Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Via email: It was all coming together: a long-awaited national child care program, the first new social program since medicare. Less than six months ago, federal and provincial governments had signed historic agreements that signaled the beginning of a program aimed at meeting the needs of Canadian children and families.

Now, the new Conservative government has cancelled these agreements, cutting $4 billion in federal funds for child care. Without federal funding, many provincial plans to improve and expand child care will barely, if ever, get off the ground.

The dream of a community-based early learning and care program for all children, regardless of whether their parents are at home or in the workforce, has been 30 years in the making. Now, it could all evaporate.

|inline

Public Services International conference to develop agenda against privatization

Ottawa (14 March 2006) — More than 75 trade union leaders and activists from six countries will gather in Ottawa this week, under the umbrella of the Public Services International (PSI), to foster alliances and develop a coordinated agenda to prevent the privatization of public services.

“Many governments around the world are in the midst of turning control of public services over to large corporations,” says Nycole Turmel, National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). “The public is paying a huge price for this privatization in terms of less quality, less access and less accountability.”

The three-day conference, being held at the Westin Hotel in downtown Ottawa from 14-16 March, will provide a forum to share and evaluate recent union campaigns against privatization and to develop a coordinated trade union agenda in the fight for quality public services.

|inline

The Ottawa Citizen, Mon 06 Mar 2006

Re: Labour pains, March 1.

The Citizen rightly claims that the Public Service Alliance of Canada “endorsed a number of separatist candidates in the Pontiac, despite the fact that the union represents workers whose livelihood depends on a strong federal government.” However, poll after poll suggests that about 25 per cent of Bloc Quebecois supporters are federalists.

The reason is that the Bloc is proactive and progressive on a range of issues, from pay equity to anti-scab legislation to child care. On the basis of its strong support for social, human and labour rights alone, it gets support from workers and their families.

And while the leadership of the Bloc supports separation for Quebec, this is an issue that will not be decided in a federal election.

Workers and businesses in the area should be more concerned about the Citizen editorial board’s support of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) which, in the words of the editorial, is “regularly putting forward serious policy proposals.”

The Harper government and the CCCE, and by implication the Citizen, endorse the concept of a fiscal imbalance between the federal and provincial governments, a notion that I and my union reject. I suggest that your acknowledgement of a fiscal imbalance and lack of support for measures to ameliorate it will do more to undermine workers and businesses, including the Citizen, whose livelihoods depend more on a strong federal government than on the endorsement and democratic election of a Bloc MP.

Nycole Turmel, Ottawa, PSAC National President

TO: Voting Delegates from the BC Region to the 2005 BC Region Convention – Still in Good Standing.

FROM: Nycole Turmel

RE: Alternate REVP BC

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

The ballots in the elections to the above-noted position have been counted and Kay Sinclair received a majority.

Therefore, I declare Sister Kay Sinclair the new Alternate Regional Executive Vice-President for the BC Region.

Congratulations Kay!

In Solidarity, Nycole Turmel, National President

FROM: Nycole Turmel

RE: Cyclical Review Schedule – PSAC Dental Plan

Consultations regarding changes to the PSAC Dental Plan will begin shortly.

We already have a number of demands, including raised yearly maximums, use of current fee guide and decreased deductibles.

If you have any suggestions for changes to the Plan other than those above, please send them to my office as soon as possible. I will then forward them to the PSAC representative on the Dental Board.

Thank you for your cooperation.

In Solidarity, Nycole Turmel, National President

Now that the election is over and PSAC members and all Canadians are waiting to see what the new Conservative minority government’s first actions will be, National President Nycole Turmel has written to the incoming Prime Minister and the leaders of the opposition parties to put some of our members’ concerns before them and to ask for an early meeting to discuss these concerns, read the letters here: Letter to Stephen Harper | Letter to Paul Martin | Letter to Jack Layton | Letter to Gilles Duceppe (all )