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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June was a busy month around the province! Here are some photos and a video of some of the activities PSAC members participated in.

Under the theme “Step In to Something That Moves You” PSAC women activists, old and new, joined together at the 2010 BC Regional Women’s Conference in Vancouver. They heard from guest speakers and held discussions and workshops on a variety of topics including childcare, women and pensions, pay equity, work-life balance, violence against women, lobbying and political action/campaign work, and debated resolutions to be sent to the PSAC National Women’s Conference. Huge thanks to Virginia Vaillancourt for putting together a most excellent video!

In Victoria, PSAC staff and members from the South Island marched in the 2010 Pride Parade under the theme “Gay Rights are Human Rights” and hosted a booth at the festival held at MacDonald Park.

• Read the PSAC Pride Statement at the national website.

In Cumberland, a delegation of PSAC members from the Campbell River and District Area Council attended the Miners Memorial Day Weekend, where they laid a wreath to commemorate the miners who worked and lost their lives in the mines of Cumberland and other workplaces throughout BC.

Meanwhile, back on the mainland, PSAC BC hosted a Think Public! booth at the Surrey Canada Day festivities. Staff and members met with the fair goers and spoke with them about the value of strong, quality, public services and public pensions.

“Read more” for the photos and video …

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NOTICE OF GENERAL MEETING

DATE: June 21, 2010 (Monday)
TIME: 5:30 P.M.
LOCATION: PSAC Boardroom, 210-1497 Admirals Rd., Victoria, BC

AGENDA: To be announced.

Please forward any agenda items to the Chair, Virginia Vaillancourt at: uvaevictoria@shaw.ca

Please R.S.V.P as various snack food will be provided – email Rosemary at mackenr@psac.com

Note: the building door is locked by 5:30, so if you can, please arrive a few minutes earlier. Thanks.

The 2010 PSAC National Women’s Conference will be held October 22 to 24 in Ottawa under the theme “Fighting back, moving forward”.

The Conference objectives:

• develop our analysis of the impact of federal government policies and cutbacks on women’s equality and human rights
• understand the importance of quality public services for women as workers and members of society
• increase PSAC sisters’ involvement in the campaigns for federal pay equity, childcare, pensions and the defense of quality public services, as well as our involvement in coalitions working to defend and advance equality rights
• build women’s political capacity and activism in the union, the community and beyond and develop action plans that are effective and easy to implement

For more information and online registration, visit the national website. Note the deadline for resolutions & applications is June 4th 2010.

The application and resolutions deadline for the BC Regional Women’s Conference has been extended to May 6th.

The 2010 BC Regional Women’s Conference will take place June 11th – 13th at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver. The theme of the conference is “Step In To a Place That Moves You”.

The objectives of conference are:

• To play a key role in sustaining PSAC campaigns on the issues of pay equity and child care.
• To coordinate activities and campaigns with other PSAC bodies and with partners such as the BC Federation of Labour, District Labour Councils, other women’s organizations.
• To build representative regional women’s committees.

There will be stimulating presentations and discussions on a variety of topics of interest to women including childcare, women and pensions, pay equity, work-life balance, violence against women, lobbying and political action/campaign work.

All PSAC women members in good standing can apply to be delegates to this Conference. The selection of delegates will take into account union activism and the following criteria will also be considered: region of the province, Component, and equity representation.

To improve access for women with family care responsibilities the PSAC has a family care allowance policy.

Registration

• Apply on-line here
• Download and mail or fax the registration back to the Vancouver RO
• Please ensure completed applications, whether submitted online, by mail, or by fax, are received in the Vancouver Regional Office by the deadline of May 6th.

Resoutions

Resolutions may be submitted by PSAC-constitutionally recognized bodies (eg. RWC’s, Human Rights Committees, and Locals) prior to the deadline of May 6th. Please note the steering committee is limiting the number of resolutions from each body to two.

PSAC Victoria Regional Womens Committee meeting minutes – Feb 9 2010

Members present: Virginia, Alexandra, Mandi (& Cassandra), Cindy, Dyan, Brenda, Rosemary, Jeanette (on phone)

Review of Dec 6th Event: We spent $928.09 in total, a breakdown is to follow. Virigina suggested we think about planning for next years event soon. All in Favour.

