Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

via Nick Humphreys, BC Regional Council

1. The certainty of spills
2. The impossible clean-up
3. The local ecology
4. Jobs and communities
5. Global warming

It looks like the Harper government is going to lift the ban on oil tanker traffic in BC’s inside waters.

The tankers would run through Caamano Sound and up the inlets to Kitimat. The likelihood of a spill are high and the results for the environment, including our salmon resource would be catastrophic.

Read more and sign a petition opposing the lift of the moratorium at www.notankers.ca.

True or False?

• You are paying too much tax.
• To be fair to all, everyone should pay the same tax rate.
• A reduction in taxes would help working families.
• Individuals can’t influence governments when it comes to tax cuts.

Try the new tax quiz at the national website.

• Thursday, April 12 – 6:30pm
• Heritage Hall 3102 Main St.
• Vancouver, B.C.
• Info: 604-291-9611

Vancouver Child Care Resource is losing half of its provincial funding at the end of April. Ten neighbourhood-based CCRR services that help families with referrals and subsidies, and give family child care providers training and business support, will be gone.

The Campbell government is also cutting 100% of the Westcoast Provincial Services budget. That means no more access to the unique Westcoast Resource Library that promotes diversity and multiculturalism outside of Vancouver. And, significantly reduced access to the Safe Spaces bullying prevention training for caregivers of 3-5 year olds.
Waitlists are growing and parent fees are rising. Families, child care providers and community leaders are not sitting still for these cuts to urgently-needed child care services.

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To: PSAC members in BC

As you may know, Bill 257 (Anti-scab legislation) was defeated on March 21 during the 3rd reading in the House of Commons 177 votes to 122 votes. Despite this, we have a lot to be proud of. The CLC coordinated a well organized campaign of which the PSAC played a key role both in BC and in Ottawa. And we couldn’t have done so without your participation.

Many of you took the time to write, phone, fax and email your MP to build support for the bill. In particular, our Area Councils sent letters to each MP in their region identifying the number of PSAC members in their riding affected by the bill.

I want to thank all of you: your hard work and positive response to our repeated requests for support are much appreciated. While I’m disappointed that more MPs did not support working people on this issue (and we will remember them at election time, scroll down to see how they all voted) I truly believe that our union is stronger from this experience.

Thanks again. In Solidarity, Kay Sinclair, REVP BC

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Via BC Federation of Labour

• Saturday, March 31, 11am – 12:30pm
• Burrard Bridge, Vancouver
• Gather at 11am at Seaforth Peace Flame Park (south end of bridge by Cornwall Ave.)
• Calling parents, grandparents, early childhood educators and child care supporters to span the bridge sidewalks with signs and songs!

March 30-31 marks the elimination of federal-provincial childcare funding agreements by the Harper Conservatives. It also marks the closure of several childcare resource and referral centres in BC and the elimination of critical services to working families as a result of funding cuts by the Campbell Liberals.

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Congratulations to all of you who helped convince your MP to vote in favour of Bill C-257, the Anti-scab Legislation, at Second Reading. Not surprisingly, business leaders mobilized during the committee stage to get MPs to change their mind. You may have noticed the fear mongering in the media. Under the leadership of the CLC your union has worked hard to counter the business lobby.

• More background from the CLC.

We are running out of time. Bill C-257 will be voted on at Third Reading on March 21. Members of Parliament are in their ridings until March 16. This is your last week to talk to your MP in person and let them know that you are watching and you expect them to vote in favour of Bill C-257 and working people. The following MPs particularly need to hear from their constituents:

• Ron Cannan (Kelowna Lake Country)
• Raymond Chan (Richmond)
• Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre)
• Colin Mayes (Okanagan-Shuswap)
• Keith Martin (Esquimalt- Juan de Fuca)
• Sukh Dhaliwal (Newton- North Delta) Update: We have been informed Mr. Dhaliwal supports the legislation and will vote in favour of it.
• Stephen Owen (Vancouver Quadra)

Please take a moment to call or send an email to your MP and let them know that replacement workers are bad for working families, bad for business, and bad for Canada!

• By phone: MP’s contact information.
• Email your MP at the regional website.

