Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

To: PSAC Regional Women’s Committees

We are pleased to be sending you this Registration package for the 2007 PSAC National Women’s Conference, which will be held November 23rd – 25th, 2007 at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, under the theme PUBLIC SERVICES …PAVE THE WAY TO EQUALITY!

• More information & registration package at the national website.

This registration package is available upon request in Braille and/or on diskette (MS Word) through the PSAC Programs Section by contacting Sue Courchaine at 613-560-5457 or by email at courchs@psac.com

Conference Objectives

The objectives at our 2007 PSAC National Women’s Conference are to:

1. develop our analysis of the impact of federal government policies and cutbacks on women’s equality and human rights
2. understand the importance of quality public services for women as workers and members of society
3. increase PSAC sisters’ involvement in the campaign to Defend Quality Public Services and in coalitions working to defend and advance equality rights
4. build women’s political capacity and activism in the union, the community and beyond and develop action plans which are effective and easy to implement.

(more…)

The theme for our Conference is “Women and the Environment: Our Health, Our Families, Our Communities, Our Jobs”

Are you worried about how environmental degradation is affecting your health? your family? your community? your job? your leisure time? your safety? What’s happening to our environment is a women’s issue and a union issue.

Join with other union women at our upcoming women’s conference to learn more about what is happening to our environment, hear from union sisters who work in the front line federal departments about how government cutbacks are undermining our ability to protect each other, network with others in the union and community who are working together to save our planet, and find out how you can get involved.

The Conference will take place September 28,29,30 2007 at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown, Burnaby, BC.

Apply on line here, or download an application form (pdf) and mail or fax it back to the Vancouver Regional Office. Please note the application deadline is Aug 24^th, and the resolution deadline is Aug 17^th. Resolutions may be submitted by PSAC constitutionally-recognized bodies and union structures.

“Transforming Our World: Moving Forward”

The 2007 PSAC National Access Conference will be held September 7 to 9, 2007 at the Westin Ottawa Hotel in Ottawa under the theme “Transforming Our World: Moving Forward”.

The objectives of the 2007 PSAC National Access Conference are:

• To defend quality public services for persons with disabilities
• To empower and engage persons with disabilities to take action and move the disability agenda forward
• To better connect and to include persons with disabilities in our communities, our workplaces and our union
• To lobby in order to transform and to advance the disability rights agenda
• To provide tools to advocate for disability rights in our communities, our workplaces and our union.

For more information and to apply online, visit the national website. Note that the registration deadline is May 10, 2007 and the resolutions submission deadline is May 24, 2007.

To: PSAC-BC self identified members with a disability,

Sent on behalf of Carol Pegura, B.C. Regional Council District Coordinator for Fraser Valley West and Floyd Knelsen, B.C. Regional Council Equity Coordinator for Members with Disabilities

On September 7, 2007 the 2007 PSAC National Access Conference will be held in Ottawa. Sister Carol Pegura has been fortunate to be chosen to sit on the steering committee for this important conference. The Access Conference provides an essential opportunity for members to meet, network and identify strategies and solutions for advancing human rights and equity issues. Clear conference objectives and a focused mandate are needed to insure this conference benefits participants and the Union as a whole. Workers with disabilities represent the best source of information on how to eradicate disabilities-based discrimination.

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There are still some spaces for LGBT self-identified PSAC members to attend the Pride Conference as observers.

• PSAC members in good standing and who also identify as being from the GLBT communities may apply to attend the Conference as observers; however, observers will be responsible for all costs associated with their participation, including a conference registration fee of $150.00.
• Also note that observers will have voice only during the discussion period after the panel presentations. Observers may attend workshops. Observers do not have the right to vote during the resolutions debate and the election process.

If you are interested, please fill out the observers portion of the registration application (pdf) and return via mail or fax (details on the application) as soon as possible. Observers are responsible for their own expenses including a registration of $150.00.