March 8th Event: 100th anniversary of the International Womens Day concerning Pay Equity, Child Care Plan, Long Gun Registry among other important issues. It was suggested we use the same posters to raise awareness as were used last year. Virginia suggested a womens film night for Monday March 8th at 1730 at the PCAC office. She will contact the membesrs with more info when it’s confirmed.

Bill C471 Pay Equity Taskforce: Private Members Bill. This bill has passed it’s first reading and we will continue to watch it in its progression.

Bill C391 Long Gun Registry. Virginia wrote a letter to each MP that voted to dismantle the Long Gun Registry and she will make copies f the letters to send to us so we (PSAC Womens Committee) can take a personal and committee stand against the dismantling. She will draft a letter for us and send it via email for the members to send out. For more information on who voted for and against go to www.howdidtheyvote.ca.

2010 Meeting Schedule:

• Tuesday April 13th at 1730
• Tuesday June 15th at 1730
• Tuesday Sept 14th at 1730
• Tuesday Oct 26th at 1730

Meeting adjourned: 1836

The 2010 BC Regional Women’s Conference will take place June 11th – 13th at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver. The theme of the conference is “Step In To a Place That Moves You”.

The objectives of conference are:

• To play a key role in sustaining PSAC campaigns on the issues of pay equity and child care.
• To coordinate activities and campaigns with other PSAC bodies and with partners such as the BC Federation of Labour, District Labour Councils, other women’s organizations.
• To build representative regional women’s committees.

There will be stimulating presentations and discussions on a variety of topics of interest to women including childcare, women and pensions, pay equity, work-life balance, violence against women, lobbying and political action/campaign work.

All PSAC women members in good standing can apply to be delegates to this Conference. The selection of delegates will take into account union activism and the following criteria will also be considered: region of the province, Component, and equity representation.

To improve access for women with family care responsibilities the PSAC has a family care allowance policy.

Registration

• Apply on-line here
• Download and mail or fax the registration back to the Vancouver RO
• Please ensure completed applications, whether submitted online, by mail, or by fax, are received in the Vancouver Regional Office by the deadline of May 6th.

Resoutions

Resolutions may be submitted by PSAC-constitutionally recognized bodies (eg. RWC’s, Human Rights Committees, and Locals) prior to the deadline of May 6th. Please note the steering committee is limiting the number of resolutions from each body to two.

Spotlight on International Women’s Day – The struggle continues, women still fighting for equality and human rights

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first international women’s conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, which lead to the creation of International Women’s Day. The day had been celebrated in many countries since the mid-1800s. But in 1910, women made the day a part of a worldwide movement and haven’t looked back since.

March 8 also represents the 40 year anniversary of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women – the first Canada-wide investigation into women’s equality, which made recommendations that women are still fighting for today. Canadian women have seen many victories over the last four decades, including constitutional rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, paid maternity leave and laws that ensure equal pay for work of equal value.

In addition, Canadian women played a significant role in ensuring that women’s rights and gender equality are included in international agreements such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women.

But even though women have seen many improvements over the last 40 years, there is still much work to be done. Since the election of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government in 2006, women have seen their rights rolled back or denied.

Read more of the Union Update spotlight on IWD at the national website.

In the week before International Women’s Day, the Canadian Labour Congress is launching an email campaign to let the Members of Parliament who voted in favour of scrapping Canada’s long gun registry know that this is the wrong thing to do!

Why is scrapping the gun registry the wrong thing to do? Among other things, it’s about violence against women.

More women in Canada are killed by their intimate partners than are killed by strangers – 65% of women murder victims are murdered by their intimate partners. In contrast, men are more likely to be killed by strangers, with only 15% of male homicides committed by their intimate partners. Most women are killed in their own homes – an Ontario study of risk factors of domestic violence found that possession or access to a firearm was the fourth most serious risk factor after marriage breakup, depression and a history of domestic violence.

In 1991 Canada brought in stricter gun control regulations, and also introduced the gun registry legislation in 1995.

The new laws focused on strengthening controls on rifles and shotguns – not just registering long guns but also strict regulations on the storage of these weapons. Since 1991 the overall rate of homicides with firearms (including handguns) in Canada is down by 40%. But the rate of homicides with rifles and shotguns has plummeted – a decrease of 70% in the same period. The number of women murdered by guns has fallen from 85 in 1991 to 24 in 2004.

