Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Ottawa – The federal government has sold nine government buildings for more than $600 million less than their actual value to Larco Investments Ltd., according to an analysis conducted by the economic research firm Informetrica Ltd.

Prior to the government announcing the sale, PSAC members leafleted Sinclair Centre while REVP Kay Sinclair held a joint press conference with President of the BC Federation of Labour, Jim Sinclair and Janet Sinclair, daughter of the buildings namesake - read more at globeandmail.com and canada.com.

Informetrica values the prime federal properties at almost $2.3 billion, yet Public Works and Government Services Canada announced today the sale of the buildings for only $1.64 billion.

“This is a give-away of colossal proportion. In addition to ceding ownership of nine premium properties, the federal government has, in effect, written a $630 million cheque signed by Canadian taxpayers,” said Patty Ducharme, National Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada which commissioned the Informetrica report.

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PS unions scoff at idea to end right to strike; Federal workers dismiss call for dispute-solving alternative

No way.

That sums up the response of the largest public service union to a federal study that calls for a new collective bargaining system for government workers that removes their right to strike.

“It’s a non-starter,” Patty Ducharme, national executive vice-president of the 150,000-member Public Service Alliance of Canada, said yesterday. “Quite honestly, I think it’s a non-starter for the government as well.”

The reaction was similar, though less emphatic, from the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). “The stars would have to be perfectly aligned for us to consider something like that,” said Johanne Bray, PIPSC’s manager of policy and national representational activities.

The wide-ranging study, known as the Lahey report after its lead author, senior bureaucrat James Lahey, questions whether the current conciliation/strike model is appropriate for public servants.

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OTTAWA, May 10 /CNW Telbec/ - An Appeals Officer has ordered Parks Canada to protect its park wardens who are responsible for law enforcement in Canada’s national parks.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the union representing the park wardens, has been fighting this issue since June 2000, when Douglas Martin, one of the wardens, filed a complaint that he was being placed in situations of potential danger on the job without the necessary protective equipment.

“The ruling from Appeals Officer Douglas Malanka has confirmed the original direction from the health and safety officer who investigated the complaint,” says PSAC National Executive Vice-President Patty Ducharme. “Malanka has ordered Parks Canada, after seven years of delay, to finally correct the situation and to protect the wardens from danger.”

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OTTAWA - The Public Service Alliance of Canada is calling on the Harper government to stop the sell-off of publicly-owned buildings.  The federal government has just announced that it is going ahead with its plan to sell nine buildings, currently owned by the people of Canada, to the private sector.

“This process lacks any accountability and is a very bad deal for the Canadian public”, says PSAC National Executive Vice-President Patty Ducharme. “Canadians would not sell their houses and then rent them back again. Canadians own these buildings. Where is the sense in selling these valuable assets and then having to pay rent for them?”
PSAC members who work in government buildings know from experience that they can expect better conditions if the buildings they work in are owned and managed by the government instead of by investors whose primary concern is reaping a profit.

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Sisters and Brothers:

In 1984, the Canadian Labour Congress, and its affiliated Unions, including the PSAC, established April 28th as the National Day of Mourning to honour workers killed or injured on the job.

At that time, according to the official figures listed by the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC), 744 workers were listed as having died from workplace injuries. In 2005, the last year that the AWCBC has released statistics for, 1,097 workers were killed on the job due to workplace injuries.

However, we know that these statistics are grossly underestimated and that the real number of deaths resulting from occupational illness and disease, and other workerplace factors are never included in these official statistics, as it is extremely difficult to prove that deaths that are caused by occupational disease, such as cancer, are caused by exposure to hazards in the workplace.

Since 1984, it is estimated that more than 19,000 workers have been killed on the job and more than 20,000,000 workers have been injured while at work.

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OTTAWA - The Harper government has once again shown that it has little interest in women’s equality in the workforce, says the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

“In a response to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, the Conservatives have said there will be no new, proactive pay equity legislation, ignoring the recommendations of a Federal Pay Equity Task Force,” says PSAC National Executive Vice-President Patty Ducharme.

• Information about the Pay Equity Network at the CLC website.

The Task Force spent three years consulting with employers and employer organizations, unions, women’s groups and individuals, as well as commissioning research on the issue of pay equity. In May 2004, the Task Force issued its report calling for a complete overhaul of the current complaint-based federal pay equity law. Instead of a new law, the government is proposing increased education, specialized mediation assistance and compliance monitoring.

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Public Service Alliance executive Patty Ducharme believes that unions are still relevant to workers, and plans to march at the annual Labour Day parade in Toronto

Doug Ward, Vancouver Sun, Saturday, September 02, 2006

Patty Ducharme is talking about her smile. The one that pushed her into the labour movement. The one that makes her convinced that unions are still relevant today.

Ducharme recognizes that Labour Day for most Canadians is just another holiday — not the celebration of workers and unionism that marked the day’s beginnings in the late 19th century.

But that doesn’t mean unions are outmoded, says the Vancouver woman who was recently elected national executive vice-president for the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Which brings us back to Ducharme’s story about her smile.

