Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

We have lots of photos this month! Many from May Day in Vancouver where a good contingent of the PSAC BC members and staff joined migrants, immigrants, undocumented, indigenous and Canadian workers for the May Day Organizing Committee’s annual International Workers’ Day march & rally on May 1st. This years’ theme was “Reclaim May 1st, International Workers’ Day! March for Workers Rights!”. Megan Adam, Alternate-REVP and First Vice-President for the PSAC Vancouver & District Area Council (VAC), spoke as a member organization of the May Day Organizing Committee at Grandview Park in Vancouver.

As well as some from the 2008 BC Regional Triennial Convention (a full convention report and all the photos are coming soon) and from the May Day celebrations in Terrace where Be Gomes, RC Geographic Coordinator for Northwestern BC, distributed “Think Public!” materials with the Kitimat-Terrace and District Labour Council.

Cheers to Jack Seto and the GSU 20008 Executive for sending in some We Support Our Bargaining team photos (the posters have been signed and sent to the TB Bargaining Team) and to Rosemary MacKenzie, James Little and Cindy Little (RC Coordinator for the South Island) who attended the April 28th Day of Mourning event in Victoria.

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PSAC members were among 1300 people in Victoria who rallied March 29th to encourage the government to ban the sale raw logs and save old growth forests.

Members in Victoria at the Government Street Service Canada office also wore black on payday in support of their bargaining teams.

Continuing with the Island theme, the Southern Vancouver Island Area Council met to discuss the resolutions and reports going forward to the Regional Convention.

And in Abbotsrford, The Fraser Valley Area Council held a pre-convention meeting on April 10. The meeting was attended by both convention delegates and non-delegates. The participants conducted a comprehensive review of the convention resolutions and discussed basic convention practices, strategies and procedures. The Fraser Valley Area Council also recognized the many years of service provided by the soon to be retired Chuck Leech of USGE Local 20054 - Matsqui Institution. Cheers Chuck!

Members across the Province wore black last week in support of their bargaining teams. Cheers to Mandi Schubert, CEIU 20975 (Government Street Service Canada office, Victoria) for sending in these photos!

The next day of action to wear black is on the 19th! Contact your Treasury Board Area Strike coordinator for more information.

Click the thumbnails for a larger view!

Here are a few photos of PSAC events & activities over the last month …

Members at the Service Canada office in Nelson supported their TB bargaining teams last week, click the thumbnails for a larger view. Cheers to Sheila Pearce, Treasury Board Area Strike Coordinator for the South Kootenays, for the photos. Visit this webpage to find out how to keep up to date with TB bargaining, or send a message to your TB strike coordinator.

Members of CEIU Local 20975 - the Victoria Service Canada office - held their AGM, and re-elected Mandi Schubert as the President. Congratulations Mandi, and thanks for the photos!

The PSAC Regional Staff conference took place last week in Victoria. The Director of the Regional Offices Branch, Penny Bertrand (in black) presented Dave Jackson and Janet Routledge with their long service pins - 20 and 30 years respectively!

71 members from across the BC Region – two thirds of whom were attending their first school - recently came together for the 2007 PSAC BC Union School in Burnaby from November 2nd-4th.

Over 3 days, participants were inspired by guest speakers such as National President John Gordon and CCPA BC Director Seth Klein who spoke on the school theme of “Public and Proud! Building Union Resistance to Privatization” and called upon those present to defend quality public services and ensure that people come before profits.

click on the thumbnails for a larger photo
there are lots more in the Union School 2007 photo gallery.

Keynote speaker Malalai Joya – Afghan Member of Parliament and women’s rights activist – shared her thoughts on the current situation in Afghanistan.

The school was opened and closed by Aboriginal Elder Phillipa Ryan and made history by providing the first course specifically for Aboriginal members in the region called “Our Community, Our Union, Our Rights.”

Defending Our Communities – Resisting Globalization, Duty to Accommodate and Health and Safety Level II were the other courses offered at the school. Participants on these courses developed a plan to resist globalization, started a network of union activists working on Duty to Accommodate issues and identified ways in which to move forward Health and Safety issues in the workplace.

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September and October were busy months around the region … click the thumbnails for larger versions of the photos.

At the end of September women from across the province met at the BC Regional Women’s Conference. The conference theme was “Women and the Environment: Our Health, Our Families, Our Communities, Our Jobs”. Delegates learned more about what is happening to the environment, heard from members who work in the front line federal departments about how government cutbacks are undermining our ability to protect the environment and networked with other sisters in the union.

There are many more photos of the Women’s Conference in the photo gallery.

Cheers to Steve Stewart from UEW 20147 for organizing an outreach table with information about the Union to raise awareness amongst the membership. If you are doing similar events at your workplace, take some pictures and send them in!

Treasury Board Area Strike Coordinators and members in BC distributed “I support my Bargaining Team” stickers and “No treats - just treat us with respect” flyers throughout the province. (left to right: Virginia Vaillancourt (Victoria), Patricia LaMont & Christine Walker (Nanaimo), and Sam Wiese (A/REVP, in Burnaby). Read more here.

