Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Ottawa – In a groundbreaking decision today, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that employers cannot discriminate against their employees should they choose to become parents. Fiona Johnstone, a Canadian Border Services Officer and a member of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, convinced the Tribunal that she was a victim of discrimination based on family status.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) refused to accommodate her request for more regular hours so she could arrange for proper child care. The CBSA told her that the only way that she could care for her kids was to work part time. Fiona Johnstone was unable to obtain child care because she and her husband both worked rotating shift schedules at Pearson International Airport.

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Racialized Communities Ask Provincial Premiers to Help Stop the Attack on Federal Employment Equity Program

As Premiers and Territorial Leaders gather in Manitoba, the Colour of Poverty Campaign (COPC) today releases an Open Letter to Stephen Harper, asking the Prime Minister to call off the attack on the Federal Employment Equity Program by members of his cabinet. The Open Letter has been endorsed by over 100 community groups, labour organizations, businesses and individuals across Canada who believe all Canadians should enjoy equal opportunity to employment without discrimination.

The Open Letter is a response to comments by Ministers Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney who have both suggested that the Federal Employment Equity program bars qualified Canadians from job opportunities in the federal public service and that unqualified candidates may have gotten hired because of their race.

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Ottawa – While giving a speech today at the Public Service Awards of Excellence Ceremony, Stockwell Day, the President of the Treasury Board, proudly announced the creation of the Employee Innovation Program.

“On a day when Treasury Board should celebrate the excellent work of federal public service workers and the quality public services they provide to Canadians, Minister Day has chosen to deflect his responsibilities onto the backs of these workers” said John Gordon, PSAC National President.

Read more at the national website.

As capitalism begins to emerge from the ‘Great Financial Crisis,’ there is good reason for working people to refrain from celebration. Though the roots of the crisis were in the private sector, it’s clear that the bill will be primarily paid via the public sector – which is to say that the costs will be placed on the working class as both providers and recipients of social services. Moreover, although economic and political elites experienced a significant decline in credibility as a result of the crisis, popular movements – a few exceptions aside – remain on the defensive and are generally ill-prepared to respond. Most dangerously, as our weaknesses are exposed, and as pressures from business grow to ‘deal with the deficit,’ the government will likely harden its position and modest restraints will turn into more severe cutbacks.

And so at a time when people will need more public programs and supports, they will get less. In Ontario, the recent $200-million cut to the ‘special diet program,’ to help people on social assistance buy fresh fruits and vegetables and other medically necessary dietary supplements, is one especially disgraceful example of this, after spending billions bailing out auto companies and supporting the financial sector. And at a moment when unions in the private sector are reeling from the job losses resulting from restructuring and globalization, it is their public sector counterparts – now at the center of any hope for reviving the labour movement – that are under the gun.

Continue reading at The Bullet …

With the assistance of PSAC Regional Representative Garry Fraser, members in ridings throughout the Lower Mainland have been meeting with their MPs over the last couple of months to discuss the Public Service Pension Plan, retirement security, and the impact of the budget on jobs and services to the public. Here is a brief report on what some of the MPs had to say.

• Don Davies, Vancouver Kingsway, is very supportive of Public Service Pension Plan and improvements to the CPP and the OAP and committed to bring the issue up with the NDP caucus.
• Bill Siksay, Burnaby-Douglas, is also very supportive, and Will support any action to stop the government from changing the plan. He also supports improvements to CPP and OAP and committed to bring the issue up with his caucus.
• John Cummins, Delta-Richmond East, suprised PSAC members by stating that the employer should not be “changing a pension plan in the middle of the game. The pension plan is a condition of employment and employees invest accordingly for retirement”. John was somewhat supportive of improvements to the CPP and will bring the issue to the Conservative caucus.
• Ed Fast, Abbotsford, laughed at the petition. This is not the kind of support PSAC members would like to see, but were expecting.
• Chuck Strahl, Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, holds similar views as John Cummins and is supportive to the extent that the terms and conditions of the plan should not be changed. He noted that all the major unions had been involved in consultation in regards to the budget and were assured that the pension was not on the table. He stated he will bring our concerns to Stockwell Day, head of the Treasury Board, and is supportive of improvements to the CPP and OAP.
• Mark Warawa, Langley, was reluctant to sit down and have a discussion but did so. He stated that constituents should send him a letter detailing their concerns and he would take it the minister responsible and get back to them. We informed him that Veterans Affairs are scheduled to close the Surrey Office – veterans in the area will now either have to drive into Vancouver or do their business over the phone – and he seemed concerned with this as his father was a veteran.
• Peter Julian, Burnaby-New Westminster, said his party is very supportive of improvements to CPP and OAP and have been working to that end. He noted that there are too many corporate tax breaks in Canada and if the corporations paid their fair share we could much better care for Canadians. PSAC members also spoke to him about the budget and its impact on services and programs. A member from the parole office in New Westminister noted she is seeing the evidence of cuts now, and gave as an example the declining frequency of monitoring parolees for substance abuse. Peter was interested in our Workplace Watch campaign and asked to be kept up to date on it’s progress.