In BC, Dona Cadman is one of the urban Conservative MPs who voted in favour of abolishing the registry. Please take a moment to visit the CLC website and send her an email asking her to change her mind.

In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on member states to proclaim a day for women’s rights and international peace. Following the United Nations’ lead, Canada chose March 8 as International Women’s Day. Each year at this time, Canadians celebrate progress toward equality for women and their full participation, reflect on the challenges and barriers that remain, and consider future steps to achieving equality for all women, in all aspects of their lives.

Read more for a list of events and check back as more will be added.

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The 19th Annual Feb 14th Womens Memorial March takes place on Sunday, February 14 2010 and begins at 12pm at the Carnegie Community Centre Theatre, 401 Main Street (corner Hastings, Vancouver)

In January 1991 a woman was murdered on Powell Street in Vancouver. Her name is not spoken today out of respect for the wishes of her family. This woman’s murder in particular was the catalyst that moved women into action. Out of this sense of hopelessness and anger came an annual march on Valentine’s Day to express compassion, community, and caring for all women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Coast Salish Territories.

Nineteen years later, the march continues to honour the lives of missing and murdered women. Increasing deaths of many vulnerable women from the DTES still leaves family, friends, loved ones, and community members with an overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Over 3000 women are known to have gone missing or been murdered in Canada since the 1970s. Last year, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued this statement: “Hundreds of cases involving aboriginal women who have gone missing or been murdered in the past two decades have neither been fully investigated nor attracted priority attention.”

The February 14th Women’s Memorial March in Vancouver is an opportunity to come together to grieve the loss of our beloved sisters, remember the women who are still missing, and to dedicate ourselves to justice.

Visit womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com for more information.

On December 6th BC Regional Council member Virginia Vaillancourt, along with the Victoria Regional Womens’ Committee and Canadian Autoworkers Union Local 114, coordinated a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women candlelight vigil at the Legislature in Victoria. Over 80 participants took time to reflect on the Montreal Massacre, heard from speakers, and collected a large amount of donations for local women’s shelters. Here are some photos, and a news report from the Victoria Times Columnist.

Twentieth anniversary of Montreal Massacre brings calls to save gun registry

Commemorations held in Greater Victoria and across the country

By Katie DeRosa , Times Colonist December 6, 2009

In Montreal, eight-year-old Marjolaine Ouimet, the niece of Geneviève Bergeron — one of Marc Lépine’s victims 20 years ago — places a flower Sunday on her marker at a memorial site named Place du 6-Décembre-1989. Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay is second from the right. Similar ceremonies were held throughout the country, including Victoria.

In Montreal, eight-year-old Marjolaine Ouimet, the niece of Geneviève Bergeron — one of Marc Lépine’s victims 20 years ago — places a flower Sunday on her marker at a memorial site named Place du 6-Décembre-1989. Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay is second from the right. Similar ceremonies were held throughout the country, including Victoria.

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This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, when a man named Marc Lépine killed 14 young women at the École Polytechnique. This extreme example of violence against women will forever be branded in our collective memory. It is marked yearly on December 6: National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women.

When this misogynist crime was committed, women and men across the country promised to turn their grief and their outrage into action. We lobbied and we marched, signed petitions and demanded that governments adopt effective measures to end all forms of violence against women. Yet, 20 years later, violence against women remains endemic: spousal assault, sexual assault, incest and sexual abuse, sexual harassment and racial harassment continue to plague women, especially the most vulnerable women in society.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters:

It is with distinct pleasure that the Victoria Regional Women’s Committee of the Public Service Alliance of Canada BC in collaboration with members of Canadian Auto Workers cordially invite you to attend a memorial event on December 6th, 2009 to commemorate the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women and the ongoing initiatives to end violence against women.

• Download a poster (pdf).

We will be holding a Candle Light vigil on the BC Legislature Grounds on December 6th, 2009 from 5:00 pm to 6 pm. We will be collecting on this occasion various personal items such as new socks, towels, toiletries, journals and small house hold appliances to donate to Women’s Organizations in Victoria. This is especially important to us at this time of Liberal budget constraints within the province. We request that everyone in attendance bring an item for donation to this very noble and necessary social initiative. We feel it our responsibility to support this.

