Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

“Employees will not be worse off than the core of the Federal Public Service” - Tom Lee, CEO Parks Canada Agency

One of the priority bargaining proposals for the current round of bargaining with the Agency is protection against job loss. Parks Canada has announced that they intend to reduce the bargaining unit in a number of different ways.

The Agency issued a document called “Integrated Delivery Through Shared Leadership – Mountain Parks Business Plan – 2007/08-20011/12”. In this document under the “Recruiting” section Parks Canada states “An aggressive and coordinated mountain park student recruitment program will be put in place, targeting 50% of pure summer seasonal positions to be staffed by students within five years.”

Seasonal employment is but one aspect of the Agencies plan to attack the current size of our bargaining unit by taking away your seasonal work.

Contact a member of your Local’s Executive to find out what you can do to assist and support your bargaining team. United We Stand!

• Sign up for regional TB bargaining updates by email
• Contact your Area/Hub Strike Coordinator here.

Your PA negotiating team finished its work on our pay proposal and spent two days, April 23 and 24, with the Treasury Board team.

Our proposal has three significant elements:

1. Adjusting our salaries to keep them in line with other federal public sector employers

We’re proposing what are known as “market adjustments” so that salary rates in the PA unit are in line with comparable jobs in the federal public sector – particularly the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Effective June 21, 2007, before applying an economic increase, we’re proposing that job rates (the maximum rate) for each classification, except WPs, be increased to the job rates for comparable positions at CRA when they were converted to their new classifications on November 1, 2007. To ensure that none of our members are left behind, we’ve also asked for increases to job rates for the small number of classifications and levels that can’t be compared to CRA. These market adjustments, if implemented, would result in increases to all pay rates.

In the case of WP positions, and two groups of PM-4 positions with enforcement responsibilities, we’re proposing adjustments based on the results of an Enforcement Study conducted for the Union by compensation consultants Morneau Sobeco. For WPs, we’re proposing to increase all job rates, which would result in an increase to all WP pay rates. For PM-4 wildlife officers and fishery officers with enforcement duties, we’re proposing an annual allowance, on top of the market adjustment for PM-4s, outlined above.

2. Changes to our system of increments

Right now there are differences in the number of increments for each of the groups in the PA bargaining unit. In order to even this out, we’re proposing that there be a job rate (the maximum rate) and two increments for most levels in each classification. The period between increments would in most cases be 52 weeks and the difference between most levels in each classification would be 4%.
Deep discounts shouldn’t apply to your job

We’re proposing this change to stop the employer’s practice of discounting your job. We understand that some members see the increments as a way for the employer to recognize their years of service. But think again. The actual value of each classification is the maximum rate. Increments are calculated downwards from that rate. In other words, every year that you are not at your maximum rate, the employer is devaluing your work, not recognizing it. We want to reduce the number of years the employer can take advantage and pay you less than your job is worth. Fewer increments mean more years at the maximum rate of pay.

3. A fair economic increase

After applying market adjustments and fixing up the increment system, we’re proposing economic increases of

• 4.5% - effective June 21, 2007
• 4.5% - effective June 21, 2008
• 4.5% - effective June 21, 2009

The full details of our pay proposal will be posted on the PSAC web site soon.

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The factors that go into developing a pay demand

Our Union considers a number of factors when putting together a pay demand.

1. We examine what other workers are being paid who are doing comparable work and we make direct comparisons with PSAC members working for other federal employers.

We use union research, sometimes supplemented by compensation studies, to see what workers are being paid for comparable jobs both in the public and private sectors. With this data, we can propose what are known as “market adjustment” increases. These increases are designed to keep the federal government competitive as an employer. In an economy with low rates of unemployment and an aging workforce, that’s important. Our negotiating teams for each Treasury Board unit are determining what “market adjustment” increases are needed for their members. Look for more information on proposed adjustments in upcoming bulletins from the negotiating teams.

1. We calculate what we need to give our members some real economic improvement that reflects the continued strength of the Canadian economy and protects against inflation.
2. We consider what kinds of increases other workers are negotiating.

Our demand for 2007-2008-2009

For this round of negotiations, we’re proposing:

• an economic increase of 4.5%,
• in each year of a three-year collective agreement,
• retroactive to the first day of the new three-year agreement (the date in 2007 will vary by bargaining unit),
• that applies to all members covered by the agreement.

This proposal has already been tabled with Treasury Board for the PA and FB units and will be soon for the SV unit.