Are you interested in joining a group of PSAC members and meeting with your MP? Contact Patrick Bragg in the Vancouver Regional office. Our lobbying and Workplace Watch campaigns are ongoing – stay tuned for more reports.

Register now for PSAC’s first on-line Webinar!

Topic: What does the Federal Budget mean for public services and public service workers

Dates:

• May 17, 2010, 4pm PST (English only) – registration link here
• May 18, 2010, 4pm PST (French only) – registration link here

You are invited to participate in PSAC’s first webinar – an online information session to find out more about the recent federal budget and what PSAC is planning to do about it.

The session will include a presentation by David Macdonald from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives focusing on the fallout from the budget and its impact on the public service. This will be followed by a presentation on PSAC’s campaign to protect public services.

Participants will be given the opportunity to address questions to the presenter.

To participate in this session all you need a telephone and a computer with Internet access. To register, please click on the links above. Note: the session will be recorded for later viewing but registration is still neccessary.

Federal government undermining workplace safety

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives recently released two studies highlighting the need for improved health and safety enforcement and regulation.

According to Success is No Accident, by CCPA Research Associate David Macdonald, federal underfunding and understaffing of safety inspectors are putting federal jurisdiction employees in harm’s way. The study provides several recommendations for improving federal workplace safety. Click here to read the full report.

Canada’s Regulatory Obstacle Course, CCPA Senior Economist Marc Lee’s analysis of the federal government’s new Cabinet Directive on Streamlining Regulation (CDSR), suggests that the government’s poor record on workplace safety is not an isolated case but may reflect an across-the-board weakening of the federal regulatory process.Click here for the full report.

The Harper government’s 2010 Budget demonstrates a government that is devoid of new ideas and full of ideological cuts to the size of government masquerading as fiscal restraint. It is difficult to believe that they prorogued Parliament and then introduced a new budget with so little new and positive to show.

This budget includes two major measures: another tax cut for business and ongoing cuts to federal public services. Tariffs will be eliminated on all manufacturing inputs at a cost estimated at $1.3 billion over five years. This is on top of further corporate tax cuts, previously announced, that will cost more than $20 billion over the next five years.

At the same time, the federal government will force the Canadian public and public servants to pay for the costs of an economic crisis that was caused by the financial industry by putting a stranglehold on federal departmental spending. This will lead to ongoing cuts to the public services that people depend on and further job losses.

Continue reading the PSAC’s overview and summary of the 2010 budget at the national website.

OTTAWA – The largest union of federal public-sector workers is poised to mobilize against cuts in public sector programs and operations and to apply pressure on Parliament to reject the federal budget.

“This budget is a clear attack against quality public services,” says John Gordon, the national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. “The freeze on public-sector operation budgets, combined with an increase in deregulation and free trade, will further weaken the economy and hurt Canadians.”

Gordon argues that freezing the operation spending of government departments will mean significant reductions to the quality of public services that Canadians need in an economy that’s, at best, still undergoing a fragile recovery. Spending freezes, more expenditure review and deregulation will also mean job losses in the federal public sector.

“This runs counter to the government’s stated goal of job creation and economic growth,” Gordon says. “With this budget, the government is compromising the food we eat, the health of our environment, transportation safety and the public services that the people in Canada rely on everyday.”

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Judging from the Throne Speech, the Harper government’s strategy for containing the deficit will focus on attacks against quality public services through spending freezes, more expenditure review and deregulation.

The speech was clear that the government plans to balance the budget by restraining federal program spending overall. It will do this by freezing the total amount that government departments spend on salaries, administration and overhead, and by aggressively undergoing a review of all departmental spending.

Continue reading John Gordon’s message regarding the Throne Speech at the national website.

