Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

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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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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Daughter of former federal cabinet minister James Sinclair joins public service union, BC Fed to urge federal government to drop sale of historic Sinclair Centre named after her father

Vancouver – Janet Sinclair, the daughter of former federal Liberal government cabinet minister James Sinclair, has joined the union for public service workers and the BC Federation of Labour in urging the Conservative government to drop plans to sell the historic Sinclair Centre that is named after her father.

• Send an email to your MP: Stop The Sale!

The federal government has requested bids for nine buildings across Canada, including the Sinclair Centre, located at 757 West Hastings Street, and is expected to announce its decision today to sell them and lease them back, says Kay Sinclair, Public Service Alliance of Canada BC Vice President.

“We are urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to not sell the Sinclair Centre or the other buildings and keep these public assets that benefits all taxpayers, Sinclair said. “Why would the government want to be a renter when it’s already an owner?”

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OTTAWA – Today is the closing day for bids on nine choice pieces of federal government real estate in some of Canada’s hottest markets.  The sell off is a bad deal for Canadians but it can and must be stopped says the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

The Conservative government is in the process of selling off federal government buildings and arranging to lease them back for 25 years.

“The Conservatives are willing to trade short-term cash gain for long-term taxpayer pain,” says PSAC National President John Gordon.  “Rent payments over the life of the leases will be double the sale price.”

The government will be guaranteeing rent for 100% of the space for 25 years.  “Where is the incentive to find tenants at the Skyline Complex in Ottawa, a property on the block that currently has an occupancy rate of less than 10%, when taxpayers are picking up the tab?” says Gordon.

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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:

This year, on April 22, over 500 million people in more than 100 countries will be celebrating International Earth Day. Some 6 million Canadians will participate in Earth Day events in schools, community groups, youth groups, unions, and environmental organizations. Nearly all school children in Canada will participate in an Earth Day event.

Across Canada, there is widespread support for protecting the environment. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, nine out of ten Canadians rate the environment as one of their top concerns, and eight out of ten Canadians believe that environmental protection should be given priority over economic growth.

Despite this widespread popular support, successive federal governments have systematically dismantled environment programs and replaced them with rhetoric and little substance. Canada is sadly one of the world’s most wasteful nations in terms of excessive energy consumption, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions. Our performance on the majority of environmental indicators is worsening. Clearly, there is a gap between our environmental values and our poor environmental record.

Read John Gordon’s Earth Day message at the national website.

OTTAWA - The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) says the federal government needs to change a number of its practices if it is to meet the challenges of the changing demographic of the federal public sector.

PSAC National President John Gordon, appearing today before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, called for changes in staffing approaches and practices if the federal government is to meet the challenges of an aging workforce.

• Read John’s presentation at the national website.

“Staffing for part-time or short-term needs does not attract the same consideration of employment equity objectives as are in place when an employer is staffing on an indeterminate basis,” says Gordon in response to a statement by the President of the Public Service Commission (PSC) that 88.6% of federal staffing is in term, student and casual positions.

According to the PSC’s 2004-05 Annual Report, approximately 65% of those hired permanently into the federal public service were hired from a pool of temporary workers. “Perhaps this is why a Senate Committee recently described this practice as a ‘significant stumbling block’ to achieving employment equity,” says Gordon. “Reducing, if not eliminating, these back door opportunities is the solution and it’s a solution that our staffing agencies ignore.”

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OTTAWA – In spite of its claims, the latest Conservative budget is not going to make Canada better or safer, nor will it make it fairer, according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

“The federal budget proposes to establish a $25-million office to foster public-private partnerships (P3s), when what Canadians need and deserve are quality public services that are publicly funded and delivered,” says PSAC National President John Gordon.

The budget calls for $1.26 billion over 7 years in a national fund for unspecified public-private partnerships, as well as $2.1 billion for gateways and border crossings, including the new Windsor-Detroit access which is already earmarked as a P3 initiative.

“Despite the Conservative budget’s praise for P3s in other countries, experience actually shows that public-private partnerships are less accountable and produce higher long-term costs,” says Gordon. “If our tax dollars are paying for this country’s infrastructure, then we should own it. P3s are simply a way to guarantee corporate profits at taxpayers’ expense.”

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Ottawa-PSAC members at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) received their own bargaining certificate from the federal Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB). They are now part of the unit called Frontière-Border Services (FB).

The new bargaining unit includes approximately 7,000 members and represents all PSAC members employed by the CBSA inland and at points of entry. The new unit also includes PSAC members providing immigration and food inspection services at CBSA.

For these PSAC members, the new certification represents an important step towards solving many issues that are specific to their place of work and duties.

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OTTAWA - IMP Group Limited, which is charged with maintaining and repairing Canadian search and rescue helicopters, refuses to address some important labour issues with its employees, according to the union representing the employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

“Our members perform work that is of great importance to the safety and security of many Canadians,” said PSAC National President John Gordon. “IMP management should do everything they can to resolve the labour problems within the company and to develop harmonious work relations with the employees.”

For Gordon, the time has come for IMP management to learn how to deal fairly with its unionized workforce. “Many Canadian companies deal with unions representing their employees,” he said, “and in doing so they are able to ensure labour peace in their workplaces. IMP should do the same.”

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OTTAWA - The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is putting the defense of quality public services on the bargaining table in the upcoming round of negotiations with the federal government for over 100,000 federal public sector workers.

