Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Jamey Mills, PSAC-BC Youth Coordinator and BC Fed Young Worker’s Committee chair, was one of the determined volunteers who helped campaign to get the “Grant’s Law” approved. When told about the regulation’s approval, Mills commented, “I was so excited about this! It was such an empowering moment, it’s really sad it took such an unfortunate event to get a progressive change like this in place.”

• If you are a young worker and member of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and want to get involved and support similar work, please contact Jamey Mills at jamey_m@telus.net for more information.

VICTORIA - A regulation requiring a mandatory prepayment system at service stations throughout the province will be in effect Feb. 1, 2008, to help protect employees who work late at night, Labour and Citizens’ Services Minister Olga Ilich said today.

“Government’s priority is to protect all workers in British Columbia,” said Ilich. “We want to make sure that people return home safely after a day’s work.”

The regulation makes a prepayment system mandatory in service stations across B.C. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This expands on other regulations brought in following the tragic death of station attendant Grant De Patie in 2005.

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Dear Sisters and Brothers:

The B.C. Federation of Labour is pleased to announce that the BC Fed Health & Safety Centre is continuing the Occupational Health & Safety and Labour Education Program into the 2007/2008 school year.

For the past four years, the Centre has been training young workers from various affiliates to facilitate high school sessions across the province.

In 2003, the B.C. Federation of Labour and the BC Teachers’ Federation introduced this Program to prepare young workers to talk to the students in the high schools about their rights in the workplace. Since then, over 30,000 high school students have participated in the workshops, and over 40 young union members have been trained to deliver these workshops. The success of the Program is due to the commitment and passion of these young facilitators.

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Meeting Of The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance

• Thursday, September 27, 7 PM
• BCGEU HQ Auditorium
• 4911 Canada Way, Burnaby (half block west of Norland, entrance at Iris Crescent)

Join other Asian Canadian union members at a meeting of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance to discuss plans for upcoming events. Also, hear about the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Convention that took place in July and the recent Anniversaries of Change conference and reconciliation dinner. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance provides a forum for Asian Canadian Union members to connect, encourages the increased participation of Asian Canadian union members in the labour movement, and works to strengthen the relationship between labour and our Asian Canadian communities.

For more information about the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, or for more directions to the meeting please contact: Lorene Oikawa at 604-291-9611 or lorene.oikawa@bcgeu.ca

via Vancouver & District Labour Council

CUPE Locals 15, 391, and 1004: Our sisters and brothers on the picket lines need our support!

Bring your union placards or get one from the VDLC and let them know that we are behind them and stand with them. Help is needed 24 hours a day at City Hall, Vancouver Public Library Main Branch (Georgia), and the Works Yards (National, Evans, and Manitoba). Your presence at all picket sites would be appreciated - all community centres, parks, and public library locations. Click for a list of CUPE picket sites (pdf).

Please visit www.fairnessforcivicworkers.ca for updates and information and contacts for specific information.

Dear friends,

Once again we are offering our retreat over the Remembrance Day weekend, amid the 400 acres of the North Vancouver Outdoor School and the returning Chum salmon. This is a precious opportunity for reflection and renewal. For cost reasons, it is likely the last time we will offer the retreat in this very special location, so if you have been thinking of coming this is the year! - For the earth, Jackie Larkin

Reconnecting To Life - 6th Annual Residential Retreat
Friday, November 9- Monday, November 12, 2007
Squamish, British Columbia (about 1 1/2 hours north of Vancouver)
with Jackie Larkin and Maggie Ziegler

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This Labour Day PSAC members took part in the “Public Services Are Cool” blitzes at the labour picnics at Confederation Park in Burnaby and Esquimalt Gorge Park in Victoria.

• Visit the photo gallery for lots of pictures.

We’re proud to report PSAC had excellent representation! In Victoria, PSAC staff and members of the Southern Vancouver Island Area Council set up a tent and spoke with the picnic-goers about the value of a strong public service as well as the save our fisheries campaign. Members from many components stopped by throughout the day and an excellent time was had by all.