Are you active in advancing public health care or medicare issues? The PSAC  B.C. Region would like to sponsor a member active in these areas to attend the following conference:

• S.O.S Medicare 2: Looking Forward
• May 3-4, 2007 in Regina at the Queensbury Convention Centre

This is a two day national conference sponsored in part by the Canadian Health Coalition and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The conference is open to the general public and will have representation from a wide spectrum of sectors including community, health care, labour, and anti-poverty.

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Update: The CLC has informed us the conference has been postponed. We will provide the new dates as soon as we receive them.

“Building our Power – Building our Presence”: CLC 3rd Aboriginal Forum and 3rd Aboriginal/Workers of Colour Conference

The face of Canada and our workplaces is changing like never before.Over the next twelve years, the canvas of Canada will undergo an unprecedented change, particularly for Aboriginal and communities of colour. The demographic projections are powerful.

The Aboriginal population is growing more than twice as fast as the rest of the population in Canada. Among First Nations and the Métis, 50 percent of the population is younger than 18. Among the Inuit, 50 percent of the population is younger than 15. No other Canadian source of labour can begin to meet the rising needs of numerous trades and professions over the long term.

For communities of colour, the next dozen years will also see a dramatic rise in numbers. By the time Canada celebrates its 150th birthday, one in five persons will be a person of colour. Similarly, the new Canadian labour force will see more young people of colour than ever before. Consider that Generation X (18-34 year olds) is a cohort of 20 million persons and 20 percent are of colour. Generation Y (5-15 year olds) is the most racially diverse cohort in Canadian history, with one in three a person of colour.

Now is the time to build on our growing numbers, power and political potential.

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PSAC members want better health, safety and environmental regulations and more rigorous enforcement

PSAC members must make use of every forum available to speak out against deregulation and the implementation of measures that weaken their health and safety protection and their environment.

This was one of the messages heard at the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) National Health and Safety Conference held in Ottawa from January 19 to 21, 2007. PSAC National President, John Gordon, told delegates that “Canadians need a government that responds to the public’s needs, not to the desires of large corporations. We all need quality public services provided by our unionized members, who enjoy good health and safety protection. It’s our challenge, but it’s also our right,” he added.

• You can also read John Gordon’s speech at the Conference.
• See some pictures of the Conference.

More than 300 PSAC members attended the Conference, the theme of which was “Regulation Works”. Together union members devised strategies to: counter the federal government’s push to scale down occupational health and safety and environmental regulations; improve enforcement of health and safety legislation to better protect workers; and, dispel the myth of the careless employee. Members also debated resolutions some of which will be forwarded to the Alliance Executive Committee for action and the rest will be forwarded to the next PSAC Triennial Convention.

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The application deadline for the Pride Conference is January 11^th and the deadline for submission of resolutions is January 19^th.
The 2007 Pride Conference will take place March 30^th to April 1^st. The theme of the conference is “Include and be Included” and the objectives of conference are:

• To educate, politicize and mobilize PSAC GLBT members by making the links between union, workplace and GLBT rights within a safe space;
• To strengthen solidarity and build coalitions;
• To enhance, support and promote inclusive GLBT self-organizing strategies in our Union and our workplaces.

A PSAC member who is a member in good standing and who self-identifies as belonging to the GLBT communities can apply to be a delegate to this Conference. The selection of delegates will take into account union and GLBT rights activism, as well as representation (Region, Component, language, gender and additional equity group representation).

Visit the national website for more information about the 2007 PSAC National Pride Conference, as well as an online registration form.

The 2007 Pride Conference will take place March 30^th to April 1^st. The theme of the conference is “Include and be Included” and the objectives of conference are:

• To educate, politicize and mobilize PSAC GLBT members by making the links between union, workplace and GLBT rights within a safe space;
• To strengthen solidarity and build coalitions;
• To enhance, support and promote inclusive GLBT self-organizing strategies in our Union and our workplaces.

A PSAC member who is a member in good standing and who self-identifies as belonging to the GLBT communities can apply to be a delegate to this Conference. The selection of delegates will take into account union and GLBT rights activism, as well as representation (Region, Component, language, gender and additional equity group representation). The application deadline is January 11^th, 2007.