“PSAC members are proud of the role they play in the daily lives of Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” said National President John Gordon. “Our negotiations serve a larger purpose as Canadians across the country want more public services and are prepared to pay for them, not further cuts to our public services. The work we do at the bargaining table and in the community is about building a better Canada.”

The union has been holding a national bargaining conference for its five Treasury Board bargaining units and for its bargaining unit at the Parks Canada Agency. PSAC members, who attended regional bargaining conferences in late 2006, have spent the last four days reviewing bargaining priorities established by the 2006 PSAC triennial convention and bargaining demands submitted by PSAC Locals.

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Ottawa–Canadians are outraged at the $5M cuts to Status of Women Canada (SWC) and the changes in the guidelines which saw the elimination of funding for research and advocacy for women’s equality rights.

To add insult to injury, under the guise and premise of “achieving efficiencies” at SWC, the government has decided to eliminate almost half its workforce across the country.

“How can Minister Oda expect Canadians to believe that she and her government are acting in the best interests of women? We are calling on this Minister to resign. She simply cannot profess to represent Canadian women, nor can she claim she is defending women’s equality” stated Robyn Benson, PSAC Officer responsible for women’s rights.

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OTTAWA - The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) applauds the adoption today, in second reading, of Bill C-257, the anti-scab legislation introduced by the Bloc Québécois.

“After several attempts to have this piece of legislation adopted,” says Patty Ducharme PSAC National Executive Vice-President, “Members of Parliament have finally accepted to give workers a more level playing field in their relations with their employers. It’s a great day for working women and men in Canada.”

• CLC: Georgetti urges MP’s not to delay approval on third reading.

Bill C-257 is a Private Member’s Bill introduced by the Bloc MP for Gatineau, Richard Nadeau. It’s inspired by the anti-scab legislation currently in force in Québec, which prohibits employers from using strike-breakers during a strike or a lockout.  Today’s vote will send the Bill to a House of Commons Committee before coming back for a final vote.

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The Public Service Alliance of Canada, like the rest of the country, is angered by the Conservative government’s September 25th announcement that they are cutting programs and spending, while racking up a record surplus of $13.2 billion. PSAC National President John Gordon indicated that while the union is in the process of analysing the details of the government’s cuts, it does mean bad news for Canadians who depend on social services and a strong public service.

• News: Federal spending cuts attacked @ canada.com

Announcement by announcement, the government is revealing its true agenda, says Gordon. The Conservatives are shedding the moderate image they cultivated during the last election and showing their true colours by eliminating or cutting social programs and programs that support human rights and advance womens equality. Gordon noted that research, literacy and youth programs are also victims of this latest announcement.

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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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This Labour Day, PSAC reaffirms its commitment to helping build a just, inclusive, secure and prosperous society for workers and their families by defending quality public services. While challenging, this is a goal that we must achieve for the good of working Canadians across the country.

The Conservatives came into power earlier this year inheriting a strong economy, with low unemployment and a hefty budget surplus. Instead of building on these gains, the Harper government shifted to full reverse by implementing its declared priorities, which are designed to help the Conservatives win a majority in the next election rather than to respond in a sustainable way to what Canadians really want and need.

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Public health care is Canadians’ proudest achievement. We embrace it as a social right in Canada, one that speaks to our best values of fairness, pragmatism, inclusion and hope.There is no other social program or national initiative that we identify with so passionately, but it is being weakened by private forces and complicit governments.

We are standing up to defend, expand and improve public health care and we invite all Canadians to join us.

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Yellowknife – Public Service Alliance of Canada members at the Ekati diamond mine have voted to ratify a tentative agreement with Ekati owner BHP Billiton, ending a strike that began April 7 with the first-ever union contract at a Canadian diamond mine and significant improvements for workers there.

Ekati workers voted 66% in favour of the one-year contract that contains a full grievance procedure to protect workers from arbitrary and unfair treatment, wage increases, a signing benefit, more vacation days and other improvements, said Jean-François Des Lauriers, PSAC Executive Vice-President-North.

“This has been a tough strike but our members are going back to work with significant improvements in their workplace as a result of their determination,” Des Lauriers said. “And we will be back at the bargaining table on our members’ behalf next year.”

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Yellowknife - The Public Service Alliance of Canada has reached a tentative agreement for striking Ekati diamond mine workers with Ekati owner BHP Billiton and will be recommending acceptance to end the strike that began April 7.

PSAC National President John Gordon said Ekati workers can be proud of their fight to win the first-ever contract at a Canadian diamond mine against BHP Billiton, the largest mining company in the world.

“When less than 400 union members take on a giant multinational corporation with $7.5 billion in annual profits to try and win a first contract, it’s hardly a fair fight,” Gordon said. “But our members can hold their heads high. They reached a tentative agreement against the odds in an extremely tough strike where the employer did everything it could to defeat them and failed to do so.”

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OTTAWA - Despite feeling that they are overworked and have had no improvement in working conditions, public service workers are still strongly committed to their job of providing quality services to Canadians, according to the latest results of the federal government’s Public Service Employees Survey.

The survey, released today by the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada, found that 90 per cent of federal public service workers admit to being proud of the public services they deliver, and 96 per cent say they are committed to making their organization successful.

• View the results of the survey online at hrma-agrh.gc.ca

“These results confirm what we’ve been saying all along: That our members care deeply about their work and that public services need to be defended from cutbacks and privatization,” says Public Service Alliance of Canada National President John Gordon.

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