In Burnaby, staff and members active with the Vancouver Area Council came out and helped with the table. They distributed PSAC materials and asked the public to sign letters to their MPs regarding the second phase of the federal building sell-off. National Vice-President Patty Ducharme was in town and visited the table for a while and REVP Kay Sinclair also joined in in the afternoon. Several PSAC members who were attending the picnic and weren’t aware of the table were there and very pleased to see PSAC out with the whole labour family.

$10 minimum wage critical as BC’s economic boom bypasses provinces’ working families and key region

BC’s current economic boom is bypassing working families, according to a Labour Day analysis prepared by the B.C. Federation of Labour, forcing them to work longer hours just to stand still while corporate profits rise and CEOs take home massive pay increases.

• Sign the minimum wage petition @ bcfed.com
• Download a copy of the report (pdf)

“A $10 minimum wage would help nearly 250,000 working people who are at or below the poverty line,” says B.C. Federation of Labour President, Jim Sinclair. “Despite positive economic news, most British Columbians are not seeing their incomes improve and some regions are actually experiencing declining employment. BC has a very high level of people living in poverty. To them, this is not the ‘best place on earth’ as provincial propaganda suggests.”

The Federation issued a review of the provincial economy to support its call for a $10 minimum wage - which has been frozen by the Campbell Liberals at $8 per hour since 2001. The increase would bring 246,000 British Columbians up to the poverty line with particular benefits for women and younger workers, who make up a large share of BC’s low-paid workforce.

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Workers in Toronto to join global protests against the abduction and imprisonment of Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi

OTTAWA - Canadian workers will mark an International Day of Action this Thursday, August 9 to protest the Iranian government’s arrest and imprisonment of two of that country’s prominent labour leaders.

Trade unionists and activists around the world are worried about the safety and
well-being of Mansour Osanloo, President of the ITF affiliated bus workers’ union Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed (Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company). Mansour was reported as kidnapped on July 10th as he was getting off of a bus.

• Rally in Vancouver - join BC Federation of Labour, BC Teachers Federation, VDLC, CAW Local 111 & 333, Hospital Employees Union and other unions
• Time: 17:00 to 19:00 , Thursday, August 9, 2007, Vancouver Art Gallery, Howe & Robson

On July 12th it was confirmed that Osanloo has been imprisoned. Just days before his abduction, Canadian Labour Congress president Ken Georgetti had the pleasure of meeting Mansour as he addressed the ITUC General Council in Brussels. This was the first time that the ITUC - or for that matter its predecessor, the ICFTU welcomed an independent Iranian trade union leader from inside the country to its meetings.

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Vancouver Prison Justice Day, Friday, August 10th

Speakers and Performers

Join us at 7 p.m. at Trout Lake Park (E. 15th and Victoria) at the Claire Culhane Memorial Bench (in the southeast corner) to hear ex-prisoners and prisoners’ rights activists speak on justice issues such as the danger of passing the Conservative government’s U.S. style crime bills into law.

This is a memorial rally in honour of Harriet Nahanee, Dec. 7, 1935 - Feb 24, 2007

Vancouver Workers are Rising - UNITE HERE Local 40

• Rally & March - Friday, August 10, 4:15 pm
• Vancouver Art Gallery, Downtown Vancouver

Rally at the Art Gallery and march to the Downtown Hotels to hear workers speak on and about the working conditions in the service industry. Join them in their struggle for respect and justice on the job.

4th Annual Vancouver Dyke March, Saturday, August 4th

Join us at 12 p.m. at McSpadden Park at 5th and Victoria Drive to begin the march down Commercial Drive to Grandview Park where there will be a great line-up of performers. The organizers of the Dyke March hope that people of all ages “will enjoy an afternoon of visibility, pride, music, community art and merry-making the day before the annual Pride Parade.”

Vancouver Pride Parade, Sunday August 5th

All LGBT labour activists and allies are invited to join REVP Kay Sinclair, members of the PSAC BC Human Rights and the Multi Union Pride Committees on Sunday, August 5^th at this year’s Pride Parade in Vancouver.

