Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

First Nations, Inuit and Métis people are making important contributions in the struggle for social justice, equality and workers’ and human rights. Their particular struggle is a response to colonialism, domination and the policy of assimilation pursued by the Canadian government.

The fight for access to employment, housing, education, health care and other basic social services continues on a daily basis for many Aboriginal people. While the United Nations Human Development Index rates the majority of Canadian society as having one of the highest quality-of-life scores, Aboriginal peoples in Canada would place 48th among the world’s nations in the same index.

The Kelowna Accord reached between the Prime Minister, the Provincial Premiers, the Territorial Leaders and Aboriginal Leaders in November was an important first step towards improving socio-economic conditions of Aboriginal peoples and communities. The Conservative government, by not committing the funds agreed to by the previous government in the federal budget, has effectively turned its back on Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

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Yellowknife – Supporters of striking Ekati diamond mine workers will be leafleting customers at Brinkhaus Jewellers store in Vancouver and Idar Jewellers in Victoria this Saturday as part of their union’s Canada-wide “Dirty Diamonds” campaign to win a fair first contract.

Brinkhaus Jewellers and Idar Jewellers are two of several dozen BHP Billiton-authorized Canadian jewelers selling AuriasTM and CanadaMarkTM diamonds from Ekati. The Public Service Alliance of Canada says customers will be politely asked to not buy diamonds being produced by strikebreakers behind picket lines in its efforts to pressure mine owner BHP Billiton to reach a first collective agreement.

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OTTAWA - Due to the lack of transparency by Canada Post in refusing to reveal its development plans for this public service, members of the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE) of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) will support a citizens’ action against the Crown Corporation on Monday, June 19, at noon.

“We hope to obtain answers to the questions we have been asking Canada Post management for months,” explained UPCE President Richard Des Lauriers.

“Unfortunately, instead of getting firm answers as to the impact of the Corporation’s development plan on services to the public, we have received meaningless slogans. The time has come to go over to Canada Post offices and get the answers.”

The UPCE and PSAC are therefore supporting the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) citizens’ search that will take place on Monday, June 19, at noon at the Head Office of Canada Post at 2701 Riverside Drive in Ottawa. This is when union members will peacefully enter the offices of Canada Post and seek the documentation that they have been asking management for but have been unable to obtain.

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Public Service Alliance of Canada says don’t buy trademarked Aurias™ and CanadaMark™ diamonds produced by strikebreakers

YELLOWKNIFE, June 13 /CNW/ - Over 2 million readers of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal in the United States will read today about “Dirty Diamonds” being produced despite a strike by Ekati diamond mine workers, as their union runs major ads in the newspapers as part of its growing international campaign against mine owner BHP Billiton.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is asking consumers not to buy Ekati diamonds being produced by strikebreakers under the Auriasâ„¢ and CanadaMarkâ„¢ trademarks behind union picket lines as the union fights to win a fair first collective agreement for nearly 400 Ekati workers on strike since April 7.

“BHP Billiton is going to feel increasing heat around the world until it reaches a fair contract with Ekati diamond mine workers,” said Jean-François Des Lauriers, PSAC Executive Vice-President-North. “We will be telling readers of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal that they should not buy Canada’s own conflict diamonds - diamonds being produced despite a labour conflict.” Click here to view the ad (pdf).

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Ottawa - The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) welcomes into its ranks all commissionnaires working in Health Canada buildings in the National Capital Region. For PSAC, this union victory is part of an extensive recruiting campaign aimed at better defending the rights of these workers.“We had to put in a lot of hard work to unionize this group of commissionnaires” , declared PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President, Ed Cashman. “Although they are spread out geographically which makes it difficult to organize them, these workers have the same rights as all Canadians, and it is our role as a union to ensure that these rights are protected.”

During the recruiting campaign, the union ran into opposition from the employer and was confronted by attempts to intimidate the employees.

“It is totally unacceptable that, in this day and age, an employer is so fiercely opposed to organizing a group of workers,” Cashman said. “The rights to associate and have union representation are recognized everywhere in Canada, and we should not have to fight to exercise them.

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Public Service Alliance of Canada and BHP Billiton to resume negotiations for first contract at strike-bound Ekati diamond mine May 25-26 in Edmonton; PSAC picket lines will stay up until ratified agreement reached

YELLOWKNIFE, May 23 /CNW/ - The Public Service Alliance of Canada, the union representing striking Ekati diamond mine workers, and mine owner BHP Billiton have agreed to resume negotiations for a first collective agreement, with talks scheduled for May 25-26 in Edmonton.

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Yellowknife — By using scabs at its Ekati diamond mine and by refusing to bargain in good faith with its 400 unionized workers, BHP Billiton is showing its contempt for Canadian workers.

According to the National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) John Gordon, “if BHP Billiton wants to stay in Canada and continue to do business, it has to respect Canadian workers.”

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TORONTO – While 400 of its members at the Ekati diamond mine north of Yellowknife suffer the consequences of having scabs in the workplace, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) applauds the anti-scab Bill introduced today by the Bloc Québécois aimed at stopping this practice.