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You are invited to a rally to help save the public school lands of British Columbia on Monday, April 7, at 11:30 a.m. These lands were given in public trust for all generations of children and they are not ours to sell. Universal public education is a cornerstone of our democracy and our economic security. Once these school lands are disposed of we will never get them back. Join us - if you can’t make it to Victoria on the 7th, please contact us for more information on how you can support this cause in your part of the province.
LANDS! (Let’s Agree Not to Dispose of Schools!) bc.lands@gmail.com
LANDS! Statement.   Backgrounder

Team Presents Thousands of Petition Signatures to CBSA at Bargaining Table, FB Workers at CBSA Send Clear Message to Management

This past week (Feb 25 - 29), our bargaining team met with CBSA/Treasury Board in an effort to bring the parties closer to a new contract. During the session, our team presented management with petitions containing well over 5,000 signatures from CBSA employees in support of our core demands in this round of bargaining for our first FB contract: Job Security in the context of the arming initiative, wages that meet the standards set by enforcement workers in other jurisdictions, respect for both our years of service and our work as union members, protection of Alternative Working Arrangements and safe working conditions for members with enforcement responsibilities. Our team explained to management that our members are determined to achieve a fair contract that addresses these concerns. The employer’s team committed to deliver the petitions to senior CBSA administration this week.

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The Finance Department has advised that they will be sending out T-4’s for members who claimed loss of salary for 2007, this week. If you are expecting a T-4 and do not receive it in the near future, please contact your Regional Office.

The Vancouver & Victoria offices have also received a quantity of 2008/09 personal leave charts, please give us a call if you would like some for your Local.

Vancouver, BC, February 16, 2008, the Vancouver and District Labour Council Young Workers’ Committee (VDLC Young Workers’ Committee) is organizing a rally in front of Premier Gordon Campbell’s office (3615 W. 4th Ave) in support of the campaign to increase the minimum wage to $10 per hour and eliminate the $6 per hour “training wage”.

Endorsed by many organizations, including the Vancouver and District Labour Council, the BC Federation of Labour, and the Canadian Federation of Students, the rally sends a unified message to Premier Gordon Campbell. The $8 per hour minimum wage is below the poverty line and not sufficient for minimum wage workers to live on.

“$10 per hour is a reasonable demand and one that can easily be met in our booming economy,” said Stephen Von Sychowski, the chair of the VDLC Young Workers’ Committee. “Young workers are being taken advantage of and paid insufficient wages to live a life that they deserve because of this government’s inaction.”

The minimum wage in BC has not been increased since 2001. According to 2005 Statistics Canada numbers, in order for a minimum wage to earn above the poverty line, they would have to earn at least $10 an hour in 2005 dollars. Inflation has made the situation even worse today.

“We need to change the minimum wage in BC so the term young worker is not synonymous with poor worker,” says Emily Ottewell, who will be speaking at the rally on behalf of the VDLC Young Workers’ Committee. “Gordon Campbell has told the people of BC who counts – his own MLAs just got huge raises. Thousands of people who earn minimum wage are still waiting for theirs.”

The guest speakers for this event include Jim Sinclair, President of the BC Federation of Labour; Emily Ottewell from the VDLC Young Workers’ Committee; and Shamus Reid will be speaking on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Students. There will also be two minimum wage workers who will be telling their tale of living and surviving as minimum wage workers.

More than 50,000 British Columbians have signed the “$10 NOW” petition. Many provinces in Canada have already increased their minimum wages. It is time for British Columbia’s government to legislate a living wage for BC’s young workers.

For more information:
VDLC Young Workers’ Committee Chair, Stephen Von Sychowski, 778-231-4635
Strategic Communication Advisor, Siavash Rokni, 604-782-1950

This is the official call for nominations for the position of Regional Executive Vice-President and Alternate Regional Executive Vice-President for the BC Region. Elections for these positions will be held at the BC Regional Convention in Vancouver, April 18-20, 2008.

As a result of a decision by delegates at the 2003 PSAC Convention, Regional Executive Vice-Presidents and their Alternates are elected in the regions, at their respective Regional Conventions. Any PSAC member in good standing in BC is entitled to run for these two positions. The nominator and the seconder must be delegates to the BC Convention.

As Regional Coordinator, I have been assigned the responsibility for sending out the call for nominations, receiving the nominations in advance of the Regional Convention, and working with the Nominations Committee at the Convention itself.

Here’s how the procedure will work, and what to do if you want to run for office.

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SIKLAB-CANADA READIES FOR THE INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS’ ALLIANCE; ENCOURAGES MIGRANTS IN CANADA TO JOIN

Filipino migrants in Canada are set to bring their fight for their rights to a new level.

SIKLAB-Canada, a national formation representing migrant Filipino workers, is readying for the historic launching of the International Migrants’ Alliance (IMA) in June 2008 in Hong Kong.

“There is an urgent need to form the IMA,” explains Roderrick Carreon, Chairperson of SIKLAB-Canada, “The issue of migration has become a global phenomenon and the focal point for much intense debate and discussion among academics and politicians on how to administer and manage international migration. It is now also time for those of us organizing around migrant rights to join together internationally to focus on the real lived experience and exploitation of migrant workers, the structures behind global migration, and the impacts of imperialist globalization,” continues Carreon.