The federal budget will probably talk about both short term measures and long term measures to slay the deficit. Some of those measures could involve direct attacks on federal public sector workers. Read more at the national website, and download the budget background documents on …

• Child care
• Debt and deficits
• Destroying public services
• A healthy economy
• Taxes and public services

Powerful business interests, some corporate media, and corporate think-tanks such as the C.D. Howe Institute and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, are pressuring the Harper government to attack our pensions under the guise of reducing the deficit.

The PSAC is launching a campaign to stop the attack on our pension and to ensure that all Canadians have a safe and secure public pension when they retire.

Here are some of the campaign materials (all pdf):

• A petition that can be circulated and returned to PSAC,
• The ‘Retirement security for all‘ flyer which summarizes the issue and what we can do to take action to protect our pensions
• ‘Building on what works‘ – a series of myths and facts about public and defined pension plans.

Please give these wide circulation in your worksites. All of these materials, as well as an on-line petition, are available at the national website which will continue to be updated as the campaign progresses.

In B.C. we are organizing an M.P. lobby on the issue. Meetings of union officers and members will be held to ensure members are well-equipped to lobby their M.P.s; write letters to the editor; gather petitions; talk to co-workers, friends, and neighbours etc. Staff from the PSAC Regional Offices will contact you soon regarding these activities.

The Conservative Government will table a new budget on March 4th. Please join with me and PSAC members from coast-to-coast-to-coast-to-coast to let them know that we are against using federal public sector workers as scapegoats and attacking pension plans and the important public services we deliver.

We need you to be involved in this crucial campaign.

In Solidarity, Kay Sinclair, Regional Executive Vice-President, BC

Lobby groups with the Harper government’s ear are making much of the federal public service’s pension. They’re calling for cutbacks spreading misinformation and distortions to make their case for funding tax cuts and investment loopholes that would benefit their constituents.

We need to make sure Harper knows he’s in for a fight if he wants to pilfer our deferred wages or weaken our pension plan.

Take action to protect your pension:

• Sign our online petition calling for retirement security for all and to preserve federal public service pension plans.
• Follow us on Twitter: PSAC BC | PSAC National
• Join our Facebook Fan page: PSAC BC | PSAC National
• Forward this URL via email to co-workers, friends and family who share your concerns about federal public service pensions and retirement security.

National parks are more vulnerable to abuse now that the federal government has cut more than three-quarters of its park wardens, ex-wardens say.

As well, the downsizing � from more than 400 wardens to about 60 in Canada’s 42 national parks � has created uncertainty and distrust in the service as it gears up to celebrate its 100th year.

The new arrangement signals the end of what retired warden Scott Ward calls “the generalist warden” who took care of resource management, public safety and backcountry patrols.

“No two ways about it, I think that the parks are going to be exploited,” says Dale Portman, president of the Park Warden Service Alumni Society of Alberta. Portman, a warden of almost three decades who now lives in Cochrane, believes the new warden force will be too small to monitor ATVs, poaching and helicopter activity in remote wilderness areas. “It’s kind of like the Calgary city police losing three-quarters of their law enforcement capability but still saying that they’ll still be able to deal with the crime.”

Kathy Calvert, another retired warden who spent 25 years in the service, believes parks will have more illegal fishing, hunting and perhaps even logging. “There’s not going to be anybody there to even know when it’s happening,” says Calvert, who’s married to Portman. “The absence will be palpable.”

About 300 former wardens have been demoted, rebranded as resource management and public safety personnel. They’re responsible for jobs like trail maintenance, ecological studies and fire management.

… continue reading at straightgoods.ca

OTTAWA � The Public Service Alliance of Canada is thrilled with the results of a new study proving that public services make a significant contribution to Canadians� standard of living � worth at least 50 per cent of their income.

The study, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, thoroughly debunks the notion that tax cuts put money in people�s pockets. In fact, authors Hugh Mackenzie and Richard Shillington prove that tax cuts actually take money away from most workers and would be better spent by investing in public services for Canadians.

�Quality public services improve Canadians� lives in so many immeasurable ways. But this new study demonstrates the fact that middle-income Canadian families benefit from public services that are worth about $41,000 per year � or 63 per cent of their income,� says John Gordon, PSAC�s National President.

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In response to the world-wide financial instability affecting global equity markets, stakeholder concerns have prompted the federal government to undertake cross country hearings to examine the state of pension funds and the regulations that govern them.