“During the last session of Parliament, the Bloc introduced Bill C-263 which was lost by only 12 votes,” explained PSAC President, Nycole Turmel. “We will work with the Bloc Québécois and other Canadian unions to ensure that finally, workers under federal jurisdiction are protected by anti-scab legislation.”

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TORONTO – The Harper government’s first federal budget provides more questions than answers about its impact on services to Canadians, according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

In its pre-budget submission, PSAC had argued that demands for public services are growing as the population ages and as more and more people locate to larger cities and communities. The union urged the government to reconsider premature tax cuts.

“In addition to tax cuts, particularly the many corporate tax cuts contained in the budget, the Conservatives are slowing government spending at a time when the economy is growing,” says PSAC National President Nycole Turmel. “They’re also instituting another round of expenditure review, cutting $1-billion in each of the next two fiscal years.”

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While the Canadian flag on Parliament Hill flies at half-mast on April 28, workers observe a moment of silence in remembrance of those workers killed or seriously injured on the job.

The National Day of Mourning was officially recognized by the federal government in 1991, eight years after it was launched by the labour movement in Canada. The Day of Mourning has since spread to over 80 countries around the world. Here is a list of Day of Mourning events in BC (pdf).

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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

OTTAWA - After pressuring past governments for decades to provide real protection for whistleblowers, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is concerned the government’s new Accountability Act may not go far enough.

“On the surface it appears that this legislation will offer more protection against reprisals for all workers in the federal public sector who come forward to make a disclosure of wrongdoing,” said PSAC National President Nycole Turmel.

“We will be undertaking a thorough analysis of the proposed legislation,” Turmel added. PSAC has applied and is expected to be invited to testify to the House Committee that will hear presentations on the legislation.

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Yellowknife – Workers at Canada ’s first diamond mine are on strike Friday, April 7 after BHP Billiton refused to negotiate a fair first collective agreement, says the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the union representing 400 workers at the Ekati diamond mine.

Jean-François Des Lauriers, Regional Executive Vice-President for PSAC-North, says workers are off the job early Friday, at the Ekati mine, which produces 6 per cent of the world’s diamond supply by value.

And Des Laurier warned BHP Billiton against the use of replacement workers, saying such tactics are unacceptable to northern Canadians.

“BHP Billiton has refused to offer its diamond workers a fair first collective agreement and forced them to go on strike,” said Des Lauriers. “If BHP Billiton adds insult to injury by using replacement workers to operate the mine, the Canadian labour movement will react strongly to denounce the employer’s actions.”

Read more at the national website - there’s also some photos.

OTTAWA - The Conservatives may talk about transparency but the Speech from the Throne was far from clear on the details of the government’s plans for the upcoming session of Parliament according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

“The Speech was long on rhetoric but short on specifics,” says PSAC National President Nycole Turmel. “PSAC members will be waiting for the real news when the government tables its Accountability Act and its first budget.”

According to Turmel, “the Conservatives are promising ‘real protection for whistleblowers’, but we have yet to see just what that means. Real protection for our members means a guarantee of no reprisals and real penalties levied against anyone who breaks that guarantee.”

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For Immediate Release: VANCOUVER – Picket lines could be up at Vancouver International Airport Thursday morning at 8:00 am as members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) will be in a legal strike position against their employer Limo Jet Gold Express Ltd.

The PSAC represents drivers at Limo Jet, the exclusive provider of limousine service at the Vancouver International Airport. “Management at Limo Jet, have refused to seriously deal with the issue of dispatch fees and allow its employees to make a decent living” said Patty Ducharme, PSAC’s Regional Executive Vice-President for BC.

“On average PSAC members are paying more in dispatch fees to Limojet then they earn in wages to support their families,” Ducharme added. “Instead of getting serious about bargaining Limojet ownership is threatening to close the operation and put people out of work.”

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GATINEAU, March 10 /CNW Telbec/ - The reinstatement of Edith Gendron at Canadian Heritage has sent a clear message to all workers in the Federal Public Service: you have political rights and you have the right to assert them.

According to the PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for the National Capital Region, Ed Cashman, “the decision rendered by the Public Service Labour Relations Board yesterday is a victory for freedom of expression and association for our membership and for the entire Federal Public Service. The decision clearly spells out that, in this region, it is possible to freely express oneself politically and assert oneself without fear of reprisals.”

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OTTAWA - For the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the largest union representing federal public sector workers, the Gomery report, if implemented, would represent a fundamental shift in the way government works. Increased power would go to the Secretary of the Treasury Board and the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, with diminished power and responsibility for the Privy Council Office.

“This is an important report for all workers in the federal public sector” said PSAC National President Nycole Turmel.

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Black History Month: Labour history must include contributions of Black labour activists

Black History Month is celebrated in Canada to recognize the contributions of Black peoples to the growth and development of this country and their importance to its history.

The contributions of African Canadians are still far from being integrated into the mainstream of Canadian history. However, many now know of Mathieu Da Costa, a man of African heritage who arrived into this land in 1604 with French explorer Samuel de Champlain and who served as an interpreter between the Europeans and the Mik’ maq people. Many also know about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railway, a network of safehouses and individuals that helped Black people escape slavery in the United States.

Read more of the PSAC’s statement on Black History month at the national website.