Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

James Painter was elected at the PSAC-B.C. Triennial Regional Convention in April 2008 as the Regional Council Youth Representative. He has been working at CRA for 12 months as a term employee at the Central City call centre. He snowboards and climbs a lot and through that has been involved in outdoors organizations that campaigned for environmental causes and outdoor recreation access issues. Young workers can contact him at james.painter@cra-arc.gc.ca.

Nicole Jacobson is the newly elected Alternate Youth Coordinator and Alternate Womens' Coordinator on the PSAC-BC Regional Council. Nicole hails from Nelson, London UK, and most recently a housing co-op near Main and Broadway. She is a part-time Citizen Service Agent on contract with the EI Call Centre in downtown Vancouver. She is also a part-time student at UBC studying psychology & social work. At the grand old age of 28 she is a bicycle commuting-granny-youth. In past and most recent years she has volunteered with: The Vancouver Folk Fest, Vancouver International Film Fest, Vancouver Crisis Centre and spent several years coaching soccer and figure skating. Her meagre yet life-long friends would likely describe her as a whimsical, though intellectual, man-loving feminist. Most days she shares that she is really all three. Please feel welcome to e-mail her with your youth related queries or input at jacobson7070@hotmail.com.

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.

(more…)

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.

(more…)

Friday, May 25th 2007 – East Vancouver’s Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School will set the scene for Roots, Rhymes and Resistance X: Our Beautiful Struggle (RRR X). This tenth installment of this annual cultural event is poised to deliver Vancouver’s finest in Pinoy hip-hop and progressive politics.

• Roots, Rhymes and Resistance X: Our Beautiful Struggle
• Friday, May 25th, 2007
• Doors Open: 6pm at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School, 419 East 24th Avenue

Organized by Vancouver’s Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance/Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilpino sa Canada (FCYA/UKPC), RRR promises to be another jam-packed affair as part of this year’s rendition of Asian Heritage Month. Always a stand out, RRR once again remains the only event in this years line up organized by Filipino youth for the community and it’s supporters. Likewise it maintains the unique mesh of integrating current political issues affecting the Philippines and the Lower Mainland’s Filipino Community.

|inline

Come out and help with this $10 minimum wage campaign event and see a Giants hockey game.

• Where and when: Pacific Coliseum, Friday, April 27th at 6 p.m.

The B.C. Fed Young Workers Committee are going to distribute the $10 NOW Campaign material and gather signatures on a peition at the Pacific Coliseum. Unions are being asked to help out with this important campaign.  People will be meeting at the main entrance to the Pacific Coliseum starting at 6 p.m. before the Giants game at 7:30.

Anyone who helps with the petition blitz will be given a ticket to the Giants playoff game against the Prince George Cougars (popcorn not included.)

The B.C. Federation of Labour is stepping up efforts to gain a much-needed pay raise for BC’s lowest paid workers by winning an increase in the provincial minimum wage.

Please join us on:

• DATE: SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2007
• TIME: 1:00 to 3:00 pm
• PLACE: BROADWAY AND COMMERCIAL SKYTRAIN STATION

Together with members of our Young Workers Committee and special guests like NDP MP Libby Davies, we’ll be distributing campaign materials and getting signatures on our $10 NOW petition.

Visit bcfed.com for more information about the $10 Now campaign.

The latest profile of federal workers shows women have made important progress in the public service.

The proportion of women within the segment of the public service known as the “core public administration,” or CPA increased steadily over the period studied — 1995 and 2006 — and since 1999, women have outnumbered men, Statistics Canada data released yesterday showed.

The study compared data from 1995 and 2006 to track employment trends in the federal public service and how workers compare to the rest of the country’s workforce.

|inline

Visible-minority immigrants are slower to integrate into Canadian society than their white, European counterparts, and feel less Canadian, suggesting multiculturalism doesn’t work as well for non-whites, according to a landmark report.

The study, based on an analysis of 2002 Statistics Canada data, found that the children of visible-minority immigrants exhibited a more profound sense of exclusion than their parents.