Visit the national website for more information about the 2007 PSAC National Pride Conference, as well as an online registration form.

The PSAC will be holding a Pride Conference in Vancouver from March 29 - April 1, 2007 for members who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or who otherwise self identify as a member of the Pride community.

To start planning for the Conference, we are seeking names of PSAC members who are prepared to serve on either the:

• Steering Committee
• Resolutions Committee

Interested PSAC members should complete the attached one page form and return to it me by e-mail (preferable) or fax by no later than midnight Tuesday, October 24th. The B.C. Region is entitled to one committee member who will sit on either the Steering or Resolutions Committee.

• Conference Committee form (doc)
• Conference Committee form (pdf)

I apologize for the tight deadlines, in Solidarity, Kay Sinclair.

2007 PSAC National Health and Safety Conference - “Regulation Works!”

Conference objectives

• The objectives of the 2007 PSAC National Health and Safety Conference are:
• To outline the current government and employer agenda which includes deregulation and to demonstrate how it will affect our health, safety and environmental rights.
• To develop a union agenda to counter the move towards deregulation of health, safety and environmental protections and employer voluntary compliance.
• To expose the misrepresentation behind the current “behavioural-based safety programs” being promoted by employers which rework the classic “blame the worker” theory.
• To develop union tactics to counter the “myth of the careless worker”.
• To examine the current state of enforcement of health and safety legislation in order to develop union-based strategies that will better protect workers.

The conference will take place January 19-21, 2007 in Ottawa. The registration deadline is October 5^th and the resolutions submission deadline is October 20^th.

Visit the national website for more information, and to register online.

Cheers to Jennie for sending us this report on the World/Labour Peace Forums, held recently in Vancouver. For more information about these events visit worldpeaceforum.ca and vdlc.ca.

Blogging on the World’s First Peace Forum in Vancouver BC, June 23-28, 2006by Jennie Chu, BC EO rep for PSAC-Agriculture Union

I was one of 4500 delegates registered for the World Peace Forum (WPF) and truly was grateful to Vancouver District Labour Council (VDLC) for organizing the 2-day Labour Peace Forum (LPF).

Patty Ducharme (NEVP, PSAC), Jennie Chu (AGR EO Rep, BC) and Yves Ducharme (National President, AGR).

The LPF was made possible through the generous financial support from CUPE National, PSAC, BCGEU, CUPW, BCNU, CEP, HAS, CUPE BC, HEU, CAW, COPE 378, BCFED, ILWU 500, CUPE METRO, IUOE 963, CUPE 402, MWBIU 1, UFCW, BCNU Shaughnessy Heights, CAW 2200, IBEW 258, Saskatoon Labour Council, and Campbell River Labour Council.

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Delegates at the PSAC National Triennial Convention in Toronto pledged in excess of $45,000 to help members of PSAC Local X3050 on strike against BHP Billiton at the Ekati diamond mine, 300 kilometers north-east of Yellowknife. This amount comes in addition to the $100,000.00 already pledged by the Union of Northern Workers for its hardship fund.

The pledges were announced after more than five hundred PSAC members and supporters took to Toronto streets in a demonstration in support of Ekati diamond mine workers. (Images of delegates rally for BHP strikers).

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TORONTO - John Gordon has been elected as the National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). Gordon has been the union’s National Executive Vice-President since 2000. Competing against three other candidates, Gordon was elected on the third ballot. Over 400 Convention delegates participated in this process.

“PSAC will be moving quickly to implement the plan to defend quality public services adopted at our convention this week,” said Gordon. “We don’t intend to have the Conservative government’s proposed budget ’savings’ come at the expense of needed public services and our members’ jobs.”

Prior to his election as National Executive Vice-President, Gordon was the National President of the Union of Public Works Employees from 1982 to 1999. A PSAC activist since 1974, when he joined the federal public sector as a tradesperson with Public Works Canada, Gordon has held a variety of union positions in his Component.