This Labour Day PSAC members took part in the “Public Services Are Cool” blitzes at the labour picnics at Confederation Park in Burnaby and Esquimalt Gorge Park in Victoria.

• Visit the photo gallery for lots of pictures.

We’re proud to report PSAC had excellent representation! In Victoria, PSAC staff and members of the Southern Vancouver Island Area Council set up a tent and spoke with the picnic-goers about the value of a strong public service as well as the save our fisheries campaign. Members from many components stopped by throughout the day and an excellent time was had by all.

In Burnaby, staff and members active with the Vancouver Area Council came out and helped with the table. They distributed PSAC materials and asked the public to sign letters to their MPs regarding the second phase of the federal building sell-off. National Vice-President Patty Ducharme was in town and visited the table for a while and REVP Kay Sinclair also joined in in the afternoon. Several PSAC members who were attending the picnic and weren’t aware of the table were there and very pleased to see PSAC out with the whole labour family.

Here are a few photos of PSAC staff and members taken over the last couple of weeks … click the thumbnails for a larger view.

Cheers to PSAC/CEIU local 20901 for organizing their members and other co-workers at Library Square to take part in a lunch time solidarity action for their neighbours, the CUPE Local 391 Library Workers who have been on strike for five weeks. PSAC/CEIU local 20901 also made a donation to the CUPE local, and CUPE members on the line expressed their sincere appreciation for the effort and support.

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Here are some photos taken at recent PSAC and related events … updated June 28^th

Advanced Stewards Training in Vancouver

Members from many different components & locals came together at the beginning of the month to take four-day Advanced Steward Training courses held in Vancouver & Victoria. The objectives of the course were:

• To identify the roles and responsibilities of PSAC Stewards.
• To develop participants’ confidence in their ability to be effective Stewards in the workplace.
• To increase participants’ understanding of how to empower and motivate members.
• To provide participants with the opportunity to develop and practice the skills necessary to be effective advocates in representing their members.
• To motivate participants to use their knowledge and skills as Stewards to establish an effective union presence at the workplace.

Stewards from across the province built on their knowledge, skills and confidence so that they could provide effective representation in the workplace and mobilize members. Here are some photos, click the thumbnails for a larger view.

Visit the PSAC photo gallery for all the pictures taken at the Advanced Steward Training course in Vancouver.

Here are the members in Victoria who took the AST, click for a larger view …

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James Little, reporting from CFB Comox … updated Feb 9: Thanks to Mark Miller (UNDE 21016) for some more photos.

PSAC members employed at IMP Group Limited set up information lines at the gates of CFB Comox in the early mornings of Feb. 6th and 7th. These members were informing their co-workers of the lack of progress five months of negotiations have achieved. The PSAC has recently asked the federal government to appoint a conciliation officer in an effort to speed up the bargaining process.

Each morning we set up the information lines at 06:30 hrs and the member participation was outstanding. The Commissionaires, the Military Police and members of the military with their loaded guns, greeted us each morning. Turns out the military was also conducting an identification search at the same time as our plant gate. This actually turned out to be a benefit for our members as the military was slowing traffic making it easier for us to distribute the over 400 flyers each day.

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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!

Here are some photographs of PSAC staff and members taken over the last month. Do you have photos of a Union event or activity? Let us know … send them to Patrick Bragg!

The Nelson Service Canada Office (CEIU 20918) enjoyed a great looking cake during National Public Service Week.

Cindy Little and Christine Walker lobby MPs in Ottawa to support childcare issues while at the CLC National Women’s Conference

(left to right, click for a larger view) Cindy Little-Southern Vancouver Island Area Council President, Jean Crowder-MP for Nanaimo-Cowichan, and Christine Walker-NVP West for CEIU.

PSAC members and staff leaflet Idar’s jewelry store in Victoria, in support of striking PSAC members at the Ekati mine. The ‘Dirty Diamonds’ campaign came to a successful conclusion: workers at the mine are currently voting on their first collective agreement.

(left to right, click for a larger view) Cindy Little, Sara Cousins-UTE, James Little-PSAC staff, and Al Hadvick-PSAC staff, retired

The PSAC table at National Public Service Week focuses on connecting with the members by ensuring good communication.

(click for a larger view) Sam Wiese, Regional Council Coordinator for Metro Vancouver staffs the PSAC booth.

Update @ 2PM: Unionized FedEx workers refused to make deliveries to the entire complex where LimoJet’s main office is located. Picketing continues as talks have resumed on both sides. Here are some photos from the picket line.

Picket lines went up at 8:30 a.m. this morning in front of the Limojet offices on Shell Road in Richmond. When Principal Herb Dhaliwal decided to leave the Limojet offices, PSAC Members blocked Herb’s exit using Limousines and their bodies. Despite his best efforts, Herb was unable to leave the parking lot. A few minutes later after parking his car Herb was seen leaving the area on foot and was picked up moments later on Shell Road.

Picket at Vancouver Airport not expected to disrupt services

Mar, 30 2006 - 8:10 AM - VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - A picket line at Vancouver’s International Airport is not expected to disrupt services this morning, unless you’re planning to take a limousine.

Contract talks between Limo Jet Gold and its unionized drivers have broken off, so the 30-members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada have walked off the job.

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