled for October 27, 2009)
• Vancouver Area Council local/branch affiliation campaign

Please forward any other proposed agenda items and confirm your attendance to Monica as a light dinner will be served at ph: 604-430-5631.

On Thursday September 3, 2009, a Tentative Agreement was reached between the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Vancouver International Airport Authority.

• RATIFICATION VOTE:  September 24, 2009 – 1430 and 1900 hours, Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel, 7551 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC

This Tentative Agreement is subject to the ratification by both parties and will become effective upon the date of ratification unless otherwise agreed to. The following highlights some of the terms of the Tentative Agreement subject to ratification:

• Duration – January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2012
• Increase to all Rates of Pay as follows
  • 1st Year – Effective January 1, 2009 – 2%; In addition, 1% increase to the RRSP contribution paid by the Authority for Employees in the Defined Contribution Plan. All other employees will receive a one-time signing bonus of $625.00.
  • 2nd Year – Effective January 1, 2010 – 1.5%; Effective July 1, 2010 – 1.5%
  • 3rd Year – Effective January 1, 2011 – 1.5%; Effective July 1, 2011 – 1.5%
  • 4th Year – Effective January 1, 2012 – 3%
• Weekend premium will increase to $1.75 effective January 1, 2010
• Vision care plan improvments: Laser eye surgery will not discontinue future claims for eye glasses or contact lenses
• Dental plan improvements: Increase the current approved schedule of fees for Basic Services to 100%; Effective January 1, 2011 increase the combined limit to $2,000.00
• Compassionate Care Leave: Expand the definition of family to reflect the Canada Labour Code and the EI Act.
• Improvements to Bereavement Leave
• Improvements to Family Related Responsibility Leave
• Letters of understanding on Personal Leave, Trades Shift Scheduling and Excluded Positions

Download the full ratification kit here.

Do you have useful items that can be donated to our sisters and brothers in the Philippines?

The PSAC-BC region is supporting the Vancouver & District Labour Council’s “Balikbayan Box” campaign to gather material support for union and community organizations doing important organizing work in the Philippines.

That these organizers are risking their lives to carry out this work is not an exaggeration. In the past two years more than 70 trade union leaders and activists have been murdered in the Philippines.

Your or your Local/Branch can provide material support to these organizations by contributing small items or surplus supplies which we will ship to the Philippines in a “Balikbayan Box”, a 1.5 sq metre box, which we can fill to the brim and ship to the Philippines.

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During the Labour Day long week-end, I encourage PSAC members and all Canadians to take a moment to reflect on the exceptional contribution made to Canadian society by working people and their unions.

• Labour Day events in Vancouver | Victoria | All BC

Today, we enjoy a more compassionate and just world because of hard-won struggles of the labour movement. The right to a healthy and safe workplace, to Medicare, to unemployment insurance, to paid holidays and vacation, to public pensions, to living wages and maternity and parental leave – these were all fought for by the labour movement.

PSAC marks this day by celebrating the work done by its members who deliver quality public services to all Canadians. PSAC strongly believes that social services, including quality child and health care and environmental protection, are best delivered by those who do their jobs out of genuine concern for the collective welfare of Canadians and not by those who are motivated by profit.

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Vancouver Island Human Rights Committee Meeting – Victoria

• Date: September 10, 2009
• Time : 5:30 PM
• Where: PSAC Victoria Regional Office, 210-1497 Admirals Road

Agenda

• Potluck Social: 500-530 PM
• Guest Speaker: Douglas Connell Infocus Rehabilitation Services (Brain Injury Program) on cuts to Literacy Victoria – Impact to Persons with Disabilities
• Old Business:
  • Terms of Reference
  • PSAC Banner
  • Pride Parades
  • VIHRC logo contest
• New Business:
  • Cheque-Start up costs for VIHRC
  • Impact to members-New Directive on Medical Leave
  • VIHRC awareness / brainstorm
  • Awareness Opportunities-Working with Area Council and Regional Women’s Committee
  • Committee Membership

BC Human Rights Committee meeting & BBQ – Vancouver

• Date: September 22, 2009
• Time : 5:45 PM
• Where: PSAC Vancouver RO, 200 5238 Joyce Street

Agenda

• Chairperson – Rotating Chair or Elected
• Results of Human Rights Committee Survey
• Schedule for meetings for the following six months including, alternating the meeting days (either Tuesday or Thursday)

Negotiations for a first collective agreement between GlobeGround Fuel Services Inc. and the Public Service Alliance of Canada are finally under way. The parties met to commence collective bargaining on August 27 and 28, 2009.

• Visit local20221.com to view the bargaining demand package.

On the first day of negotiations, information was exchanged between the parties. Your bargaining team also presented the employer with a package of bargaining proposals. The majority of those proposals contained actual contract language and the remaining items were identified as discussion items. The exchange of information continued on the second day and the employer responded to some of the non-monetary items.

Your bargaining team felt that a fair amount of work was accomplished in the first 2 days of negotiations. The next session is scheduled for the week of October 13, 2009

This new unit was certified by the Canada Industrial Relations Board on March 16, 2009. Some of their duties include the supervision of approximately 80 fuellers at the Vancouver International Airport as well as administrative duties related to inventory, accounts payable etc.

VANCOUVER, Sept. 2 /CNW/ – Representatives of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) are meeting with the Vancouver International Airport Authority (VIAA) tomorrow in a last minute effort to stave off a possible labour disruption at the airport, which could begin as early as September 18th.

“The clock is ticking at YVR,” says Kay Sinclair, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for BC, “We’ve met for 16 days over the last six months and it’s down to the wire – the Airport Authority now has just over two weeks to table an offer that meets our members’ needs.”

“PSAC members working at the airport are in a legal strike position starting September 18th,” she continues, “In a last ditch effort to avoid any disruption in service at the airport we will be returning to the table tomorrow with the help of a mediator.”

“Despite making over 31 million dollars in revenue over expenses in the first six months of this year, YVR has tabled a financial offer that is still far below average wage increases in the airport sector. They claim this is due to the state of the economy and the airline industry.” says Dave Clark, President of Local 20221 of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE), a Component of the PSAC. “In the same economic environment every other comparable airport in the country is able to provide reasonable wage increase to their employees. Why can’t this Airport Authority?” asks Clark.

There are more than 340 PSAC members employed by the VIAA. These workers provide key services such as emergency response, international arrivals customer care, runway maintenance, airfield & approach lighting, computer system maintenance, baggage handling, passenger loading bridge operation, maintenance of airport equipment and administrative services.

A diverse union of over 165,000, PSAC members working in the public and private sectors deliver quality services to Canadians every day.

Negotiations for a first collective agreement between ARINC International of Canada and the Public Service Alliance of Canada commenced on August 25 and 26, 2009.

• Visit local20221.com to view the bargaining proposals

Your bargaining team presented the employer with bargaining proposals on the first day of negotiations. Discussions continued throughout the second day and the employer provided your bargaining team with some general comments and “high level” feedback. We expect the employer to come back with more detailed responses at the next meeting. The next session is scheduled for October 7 and 8, 2009.

This new bargaining unit was certified by the Canada Industrial Relations Board on May 19, 2009. This group of approximately 21 members provides, amongst many other duties, technical support for computers and computer networks at the Vancouver International Airport and other locations. They also operate a help-desk responding to customer calls at the Vancouver International Airport.

Thank you, Local 20221 Bargaining Team