There are over half a million Filipinos across Canada, the majority of whom are women who have entered the country as live-in domestic workers under the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). SIKLAB is actively campaigning for the scrapping of the LCP calling the immigration program “anti-woman and racist”.

Under the LCP, migrant workers are required to live-in their employers’ home for 24 months, hold only temporary immigration status, and are tied to their employers because of the required employer-specific contracts under the program — conditions, which SIKLAB argues breed exploitation, abuse and oppression of Filipino migrant workers in Canada.

“We know that our community’s migration to Canada as cheap and expendable labour is shared by many other migrant and immigrant communities,” says Glecy Duran, Vice-Chairperson of SIKLAB-Canada, “Because we are here and legislated to perform low-wage and dangerous jobs that no other Canadians will perform, migrants of all nationalities, especially those of colour, share a common experience of exploitation. We need to unite,” adds Duran.

The objectives of the IMA are:

• To promote the rights, livelihood and welfare of migrants, refugees and displaced persons all over the world;
• To defend the interests of migrants, refugees and displaced persons from attacks of imperialist globalization and its lackeys;
• To forge coordinated and joint actions and plans in advancing the rights and well-being of im/migrants and refugees.
• To intensify campaigns for just wage, job security, against commodification and against criminalization of undocumented migrants and immigrants.
• Extend support and cooperation among the members.
• To further promote international solidarity and cooperation with progressive and genuine anti-imperialist organizations and alliances.

The IMA was initiated by the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) Study Commission on Migrants and Immigrants, and aims to be a broad international formation of progressive and anti-imperialist migrant organizations of various nationalities.

As a convenor of the launching the IMA, SIKLAB-Canada is also inviting other like-minded organizations of migrants and immigrants in Canada to join the significant founding of the IMA.

For more information: SIKLAB-B.C.: Glecy Duran, siklab@kalayaancentre.net; 604-215-1103
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SIKLAB-British Columbia
Advance the Rights and Welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers and Their Families
Member of SIKLAB-Canada
c/o Kalayaan Centre, 451 Powell Street, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6A 1G7
Phone: 604.215.1103 | Fax: 604.215.1905 | http://www.kalayaancentre.net

There is one part-time (50%) position available in BC for a Regional Political Communications Officer. This person will provide political and communications advice, assistance and support to the Regional Executive Vice-President (REVP) in her role as the political voice for the PSAC in this region and in her role as a member of the National Board of Directors (NBoD) and the Alliance Executive Committee (AEC).   See Job Poster for complete details.

BC’s labour movement backs up support for locked-out Sears workers with $20,000 contribution to strike fund

BC’s unions are contributing $20,000 to locked-out Sears Canada workers today, says B.C. Federation of Labour Jim Sinclair, to underline labour’s determination to help them win a fair collective agreement.

“This contribution is intended to underline our call to consumers to refrain from shopping at Sears until this company negotiates a fair collective agreement with these members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 213,” Sinclair said. “Seventy-seven (77) workers who repair appliances for Sears have been locked out since October 1st, ordered to take pay cuts and face concessions on overtime and time off.”

Sinclair and other representatives of the Federation made the contribution during a lunchtime leafleting blitz outside the Vancouver store at Robson and Howe.

Sinclair said Sears, which had profits of $150 million last year, is taking a hard line with its workers that amounts to union-busting.  “This is unacceptable in this province and our boycott indicates labour’s rejection of this approach.”

Sinclair said the $20,000, collected from Federation affiliates in the last week, will help the union support its members during the Christmas season. During the past few days, IBEW has distributed flyers about the boycott to hundreds of thousands of homes in the province.

The labour movement in BC says shoppers have a choice to make during this busy holiday season.

“They’ve told them if they want to come back to work, they have to take less money in real terms than what they had before.” He says the company also took away their right to two days off in a row, and eliminated overtime when it imposed a contract.  “It’s completely unfair, and it’s just a question of deciding if you support these workers and their families, or Sears, which made $150 million last year in Canada.”

Sinclair claims Sears has a notoriously anti-union attitude, and believes the lock-out is an effort to break this union local.
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For more information, please call Geoff Meggs 604 220-3095.

Date:
Tuesday, January 22, 2008.
Time:
Dinner at 5:30, Meeting to Start at 6 pm
Location:
Vancouver RO Boardroom, #200 – 5238 Joyce Street, Vancouver, (1 ½ blocks south of the Joyce Street Skytrain Station)
Agenda:
- election of VAC delegate to the BC Regional Convention
- discussion on resolutions to be submitted to BC Regional Convention

If your local/branch has not yet paid its 2008 dues, please ensure it does so at this meeting, in order to have full voice and vote during the election and discussions on resolutions. Dues are .50 per member, per year, and calculated only for the number of members who are in the area of Vancouver & District catchment area.