In Solidarity, Janet Routledge, BC Regional Coordinator, Public Service Alliance of Canada

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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As most of you are aware, the PSAC has been actively participating in a national campaign led by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) to have changes made to the Canada Labour Code to retract the use of scabs in the event of a strike or lock-out. Visit the national website for more information.
MPs will vote on the final reading of the Anti-Scab Bill (Bill C257) during the week of March 19, 2007, and we need your help. Please take a few minutes to call your MP or send an email to let your MP know how important this bill is for working people in Canada and to urge them to support it. MPs are back in their ridings March 2, 2007, through to March 16, 2007, and they need to hear from their constituents who support the bill.

Contact your MP and help make sure that anti-scab legislation is adopted once and for all.

Tuesday, February 20 is BC Budget Day. The Campbell government began this year by cutting the child care budget. Any announcements they make now will likely be one-time only, stopgap funding that does not even begin to fix the child care problems they’ve caused.

British Columbians are urged to flood the Campbell government with a strong message – restore child care funding and build a child care system!

Please take a moment to fax:

• Premier Gordon Campbell at 250-387-0087
• Minister of Finance Carole Taylor at 250-387-5594
• Minister of State for Child Care Linda Reid at 250-356-8337

Download the fax form here (pdf), and please send a copy of your message to your Liberal MLA. Click for MLA fax numbers.

Working families in every BC community need child care. The provincial government’s funding cuts and attacks on child care programs affects us all, but especially children in BC. By cutting child care funding again, the Campbell government has shown it doesn’t care about the future of our children or working families.

The Federal Government Department of Finance has launched an online pre-budget consultation to give Canadians a chance to have input to the development of the 2007 Federal Budget. Last year they reported receiving 6000 responses to their online consultation process.

The government online consultation is a bit restrictive in the choices it offers but you can select ‘Spending’ as your top priority. In the box for comments write in your own words about the need to continue delivering quality public services to Canadians.

• PSAC Labour Day message: Defend Quality Public Services

Now is your chance to send a message to the government! Click to visit the the Department of Finance website and have your say. Note that the closing date for this consultation is February 28^th.

Community response to the most recent child care cuts is building around the province of BC. There are many ways you can help get the message to political leaders that child care funding must be restored immediately and that BC can afford to build a quality, affordable, accessible, public child care system now. Visit bcgeu.ca for more information.

Rallies and protests are scheduled across the province this month, click for a calendar of events (pdf).

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Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I am writing to you today to ask for support for a group of PSAC members that have been locked out by their employer since October 23, 2006.

These twenty two workers, members of UNW Local 6 in Hay River, Northwest Territories, work at “Nats’ejee K’eh”, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre. Their contract has expired three and a half years ago and they have been without a salary increase for over four years. It was with great reluctance that they eventually served notice of strike action, but their employer instead of returning to the bargaining table chose to lock them out and transport the clients who were in treatment at the facility to a non-unionised treatment centre in Alberta.

The employer’s latest offer includes monetary roll-backs, entire control on lay-offs and the right to dismiss anyone at any time without cause, complete unilateral control over hours of work, gutting the union rights and activities and doing away with parental leave.

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To: BC Federation of Labour Officers

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

You are likely aware that Bill C-257 passed at a second reading vote in Parliament last week. The vote was 167-101, with the entire NDP and Bloc caucuses voting in favour. Most of the Liberal caucus and a few of the Conservatives also voted in favour. Attached (below) please find a list of how the BC MP’s voted, and provincial totals from across the country.

I would like to thank you, your organization and activists for the tremendous effort that helped to get this result. Some MP’s received huge numbers of calls and letters, and these undoubtedly influenced how they voted. BC Labour Councils did a great job of getting in to see all MP’s, many of them for second and third times.

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(VANCOUVER) The federal government needs to address the fish habitat protection crisis, demonstrate the will to protect the environment and allow public service professionals to do their jobs.

The funding and management crisis currently paralyzing the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was detailed at a joint press conference held today by the David Suzuki Foundation and the federal Union of Environment Workers.

“We have dedicated members who are being prevented from doing their job of protecting and enhancing Canada’s fish stocks and environment,” said Nick Humphreys, Regional Vice-President, BC/Yukon, Union of Environment Workers.

