Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Greetings everyone,

This is a reminder that the PSAC Vancouver & Victoria Regional Offices will be closed between December 28th and January 1st.

For issues of an urgent nature that cannot wait until the office re-opens on January 4th, please phone 604-430-5631, or, 1-800-663-1655 and leave a voice mail at my extension, 227.  I will be checking messages regularly throughout the holidays and will return calls.

Have a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.

In Solidarity,

Joanna Schultz, Regional Coordinator PSAC BC
(604) 430-5631 / 1-800-663-1655 x 227

Greetings,

It is with great pleasure that I advise you that Patricia Mullin was the successful candidate in the recent Vancouver Regional Office Admin Assistant competition.

Patricia brings with her many years of experience in providing administrative support within the PSAC Vancouver Regional Office as a Secretary, and before that with CEIU.

Patricia is embracing her new challenge and will no doubt continue to make a positive contribution to the PSAC in her new role.

Congratulations Patricia!

Joanna Schultz, Regional Coordinator, PSAC BC

The deadline for submission and registration for the 2010 PSAC National Pride Conference that will be held March 26 to 28, 2010 at the Toronto Hilton Hotel, Toronto, Ontario has been extended to January 20th, 2010.

The objectives of the 2010 PSAC National Pride Conference are to:

• Educate, politicize and mobilize PSAC GLBT members by making the links between union, workplace and community struggles to win, to protect and to promote GLBT rights;
• Enhance, support and promote inclusive GLBT self-organizing strategies in our Union and our workplaces;
• Strengthen solidarity amongst PSAC members, and to develop a strong collaboration between the PSAC, GLBT organizations and other human rights organizations.

PSAC members in good standing and who also identify as being from the GLBT communities may apply to this conference. Priority will be given to members who are active on GLBT issues in their union or workplace. Priority will also be given to community activist on GLBT issues. The selection of delegates will take into account representation such as Region, Component, language, gender and other equity groups.

For more information visit the national website.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Friday, January 20, 2010 4:00 p.m. EST
RESOLUTIONS SUBMISSION DEADLINE : Friday, January 20, 2010 4:00 p.m. EST

Union unanimously recommends ratification

OTTAWA—Early this morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada reached a tentative agreement with the Museum of Civilization Corporation. This came on the 85th day on the picket line for workers at the Museum of Civilization and War Museum. The union is unanimously supporting the tentative agreement and will meet with the museums’ management today to negotiate a return-to-work protocol.

“We are unanimously recommending ratification of this agreement,” said Daniel Poulin, a guide at the Museum of Civilization and the President of PSAC Local 70396. “We have made serious gains in the areas of job security and contracting-out. We are confident that our members will support this agreement and we are thrilled that will be able to return to work soon.”

John Gordon, National President of PSAC, expressed admiration for the striking workers’ courage and determination.

“These workers have shown us the true meaning of solidarity,” he said. “Their tenacity and strength have been an inspiration to the labour movement and to the entire community of Ottawa/Gatineau. When workers unite, anything is possible.”

The workers will meet soon to ratify the tentative agreement. Until then, picket lines will remain up at the two museums

Negotiations between Servisair and the Public Service Alliance of Canada commenced on December 10 and 11, 2009. The bargaining certificate for this new PSAC unit was issued by the Canada Industrial Relations Board on October 21, 2009. This unit of seventy-three (73) members provides fueling and fueling related services at the Vancouver International Airport.

The parties exchanged bargaining proposals on the first day. The employer’s proposals included rollbacks, including a freeze on wage progressions. Your bargaining team stated that we would not engage in concession bargaining. Despite this disappointing start, agreement in principle had been reached by the second day on the following issues / clauses:

• Purpose and scope of the Agreement
• Some definitions
• Recognition
• Use of Employer facilities
• Check-off / Union dues
• Information
• Discrimination
• Maternity Leave
• Parental Leave
• Leave without pay for personal reasons
• Jury duty
• Health and Safety
• Arbitration
• Joint Consultation
• Agreement Reopener

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On December 6th BC Regional Council member Virginia Vaillancourt, along with the Victoria Regional Womens’ Committee and Canadian Autoworkers Union Local 114, coordinated a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women candlelight vigil at the Legislature in Victoria. Over 80 participants took time to reflect on the Montreal Massacre, heard from speakers, and collected a large amount of donations for local women’s shelters. Here are some photos, and a news report from the Victoria Times Columnist.