• More about Pride Week in Vancouver: www.vancouverpride.ca
• Email for more info about Multi Union Pride: multiunionpride@gmail.com

The marshalling begins at 11:00 am in front of Capers on Robson Street. (If marchers cannot find the Multi Union Pride group, there is a point person at the West End Community Centre to direct the way.)

The Parade begins at noon and is always a fun event where everyone is welcome. Come join in the celebration!

United Steelworkers in the lumber and forestry sector as well CUPE members from Locals 1005 and 15 (Vancouver) and Local 389 (North Vancouver) are currently on strike, and CUPE Local 391 (Vancouver Public Library) has issued strike notice. Major Issues include wages, classification adjustments, pay equity, job security, and whistle blower protection. Although job actions are not expected to directly impact PSAC worksites, there may be situations where PSAC members encounter a picket line.

If you encounter a picket line:

• the BC Federation of Labour has a strict picket line policy that obliges all union members in BC to honour picket lines.
• the PSAC has a picket line policy (No.21) that also urges members to honour picket lines.
• if you encounter a picket line, speak to the strikers and/or picket captains and ask for direction from them.
• contact your union representative for direction and contact the Regional Office of the PSAC.
• call your supervisor to let him/her know that there is a picket line
• if you choose to cross the picket line, ask for a management escort across the line
• if it seems unsafe, do not attempt to cross the line, let your supervisor know that you feel your safety is in jeopardy.
• bolster picket lines before/after work and during breaks
• it would be appreciated if you would provide coffee, snacks and moral support to striking workers
• unfortunately, most PSAC members do not have picket line protection in their collective agreements, or in legislation, and therefore are obliged to report to work.

Please contact the Vancouver RO if you have any questions, and check back here for updates.

• More info: CUPE BC
• More info: CUPE Local 15
• More info: BC Coast forestry strike.

Roy Mah passed away on June 22, 2007 at the age of 89.

Mah was born in Edmonton in 1918. In 1943 at the age of 25, Mah was recruited as a union organizer for the IWA while still a history student at the University of Victoria. He was also the Secretary of the Chinese Youth Association in Victoria.

Even though he was born in Canada, Roy and thousands of other Chinese Canadians were not recognized as citizens. Roy attended a segregated school in Victoria and instinctively rebelled against inequality and other forms of discrimination.

As an IWA organizer, Roy began organizing workers of Chinese origin into the Victoria local of the IWA. He traveled up and down the Coast organizing workers in such places as Duncan, Youbou, Nanaimo, Comox, and Port Alberni.

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• Thursday, June 28, 7 pm
• BCGEU HQ Auditorium
• 4911 Canada Way, Burnaby (half block west of Norland, entrance at Iris Crescent)

Join other Asian Canadian union members at a meeting of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance to discuss plans for upcoming events. (Light Refreshments will be provided.)

The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance provides a forum for Asian Canadian Union members to connect, encourages the increased participation of Asian Canadian union members in the labour movement, and works to strengthen the relationship between labour and our Asian Canadian communities.

For more information about the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, or for directions to the meeting please contact: Lorene Oikawa at 604-291-9611 or via email.

Here are some photos taken at recent PSAC and related events … updated June 28^th

Advanced Stewards Training in Vancouver

Members from many different components & locals came together at the beginning of the month to take four-day Advanced Steward Training courses held in Vancouver & Victoria. The objectives of the course were:

• To identify the roles and responsibilities of PSAC Stewards.
• To develop participants’ confidence in their ability to be effective Stewards in the workplace.
• To increase participants’ understanding of how to empower and motivate members.
• To provide participants with the opportunity to develop and practice the skills necessary to be effective advocates in representing their members.
• To motivate participants to use their knowledge and skills as Stewards to establish an effective union presence at the workplace.

Stewards from across the province built on their knowledge, skills and confidence so that they could provide effective representation in the workplace and mobilize members. Here are some photos, click the thumbnails for a larger view.

Visit the PSAC photo gallery for all the pictures taken at the Advanced Steward Training course in Vancouver.

Here are the members in Victoria who took the AST, click for a larger view …

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By Bill Tieleman

But even by his own steamroller standards, Premier Campbell violated a basic covenant on the weekend by forcibly rewriting legal, negotiated contracts that were still in force. If he is not prepared to respect so basic a legal agreement, what other contracts is he prepared to rip up? This is not reform. It is legislative vandalism.