We look forward to seeing you at this very important memorial. In Solidarity,

Virginia Vaillancourt – Chair, Victoria Regional Women’s Committee, PSAC
Sarah Dutsch – Canadian Auto Workers Rep, Local 114, Committee Chair

The next Vancouver RWC meeting will be at 5:30PM at the PSAC Vancouver RO – 200 – 5238 Joyce Street (1 1/2 blocks south of the skytrain).

Agenda Items:

• Update on Women’s Retreat – September
• Update on Women’s Forum – November
• Movie Marilyn Waring on Women and Economics (30 mins.)
• December 6th BC Fed Breakfast
• Financial update

Please RSVP to Colette Savarie at 604 430 5631.

Building a better future for Canada’s children: the need for public childcare

The verdict has long been in – a public system blending early childhood education and child care (ECEC) delivers high quality programs for children and families. What would that system look like? What can we do to push governments to act?

• A Great Place to Grow-Public Child Care
• Vancouver Public Library, Alice McKay Room
• November 24, 2009 – 7-9 pm

Come to a public event aimed at developing – and moving forward – a 21st-century vision for ECEC. Martha Friendly (Childcare Resource and Research Unit in Toronto) and Susan Prentice (University of Manitoba sociology professor), co-authors of the just-published About Canada: Childcare, will join local CUPE and community child care activists to share their views on building a better future for Canada’s children. A series of forums sponsored by CUPE.

Just a reminder that the next Vancouver RWC meeting is scheduled for June 25th, 5:30 PM at the Vancouver RO, 5238 Joyce Street, 2nd floor boardroom.

Agenda items

1. Update on Rebelles Young Feminist Conference
2. Update on Financial statements
3. 2009 Planning
4. BBQ for all

Please RSVP via return email or to Janelle @ 604 430 5631 x 234 so we can plan the food! Download a poster. (pdf)

VDLC Women’s Committee presents – Women in the Philippines with Laarni de los Reyes & Monica Urrutia

• Tuesday, June 9
• 7 pm to 9pm
• Maritime Labour Center
• Boardroom 3

Monica Urrutia and Laarni de los Reyes are members of the Philippine Women Centre. They recently participated in the VDLC labour tour to the Philippines. About 3,500 Filipinos leave the Philippines a day to work abroad. The majority of them are women recruited to Canada to work as live-in caregivers or as temporary workers in fast food companies.

Monica and Laarni will talk out about the economic and human rights conditions that force Filipino women to leave their families and their home country and the connections between Filipino and Canadian women. They will also share stories of Filipino women’s struggles, their organizing activities and their spirit of resistance.

Please RSVP to the VDLC office to ensure space.

Vancouver Regional Womens Committee Annual General Meeting

Wednesday April 8th, 5:45PM
200-5238 Joyce St. (1 1/2 block south of the SkyT rain)

Tonight�s discussion topic is � Women and Politics�.

Also on the agenda:

• Election of officers
• Observer to PSAC National Convention
• Resolutions to National Convention
• Plan and budget for 2009
• Plus guest speaker: Deborah Payment on The Public Compensation Coalition (changes to WCB)

Please RSVP to Colette Savarie at (604) 430-5631 as light snacks will be served. F or more information about the
Vancouver RWC, contact Angela at ontheprowl@shaw.ca or Alethea at alethea1@shaw.ca

Working Toward Women�s Equality!

The Conservative government has been systematically chipping away at women�s rights since taking power in 2006. In the budget it tabled last January, the government took aim specifically at pay equity for women employed in the federal public service. On the occasion of International Women�s Day, PSAC is denouncing the sexist and discriminatory policies of the Harper government.

Child care

Child care is clearly not a priority for this government. In fact, Canada ranks last among developed countries when it comes to the number of available child care spaces. Public funding earmarked for child care services and early childhood education doesn�t even come close to meeting the need.

In spite of broad consensus that a $2.2 billion investment is urgently needed, the Harper government refused to allocate a portion of its 2009 budget to funding of child care services. This decision will have dramatic repercussions across the country.

It is estimated that 22,000 child care spots will be lost in Ontario due to a lack of federal funding. PSAC believes that Canada needs a universal child care system now. This is crucial to ensuring equality for women. We must continue to pressure the federal government so that we win this make-or-break battle!

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