Twentieth anniversary of Montreal Massacre brings calls to save gun registry

Commemorations held in Greater Victoria and across the country

By Katie DeRosa , Times Colonist December 6, 2009

In Montreal, eight-year-old Marjolaine Ouimet, the niece of Geneviève Bergeron — one of Marc Lépine’s victims 20 years ago — places a flower Sunday on her marker at a memorial site named Place du 6-Décembre-1989. Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay is second from the right. Similar ceremonies were held throughout the country, including Victoria.

In Montreal, eight-year-old Marjolaine Ouimet, the niece of Geneviève Bergeron — one of Marc Lépine’s victims 20 years ago — places a flower Sunday on her marker at a memorial site named Place du 6-Décembre-1989. Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay is second from the right. Similar ceremonies were held throughout the country, including Victoria.

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• Are you a PSAC Member?
• Do you have administrative experience?
• Would you like a chance to work as a Secretary in the Vancouver RO?
• Would your employer grant you 2 months leave, commencing as soon as possible?

If you answered yes to all of the above questions, please indicate your interest to BC Regional Coordinator Joanna Schultz by 4pm Friday, Dec 11/09.

The United Nations’ Human Rights Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by the UN General Assembly. The UN has announced that this year’s celebration will focus on non-discrimination.

Human rights are a priority for PSAC, which has a long history of defending human rights and fighting discrimination. The union has been at the forefront in promoting employment equity, pay equity and harassment-free workplaces and has been involved in the development and review of human rights legislation and jurisprudence. PSAC’s commitment to human rights includes integrating anti-oppression and equity analyses at all levels of its activities.

PSAC remains diligent in monitoring and denouncing all forms of discrimination, especially in the face of rising social conservatism. In the last few years, the mainstream media and the government have been relentless in their attacks against Canada’s values of equality and inclusiveness enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights laws. The federal Conservative government, in particular, has been dismantling the very systems that promote human rights and equality.

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This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, when a man named Marc Lépine killed 14 young women at the École Polytechnique. This extreme example of violence against women will forever be branded in our collective memory. It is marked yearly on December 6: National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women.

When this misogynist crime was committed, women and men across the country promised to turn their grief and their outrage into action. We lobbied and we marched, signed petitions and demanded that governments adopt effective measures to end all forms of violence against women. Yet, 20 years later, violence against women remains endemic: spousal assault, sexual assault, incest and sexual abuse, sexual harassment and racial harassment continue to plague women, especially the most vulnerable women in society.

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OTTAWA – On the 20th anniversary of the Montreal massacre, the Public Service Alliance of Canada is calling on all Members of Parliament to reject a private Member’s bill that will eliminate the need to register rifles and shotguns and destroy more than eight million records in the federal long gun registry.

“This extreme example of violence against women will forever be branded in our collective memory,” says PSAC national executive vice-president Patty Ducharme.

“After this crime was committed, women and men across the country turned their grief into action. Yet, 20 years later, violence against women remains endemic.”

According to John Edmunds, national president of the Union of Solicitor General Employees component of the PSAC, spousal deaths by guns have been reduced by 50 percent since gun owners were required to register long guns. “The registry allows police to check households for the presence of firearms which is especially important in the case of domestic disputes.”

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The third negotiation session for a first collective agreement between GlobeGround Fuel Services Inc. and the Public Service Alliance of Canada was held on November 26 and 27, 2009. Despite the employer having to leave early, again, on the second day, progress was made on several issues. The parties signed off on four (4) issues including:

• Joint Consultation
• Classification and Job Descriptions
• Union Dues and Union Membership
• Use of Employer Facilities

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We know that the people and communities most affected by HIV/AIDS are those with limited access to fundamental social and economic rights. Ninety five per cent of all AIDS cases occur in the world’s poorest countries where women are now the prime victims and an incredible number of children are being orphaned every day.

See also:

• World AIDS campaign official website
• UN AIDS: Joint program on AIDS

According to UNAIDS estimates, there are 31.3 million adults and 2.1 million children around the world living with HIV, and in 2008 about 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus. According to the latest UNAIDS Global Report, there has been progress in stabilizing the epidemic globally. However, human rights violations – such as gender inequality, discrimination and stigma – still exist in many places worldwide and in all cases impede an effective response to the epidemic

Today, on World AIDS Day, we must break through these barriers.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada encourages its members and their families to wear the red ribbon on December 1^st to bring attention to this epidemic, end discrimination and help lift the veil of ignorance about AIDS. Read, discuss and learn more about HIV/AIDS and take action by putting pressure on our government to do its part to raise awareness, eliminate discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS and invest the necessary resources to find a cure.