Visible-minority newcomers, and their offspring, identify themselves less as Canadians, trust their fellow citizens less and are less likely to vote than white immigrants from Europe.

The findings suggest that multiculturalism, Canada’s official policy on interethnic relations since 1971, is not working as well for newer immigrants or for their children, who hail largely from China, South Asia and the Caribbean, conclude co-authors Jeffrey Reitz, a University of Toronto sociologist, and Rupa Banerjee, a doctoral candidate.

Continue reading at the Globe and Mail.

Pinoy Poetiks: a night of poetry and cultural performances by Filipino youth and the community to fundraise for the victims of typhoon “Reming” in the Philippines

• When: Saturday Jan. 6th, 2007 at 7pm
• Where: Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway (near Kingsway - across Kingsgate Mall)
• Suggested minimum donation: $5

Just as we entered the holiday season, another tragedy has befallen the Filipino people –mudflows from the slopes of the Mayon volcano, triggered by heavy rains from typhoon “Reming” (international codename: Durian) buried at least eight villages in Albay province in the Bicol region. As of December 1, the mudflows have killed at least 338 people, more bodies are still being recovered. Local officials have warned that the death toll could hit a thousand.

Please come and support and help us continue to build our direct people-to-people support in the face of increasing hardships and adversity facing the Filipino people.

Organized by Ugnayan ng Kabataang Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance-Vancouver

Last weekend brought together young workers from across British Columbia and two young workers from Alberta and Ontario to participate in the YOUR* course (*Young, Organizing, Unionizing and Resisting) held in Vancouver from September 30 - October 1, 2006.

Their expectations ranged from wanting to learn more about their union, meeting other active youth, hearing other people’s perspectives on the important issues for youth, discussing why youth are/not involved in the union and learning how to get more involved.

Click here for some photos!

The BC Federation of Labour is seeking young workers (18-30 years old) to facilitate workshops in high schools about workplace health and safety. The goal of this Project is to educate workers and students about Occupational Health and Safety hazards and solutions and thereby contribute to preventing injuries, illnesses, diseases and deaths in BC workplaces. We currently seeking to identify young workers who are interested in facilitating these workshops.  The goal is to have a diverse group of facilitators from across the province.

|inline

The YOUR course application deadline is in 7 days …

The YOUR course is a participatory, action-oriented course for PSAC members under the age of 30. It is a unique opportunity for young workers to share their experiences, discuss common struggles and analyze the issues they face at work, in the Union and in society. The course will take place in Vancouver, September 30 & October 1, 2006.

Click for more information, or go straight to the online application.

On July 21, 2006 the PSAC-BC Youth Caucus held a very successful BBQ at Trout Lake Park in Vancouver.

Organized by Jamey Mills, Regional Council Youth Representative, and Amy Painter, 1st alternate to Jamey, the event was hot, fun and relaxing. Many young workers and supporters came to the BBQ, got to meet one another, and took part in a “union benefits” scavenger hunt with prizes donated by the PSAC-BC Regional Organizer.

Check out the photos from the BBQ and contact Jamey if you want to get involved!

Young, Organizing, Unionizing and Resisting!

YOUR course is a participatory, action-oriented course for PSAC members under the age of 30. It is a unique opportunity for young workers to share their experiences, discuss common struggles and analyze the issues they face at work, in the Union and in society.

Participants will discuss their rights as workers and discuss what it means to be in a Union like the PSAC. They will also share and learn about global issues and discuss the role of young workers in the dynamic movement for social justice.

The course will take place in Vancouver, September 30 to October 1. Members under 30 from across the province are encouraged to apply before the deadline of August 18. Apply on line here and/or download the course poster (pdf).
|inline

“Why are so many gays still hiding in the closet? Prominent Persons Need to Come Out for Sake of Young People”

Toronto Pride has chosen the theme “Fearless” this year. Yet the number of gay and lesbian athletes, politicians, business and labour leaders who are still in the closet gives the theme a tinge of irony.