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“Medicare Works”, a national campaign tour designed to defend and strengthen the public health care system, was officially launched on October 18 by the Canadian Health Coalition (CHC) and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. The campaign features 32 town hall meetings taking place across the country between late October and early December.

At the meetings, health analysts will expose the commercial interests behind the latest attacks on Medicare and Canadians will have an opportunity to discuss better ways to strengthen the system.A week of action is being held from November 13 to 18 when Canadians will be encouraged to pressure their politicians. “The public system is under renewed attack, with the federal government not enforcing the Canada Health Act and some provinces aggressively pushing for-profit, two-tier health services,” says CHC chair Kathleen Connors.

PSAC member are encouraged to attend the town hall meeting being held in their area and to participate in the week-long lobby of politicians. Call or meet with your MP and show your support for public health care.

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OTTAWA - The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) applauds the adoption today, in second reading, of Bill C-257, the anti-scab legislation introduced by the Bloc Québécois.

“After several attempts to have this piece of legislation adopted,” says Patty Ducharme PSAC National Executive Vice-President, “Members of Parliament have finally accepted to give workers a more level playing field in their relations with their employers. It’s a great day for working women and men in Canada.”

• CLC: Georgetti urges MP’s not to delay approval on third reading.

Bill C-257 is a Private Member’s Bill introduced by the Bloc MP for Gatineau, Richard Nadeau. It’s inspired by the anti-scab legislation currently in force in Québec, which prohibits employers from using strike-breakers during a strike or a lockout.  Today’s vote will send the Bill to a House of Commons Committee before coming back for a final vote.

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Union members are meeting with Members of Parliament October 23-25, 2006, to secure their support for the second reading of Bill C-257, which will amend the Canadian Labour Code to prohibit the use of replacement workers during a labour dispute. PSAC members across the country have been busy over the summer and fall contacting and meeting with their MPs to build support for the vote which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 25, 2006, at 5:00pm.

• Email your MP - ask them to support Bill C-257

Four PSAC – Union of Northern Workers members participating in the lobby, Andy Anderson, Richard J. Charlo, Ian Kelly and Troy Oslanki, have recent first-hand knowledge of the reasons why Canada needs anti-scab legislation. They walked the picket line this past spring during the strike against the multinational corporation BHP Billiton at the Ekati Mine in the Northwest Territories. They experienced the negative effects replacement workers can have on a community during a labour conflict.

“Scabs make a labour conflict last longer because some employers choose to hire them instead of negotiating with the unions,” said Troy Oslanki, vice-president PSAC Local 3050 in Yellowknife. “Also scabs create deep and long lasting divisions in the small communities where the workers live.”

Continue reading about the anti-scab legislation lobby at the national website.

We have another occasion to push for the adoption of an anti-scab legislation. Act now!

This fall, you can perform a simple act to stop the use of scabs by employers by asking your federal Member of Parliament to vote for Bill C-257, which would ban the use of replacement workers (scabs). If adopted, this legislation would apply to all employers governed by the Canada Labour Code.

The PSAC joins the Canadian Labour Congress and many other unions in supporting this Bill that was tabled the Bloc Québécois, as well as a similar Bill tabled by the New Democratic Party.

If you want to stop the use of scabs and restore a true balance between workers and employers, tell your MP that you want him/her to vote in favour of this amendment to the Labour Code. Remind your MP that she/he was elected to represent you.

Read more at the national website.

Public health care is Canadians’ proudest achievement. We embrace it as a social right in Canada, one that speaks to our best values of fairness, pragmatism, inclusion and hope.There is no other social program or national initiative that we identify with so passionately, but it is being weakened by private forces and complicit governments.

We are standing up to defend, expand and improve public health care and we invite all Canadians to join us.

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OTTAWA – After the first debate on Bill C-257 – An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (replacement workers) – Canadian working families feel more confident that Parliament will finally adopt legislation to ban the use of scabs during labour disputes under the Canada Labour Code.

“It’s a matter of fairness and balance,” explains Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “The prohibition to use scabs protects the interests of working Canadians and their families against the might of large, often global, employers with no roots in the community.”

Such legislation exists in Quebec since 1977 and in British Columbia since 1993; causing, in both cases, a general decline in the loss of work time due to strikes or lockouts, and marking a diminution of their length and intensity.

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