The federal government regulates a number of private pension plans governed by the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985. These plans cover many workers in the federal jurisdiction in transportation, telecommunications and banking, including PSAC members employed by Canada Post, Nav Canada, Purolator Courier, members who work for the many airport authorities across the country and members who participate in separate pension plans in the Yukon and Northwest Territories and Nunavut, as well as members employed with other bargaining units governed by the Canada Labour Code.

The government’s discussion paper, called Strengthening the Legislative and Regulatory Framework for Private Pension Plans Subject to the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985, was released January 9 and is available at the Department of Finance website at www.fin.gc.ca.

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Federal legislation would let grain firms inspect own product for safety, expose farmers to new risks

Well-functioning regulatory systems tend to be invisible, until tragedy occurs. It is only after someone dies from drinking contaminated water or eating tainted food, a bank fails or a highway overpass collapses that the public realizes that something is wrong.

Citizens rightly expect their governments to protect them and to act in the public interest. Too often governments fail to do so, instead responding to corporate pressure to weaken regulations so that businesses can cut costs and increase profits. Recent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses — listeriosis in Canada, melamine contamination in China, and salmonella poisoning in the U.S. — underline the dangers to the public of cutting back on government oversight and inspections in the food system.

Yet these lessons seem to be lost on the Conservative federal government, which is threatening another of Canada’s highly successful regulatory systems. Legislation now before Parliament — Bill C-13 — would gut Canada’s world-class grain regulatory system.

Read more at The Edmonton Journal

Our parliamentary democracy continues to be tarnished with the passage into law of another Conservative omnibus budget bill. Unable to accept their position as a minority government, the Conservatives have chosen, once again, to ram through legislation completely unrelated to the budget without time for proper scrutiny.

Bill C-10 is full of poison pills including wage roll-backs, a new pay equity law for federal public sector workers that is anything but, watered down environmental protection of our navigable waters and considerable loosening of foreign investment limits, among many other changes.

At the same time, the budget and its stimulus measures provide virtually no help for social infrastructure such as child care or for industries and jobs that are not �shovel ready�.

The Conservatives’ callous use of the unemployed to get its budget bill passed � the extra five week’s of benefits only become effective once the bill becomes law � is reprehensible, as is their refusal to fix the system to allow more workers, particularly women, to access the benefits they have been paying for and to provide a reasonable level of benefits. They even reinforced this position when they recently voted against an opposition motion to improve EI. The motion passed but the government will take no action.

The Harper government had a choice. They could have introduced a budget that was just a budget. There was absolutely no reason to include such a wide range of legislative changes in the budget bill, changes that would normally have been introduced as separate pieces of legislation with sufficient time for proper scrutiny by the House of Commons and the Senate. Instead the Conservatives chose to abuse our parliamentary democracy.

More than 550 pages of a bill have been given Royal Assent and have become law. I doubt very few of our MPs and Senators can tell you the extent of Bill C-10, much less what impact it will have on us, our economy, our environment and our country.

C-10 became law but not without a valiant effort by our members and staff who met with, phoned, e-mailed and petitioned both MPs and Senators; who demonstrated and made their opposition known; who joined with women’s groups, the unemployed and other concerned citizens to protest against the ugliest features of this bill. I thank you for everything that you have done.

PSAC will continue its fight against unjust legislation. Challenging bad law in the courts is one avenue. But legal action isn’t enough. We all need to talk to our family, friends and neighbours and to connect with others in our community who believe that what this government is doing is unjust and undemocratic. We need to continue the pressure on our MPs to bring them to account. We need to be prepared for the next election. And we need to start this now.

John Gordon, PSAC National President

The Senate has an opportunity to remove the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act from the Budget Implementation Act, without delaying the passage of the budget and economic stimulus measures contained in C-10.

Please take a minute to send an email to the members of the Senate National Finance Committee and to the Senators in BC urging them to support the removal of the PSECA from Bill C-10!

For more information, see “Senators on the right track with budget bill” at the national website.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – B.C. fishermen are demanding the federal government take responsibility for the salmon farming industry, and start applying the same rules to the controversial operations as they apply to the commercial fishing sector.

A petition signed by hundreds of fishermen has been sent to Fisheries Minister Gail Shea and Paul Sprout, the Pacific director general of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

• Read the full text of the petition, and add your name to it here.

The petition notes last month’s B.C. Supreme Court ruling that salmon farms should be regulated by the federal department, not the province as they are now.

“Now that the regulatory agency is supposed to be the federal government, we’re saying that the regulations that apply to the commercial sector should also apply to the farm fish sector,” said Joy Thorkelson, with the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union.

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