Delegates also elected Patty Ducharme as the union’s National Executive Vice-President. For the past six years, Ducharme has been PSAC’s Regional Executive Vice-President (REVP) for British Columbia. Prior to her election as REVP in 2000, Ducharme had worked as a customs inspector in British Columbia and served as First Vice-President of Branch 20040 of the Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise (CEUDA). She has been a PSAC activist for over 20 years holding a number of union positions.

In a two-way contest, Union of Postal Communications Employees President Richard Des Lauriers was elected alternate National Executive Vice-President. All elected officers take up their duties effective immediately.

Delegates and observers at the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s 14th triennial national convention will demonstrate in support of the striking workers on Wednesday.

Delegates will be marching from the Westin Harbour Castle Conference Centre to the park located behind the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel. Speakers at the rally will include PSAC National President Nycole Turmel, Union of Northern Workers President Todd Parson, Ekati Mine striker Robert Beaulieu.
The Ekati diamond mine, about 300 kilometres north of Yellowknife, is something of a cash-cow for BHP Billiton. The mine opened in 1998, and cost about $900 million to build. But the revenue has long-since left that number in the dust.

When it’s at full production, Ekati cranks out from three to five million carats a year. The diamonds tend to be of very high quality, commanding prices of $110 to almost $200 per carat. Late last year, Ekati President Sean Brennan reported to investors that the mine earned more than $350 million, before taxes, in both 2004 and 2005 fiscal years.

Those diamonds account for about six per cent of the world’s annual supply by value, but four per cent by volume, according to the company. It’s all done with a workforce of about 740 people who fly in and out on two-week rotations. About 390 are members of the Union of Northern Workers, part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. They went on strike on April 7, and the standoff continues.

Continue reading the CBC North Ekati strike feature.

On May 1, 1886, a general strike was called in the United States at a time when the right to organize and strike did not exist. A peaceful mass meeting at Haymarket Square in Chicago that followed was broken up by the police and led to the hanging of four labour leaders. All these events sparked the declaration of May 1 as an international day to remember and celebrate workers’ struggles.

One hundred and twenty years later, workers are fighting to protect their hard-won rights to organize, to bargain collectively and to strike. Recently, there has been a concerted effort by the labour movement to protect the right to bargain by pressuring Members of Parliament to adopt federal anti-scab legislation and first contract arbitration.

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As per the AEC decision with respect to the Steering and Resolutions Committees for the 2007 National Health and Safety Conference, this serves as the call for proposed names to sit on the above-mentioned committees.

Members interested in participating on these National H&S Conference committees should forward their application c/o the REVP BC Office, #302-5238 Joyce Street, Vancouver, V5R 6C9. Fax 604 430 0194.

The deadline for receipt by that office is May 11, 2006.

OTTAWA - After six years as the PSAC’s national president, Nycole Turmel will be stepping down and making way for a new leader of the 155,000-strong union. Elections for the new national president and national executive vice-president will be held on Friday, May 5, 2006, starting at 8:30 a.m.

The PSAC Convention officially begins on Monday, May 1, in Toronto, but there will be a pre-convention forum on political action and social justice on the previous day.

The Sunday Forum

• What: Political Action and Social Justice Forum
• Who

• Moderator: Hassan Yussuff, Canadian Labour Congress Secretary-Treasurer
• Panelists: Olivia Chow, NDP Member of Parliament; Carole Lavallée, Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament; Alex Munter, Ottawa Mayoralty Candidate; Jim Sinclair, British Columbia Federation of Labour President

The annual CALM Conference, where union members gather to learn more about union communications, will be held from May 12 to 14 at the Red River College in Winnipeg. If you want to create a Local newsletter or website, or to learn how to improve communicating with your members, this conference is for you.

PSAC Locals can attend the conference even if they are not member of CALM. If you register before April 25, registration fees are $320 per person ($295 for members). You can choose up to four different workshops at the conference.

Visit www.calm.ca for more details on the conference. Register now for a great opportunity to meet union members who want to improve their communication skills.

Pierre Lebel, PSAC Communications Officer, CALM President