- Globe and Mail editorial on Bill 29, Jan. 30, 2002

Canada’s highest court has ruled that Premier Gordon Campbell’s “legislative vandalism” is illegal.

On Friday the Supreme Court of Canada looked at B.C. Liberal legislation that ripped up freely negotiated, legal collective agreements and rejected it.

It is a stunning and welcome repudiation of reprehensible actions that took away the jobs of about 8,000 health-care workers through privatization.

Those same workers, who were so terribly mistreated, should now be compensated by the Campbell government.

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via BC Federation of Labour

The WCB has introduced new regulations this year aimed at improving safety for late night retail workers working alone. The regulations include a risk assessment for workers working alone who are at risk of violence, and prepayment of gas. There will also be requirements for employers to ensure the safety of workers by separating workers from customers with a barrier such as a locked door, and to have two people on during the late night hours.

• Email the WCB and tell them you support tougher laws to protect late night retail workers.

WCB will be holding public hearings in June 2007 to review these regulations. For more information visit the BC Federation of Labour.

OTTAWA — In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada on Friday declared for the first time that collective bargaining rights are protected in the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The court was ruling on the B.C. Government’s introduction of a law in 2002 that effectively canceled collective agreements for health-care workers and resulted in mass layoffs. The court gave the B.C. government, which imposed the law to cope with soaring health-care costs, a year to deal with the fallout of the decision before it takes effect.

A majority of judges concluded several sections of the legislation violated section two of the charter, which protects freedom of association.

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via Vancouver & District Labour Council

Dear Brothers, Sisters and Friends:

CUPE’s 12,000 Lower Mainland civic workers need your support. They are facing demands for unprecedented concessions and slow or stalled negotiations everywhere. Almost all Lower Mainland CUPE civic collective agreements expired on December 31, 2006. They feel that they are being forced into job action in order to get a fair contract.

Civic workers make our communities work, providing vital public services that we all rely upon. To avert job action, Lower Mainland civic workers launched a public campaign this week called “FAIRNESS for civic workers” that DEPENDS ON YOU taking action now to put pressure on your local municipal politicians to:

• REMOVE all proposed concessions from the table.
• RETURN to the bargaining table with the intent to make progress.
• RESPECT civic workers and vital services they provide by negotiating fair contracts.

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• Meeting: Asian Canadian Labour Alliance
• Thursday, May 24, 5:30pm, BCGEU HQ Auditorium

Join other Asian Canadian union members at a meeting of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, before the film viewing.

The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance provides a forum for Asian Canadian union members to connect, encourages the increased participation of Asian Canadian union members in the labour movement, and works to strengthen the relationship between labour and our Asian Canadian communities. A light meal will be provided for those attending this meeting. Please RSVP to Sarah Maglio at 604-291-9611 or sarah.maglio@bcgeu.ca

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“Farmworkers are Canada’s forgotten workers. They work in the fields and harvest the crops that feed us. They work in slave-like conditions for 12-14 hours a day and are paid piece rate. They travel in overcrowded buses to the fields or live in converted chicken coops. Many suffer chronic health problems because of exposure to pesticides during every working day.” - CFU spokesman Charan Gill, June, 1994

When farmworkers in British Columbia’s fertile Fraser Valley started organizing in the 1970s, the main issues were low pay, poor housing, unsafe working conditions, exclusion from labour and safety legislation, lack of childcare and racial discrimination. Those are still the major issues today for the 28,000 workers in the fields.

• Related: New regulations important step to protect farmworkers from employer abuse, says Sinclair, but they remain second-class citizens
• Related:BC farmworkers deserve protection not exploitation

Just outside Vancouver, considered one of the world’s “most livable” cities, farmworkers, mostly immigrants from Punjab, India, and most of those women, work long hours in the open fields harvesting the food we eat. They work in the third most hazardous industry in the province, behind logging and mining. The mortality rate is seven times higher than in the manufacturing sector.

Read (lots) more at www.vcn.bc.ca/cfu/