Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Your Bargaining Team met with the BC Corps of Commissionaires on April 24 and 25, 2008.

This was the first meeting of the parties following the exchange of bargaining proposals on February 27, 2008. These negotiations, for a first collective agreement, include two (2) bargaining units: approximately 40 Commissionaires performing work on behalf of the Canadian Border Services Agency at Library Square and the Vancouver International Airport and 8 Commissionaires performing work on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Seal Cove Coast Guard Base in Prince Rupert.

The following issues were discussed:

• Purpose and Scope of the Collective Agreement
• Management Rights
• Definitions and Interpretations
• Union Recognition
• Union Representatives
• Use of Client Facilities
• Union Dues and Membership
• Information
• Leave With or Without Pay for Union Business

Although some progress was made during those two (2) days of negotiations, no articles were signed off. The next meeting has been tentatively set for May 29 and 30, 2008.

Negotiations for a first collective agreement between the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the BC Corps of Commissionaires (Corps) are scheduled to be held in Vancouver on April 24 and 25, 2008. The parties had met for the first time on February 27, 2008, to exchange bargaining proposals and to discuss housekeeping matters.

These negotiations will include two (2) bargaining units: approximately 40 Commissionaires performing work on behalf of the Canadian Border Services Agency at Library Square and the Vancouver International Airport and 8 Commissionaires performing work on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Seal Cove Coast Guard Base in Prince Rupert.

OTTAWA, Sept. 12 - The Corps of Commissionaires is making excessive profits at the expense of both the Commissionaires they employ and Canadian taxpayers, according to Ed Cashman, Regional Executive Vice-President for the National Capital Region of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the union representing the Commissionaires in Ottawa.

Cashman made the statement this morning. For Cashman, it is unacceptable for the Corps to be pocketing money that should go to its workers.

“The Corps receives 80 cents an hour per Commissionaire from Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) to pay its workers a bilingual premium while the Commissionaires receive only 35 cents an hour, a difference of 45 cents,” says Cashman. “In Ottawa alone, there are about 3,000 Commissionaires. This represents a huge amount of money.”

In a letter to Auditor General, Sheila Fraser, Cashman has requested an investigation into that practice by the Corps.

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Commissionaires at Library Square working for Immigration Canada sign up with union, seek safety improvements at workplace

VANCOUVER - Commissionaires working at Vancouver’s Library Square on contract with Immigration Canada have signed up to join a union and are seeking safety improvements at their workplace.

The Commissionaires, who provide assistance and security to the public, have signed cards to become members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada,a union that represents Commissionaires across the country.

Kay Sinclair, PSAC’s BC Regional Executive Vice President, said the union has filed an application to the BC Labour Relations Board for certification.

“One of the main reasons these workers are seeking union protection is safety,” Sinclair said. “They are required to work in potentially violent situations and yet are provided no safety equipment or adequate training.”

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Negotiations between the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Corps of Commissionaires (Corps) for a third collective agreement get underway Monday February 12^th in Victoria. The parties have agreed to meet February 12-15, 2007 and if required they have also set aside March 20-22, 2007.

Dave Jackson, PSAC Regional Representative, will be the spokesperson for the union with Dave Eden handling that role for the employer. There are approximately 275 Commissionaires in the PSAC bargaining unit who perform services on behalf of the Corps. They are employed at various worksites in Victoria and on Vancouver Island as well as in the Yukon.

The services of a third party were required in order to achieve a negotiated settlement during the last round of bargaining.

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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