Being out of the closet starts when you stop speaking in the third person about a group of which you are a member.

When I was 16, it confronted me for the first time. A football player made a really denigrating joke about “fags”. Do I defend “us” or “them”?

When my father told me he beat up queers when he was a teenager, do I say “we” or “they” have a right to live without constant fear of being bashed?

When you are rising in Parliament to fight for equal marriage, do you refer to them or us?

|inline

On Thursday, June 22nd at 7:00pm, stars of the international Hip-Hop scene will perform at the Global Hip-Hop Mainstage, a FREE concert celebrating Hip-Hop culture’s massive worldwide appeal and important contribution to positive urban development.

Happening at Earth: The World Urban Festival site tomorrow as part of the youth events for the World Urban Forum, the Global Hip-Hop Mainstage will feature dynamic Hip-Hop and world music artists from Africa, Asia, Europe and Canada’s Indigenous communities.

|inline

Background

The beginnings of the National Youth Anti-Racism Network (NYAN) go back to the UN World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in Durban, South Africa in 2001, where many of the youth there identified the lack of a strong, unified youth voice on anti-racism and discrimination issues in Canada.

At a post-WCAR symposium organized by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF), in Edmonton in 2002, a group of youth, many of whom had been involved in WCAR, convened and developed a vision for a national youth network.

In 2004, the CRRF supported the development of the Network, a Website, and an ad hoc national youth advisory committee. Subsequently, in 2005, NYAN organized a youth conference in Calgary which created a momentum among Canadian youth to mobilize around anti-racism issues. Today, over 170 young anti-racism advocates are members of NYAN and the network continues to grow!

|inline

updated June 7th

Solidarity Works is a three-week hands-on training program sponsored by the BC Fed designed to equip young people with labour education, practical experience and activist skills to demand their working rights.

In the first week of the program, young workers gather in a retreat-like educational setting to discuss topics and learn skills dealing with rights in the workplace, social justice history in Canada, anti-oppressive organizing for unions and in the community, and economics and the impact of corporate globalization.

Following that, to put the education into action, participants spend about two weeks in placements with unions and social justice organizations in the community, working on various projects. During the placements, young workers have: coordinated festivals, organized workshops for youth, helped out on organizing drives in workplaces, planned direct action outside establishments with poor working conditions, supported local and national women’s groups, set up youth committees in their unions, produced radio shows and short films, researched and produced action kits, and lobbied for increased workers’ rights and wages at arbitration and minimum wage board hearings.

|inline

Join the PSAC BC Youth Caucus for a barbeque!

• July 21st, 2006 6 PM - Rain or shine, event is sheltered
• Trout Lake / John Hendry Park - By the concession stand - here’s a map.

• Food, Games & Prizes!
• Children & Spouses welcome!

RSVP Today! To RSVP or for additional information about this event or the Youth Caucus, email Jamey Mills or phone 604-298-6004. Please let us know if you have any specific dietary needs.

To: all PSAC-BC self-identified youth members

At the PSAC Triennial Convention (May 1 - 5, 2006) the delegates passed a policy on student employment that includes a PSAC action plan to ensure that “Student Employment Programs provide students with opportunities and income without being exploited and without undermining the employment security of PSAC members”. This is an important outcome from the convention and I hope you take the time to review it at the national website.

|inline

Hello,

We are pleased to invite youth to attend Camp fYrefly, which is our 3rd annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified, and queer (LGBTQ) youth leadership retreat. Youth from across Canada will join us for four days of learning, fun, and making new friends. Camp fYrefly is an adult-facilitated and peer-led leadership camp for youth ages 14 to 24, and it is held in Edmonton, Alberta. Registration for Camp fYrefly is now open. The registration deadline is June 15, 2006.

The registration fee is $25.00, which reflects a greatly subsidized rate which we hope will allow many youth to attend the camp. Space is limited to 55 youth participants and we expect a full camp this year! Please register early!

|inline