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To: Alliance Executive Committee, PSAC Components with T.B./Agency members, PSAC Regional Offices

From: Patty Ducharme and Gerry Halabecki, Collective Bargaining Committee Co-Chairs

Re: 2007 Round of TB/Agency Collective Bargaining

We write to inform you of the upcoming steps being taken in preparation for the next round of TB/Agency bargaining. A number of actions have been taken that affect all five Treasury Board bargaining units and the three major Agency units.

• The Collective Bargaining Committee of the National Board of Directors and the Alliance Executive Committee have been preparing a revised approach to the Program of Demands, input calls for bargaining demands, and a framework for the coming round of bargaining conferences.
• PSAC has developed a new collective bargaining course for members that will be delivered in the regions in the coming months. This course is intended to inform members on negotiations and how to organize to support the bargaining process. Information on course availability and other details will be available from the Regional Offices.
• Later this summer, Environics Research Group will be conducting a membership telephone survey among almost 5,000 PSAC members in the TB and Agency units. The information from this survey will be used to prepare for the upcoming round of bargaining.
• Our timelines are being scheduled so that we are in a position to be at the table prior to the expiry of the collective agreements.

We are beginning to receive inquires about the upcoming round of bargaining, and in particular, questions about the TB and Agency bargaining conferences. In order to address many of these questions, we felt it important to provide you with information about the decisions that have been made to date regarding Treasury Board and Agency negotiations.

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Cheers to Jennie for sending us this report on the World/Labour Peace Forums, held recently in Vancouver. For more information about these events visit worldpeaceforum.ca and vdlc.ca.

Blogging on the World’s First Peace Forum in Vancouver BC, June 23-28, 2006by Jennie Chu, BC EO rep for PSAC-Agriculture Union

I was one of 4500 delegates registered for the World Peace Forum (WPF) and truly was grateful to Vancouver District Labour Council (VDLC) for organizing the 2-day Labour Peace Forum (LPF).

Patty Ducharme (NEVP, PSAC), Jennie Chu (AGR EO Rep, BC) and Yves Ducharme (National President, AGR).

The LPF was made possible through the generous financial support from CUPE National, PSAC, BCGEU, CUPW, BCNU, CEP, HAS, CUPE BC, HEU, CAW, COPE 378, BCFED, ILWU 500, CUPE METRO, IUOE 963, CUPE 402, MWBIU 1, UFCW, BCNU Shaughnessy Heights, CAW 2200, IBEW 258, Saskatoon Labour Council, and Campbell River Labour Council.

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TORONTO - John Gordon has been elected as the National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). Gordon has been the union’s National Executive Vice-President since 2000. Competing against three other candidates, Gordon was elected on the third ballot. Over 400 Convention delegates participated in this process.

“PSAC will be moving quickly to implement the plan to defend quality public services adopted at our convention this week,” said Gordon. “We don’t intend to have the Conservative government’s proposed budget ’savings’ come at the expense of needed public services and our members’ jobs.”

Prior to his election as National Executive Vice-President, Gordon was the National President of the Union of Public Works Employees from 1982 to 1999. A PSAC activist since 1974, when he joined the federal public sector as a tradesperson with Public Works Canada, Gordon has held a variety of union positions in his Component.

Delegates also elected Patty Ducharme as the union’s National Executive Vice-President. For the past six years, Ducharme has been PSAC’s Regional Executive Vice-President (REVP) for British Columbia. Prior to her election as REVP in 2000, Ducharme had worked as a customs inspector in British Columbia and served as First Vice-President of Branch 20040 of the Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise (CEUDA). She has been a PSAC activist for over 20 years holding a number of union positions.

In a two-way contest, Union of Postal Communications Employees President Richard Des Lauriers was elected alternate National Executive Vice-President. All elected officers take up their duties effective immediately.

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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TO: Voting Delegates from the BC Region to the 2005 BC Region Convention – Still in Good Standing.

FROM: Nycole Turmel

RE: Alternate REVP BC

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

The ballots in the elections to the above-noted position have been counted and Kay Sinclair received a majority.

Therefore, I declare Sister Kay Sinclair the new Alternate Regional Executive Vice-President for the BC Region.

Congratulations Kay!

In Solidarity, Nycole Turmel, National President

Dear Brothers & Sisters:

The federal election on Janauary 23rd is a critically important event for most PSAC members. While all voters in Canada will be electing a government, most PSAC members have the opportunity to elect their employer. As a result it is important that PSAC members participate in the election campaign, and do what they can to ensure that candidates for election understand issues that are important to PSAC members and are willing to champion those issues in Parliament. In this mail out you will find a Brochure from the Canadian Labour Congress on their Better Choices Campaign and a summary of the issue leaflets that the PSAC has prepared and posted on the under the Think, Ask and Vote icon.

PSAC members have had the right to engage politically at the federal level since the union challenged the restrictions under the previous Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) back in 1991. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the only federal public sector workers who faced restrictions on political expression were deputy heads of departments. The Public Service Modernization Act changed the PSEA which has created new restrictions on all public service workers.

It has been brought to my attention that some departments and agencies are advising our members that they are not allowed to participate in the political process. This statement is overly broad and misleading.

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Minutes of the Regional Council Meeting,September 17 & 18, 2005

Download the BC Regional Council meeting minutes, September 17 18 2005 (pdf) or read below.