For more information: www.psacbc.com or call 604-430-5631. Please RSVP to urrutim@psac-afpc.com as a light dinner will be served!

See Meeting Notice.

Union shoppers, we need your help!

Sears has locked-out their IBEW service technicians. On October 1st, 2007 Sears locked-out skilled technicians in BC’s lower mainland that refused to work under an imposed contract that included:

· 4 years without negotiated pay increases
· Split work weeks
· Loss of boxing day as a holiday
· Working 2.5 hours more per week with no overtime

Sears makes its profits from working people.

*Please do not buy Sears Merchandise during this dispute.*
*Tell Sears to treat their long time employees fairly!*

Call:
1-800-972-7579 (Presidents line) -or-1-800 469-4663

Cheers to Steve Houston, BC Human Rights Committee for forwarding this along …

Important news: the following recently came to the attention of BCPWA. Please distribute widely.

The Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance (Welfare) and the Ministry of Children and Families are using Facebook, MySpace and other public domains to find evidence of:

• Undisclosed co-habitation (living with someone)
• Spending beyond what is provided by the ministry
• Casual employment
• Leaving the province for more than 30 days
• Gifts, pets and other income

Information posted on sites like Facebook is not private!

In celebration of ExplorASIAN 2007, the CBC Radio Studio One Book Club is pleased to present Jen Sookfong Lee on Wednesday, May 2, 6:30 to 8 pm, at the CBC Broadcast Centre.

Her debut novel The End of East has been garnering great reviews from across the country. It’s an evocative portrait of three generations living in Vancouver’s Chinatown, spanning most of the last century.

Here’s your opportunity to discuss the art of writing, and the struggles of young writers, with one of Canada’s newest literary stars!

The only way to get in, is to win! For all the details and to enter online, go to www.cbc.ca.

BOOKKEEPER / ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

The Vancouver office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives — Canada’s leading progressive research institute — seeks a part-time Bookkeeper/Administrative Assistant.

Closing date for applications: FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 4:00 pm.
Starting date: Mid-June, 2007
Duration: This is a half-time position for a one year term, with a strong likelihood that the position will become permanent. Salary: Starting salary is $34,902 FTE (the CCPA is a unionized workplace with a five-step grid and a generous benefits package)

POSITION SUMMARY
The position’s principal responsibilities are clerical, including: coding all income, invoices and receipts; preparing monthly financial packages; reviewing and reconciling monthly financial statements; tracking variances with budget; payroll instructions and reconciliation; administration of project budgets; issuing invoices; coding VISA receipts and statements; and administering staff benefits. (Note: the CCPA’s financial statements are prepared by a bookkeeper at our Ottawa office; this posted position will liaise with the national bookkeeper.) Generally, this person will be
responsible for the smooth financial management of the BC office.

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Public services better at ensuring accessibility

The Harper government has been delivering on its philosophy of smaller government and dominance of the “free” market in the past year. The Conservatives have made deeper cuts to government services and reduced federal revenues by introducing more tax cuts. Their policies have fast-tracked the conditions for rampant privatization and further cuts to social services and programs which in turn, will further marginalize equity groups, including people with disabilities.

The Tories announced program cuts in September that will reduce or eliminate funding to programs that benefited equity groups. There have been severe cuts to Status of Women, the Court Challenges Program and social development programs under the Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC). These cuts will roll back the gains made by persons with disabilities and will further affect their accessibility and full participation to our society’s economic, political and social life.

The PSAC’s recently adopted “Defending Quality Public Services” policy will focus our union’s efforts to fight against privatization and globalization with a goal, not only to support a strong economy, but also to ensure fairness and equality.

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The Public Service Labour Relations Board ruled on July 7, 2006 that a firefighter fitness test adopted and implemented by the Department of National Defence is discriminatory on the basis of age and sex.

The Board’s adjucator also directed the employer “to immediately cease using the eight minute standard as a condition of employment for DND firefighters”.

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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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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY - Shareholder Association for Research and Education - Director Of Law and Policy

Closing Date: June 30, 2006, Full time permanent position

SHARE
The Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE) is a national non-profit organization working with institutional investors to promote responsible investment practices. Share engages in research, educational activities, and advocacy and is governed by a board of senior Canadian labour leaders. For more information visit: www.share.ca.

POSITION
SHARE seeks a Director of Law and Policy to lead its programme on law reform, research and policy advocacy related to responsible investment and governance. The Director of Law and Policy reports to the Executive Director. The position is located in Vancouver, BC. Some travel is required.

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