News release

April 1, 2004

PSAC tired of bargaining delays, calls for strike vote at Parks Canada

OTTAWA - About 4,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada working for Parks Canada Agency are mobilizing for a vote to give their union a strike mandate.

“We've been negotiating since October and haven't made much headway,” said Heather Brooker, President of the National Component of the PSAC.   “Parks Canada has refused to respond or just flatly refused many of our major demands, and the members are tired of the management's stall tactics.   We're calling a strike vote to demand fair bargaining.”

The PSAC has been trying to negotiate some improvements in its members' collective agreement, including pay, allowances, job security and health and safety issues in the workplace.

PSAC members provide the conservation, interpretation and maintenance services so integral to the parks and historic sites system.

“The Agency's refusal to bargain seriously makes it even more difficult to recruit and retain the staff needed to carry out the mandate of Parks Canada,” added Mike Wing, National President of the PSAC/Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE), which also represents Parks workers.

The PSAC's wage demands seek to close the proven wage gap between many PSAC members working for Parks Canada and their counterparts in the private and public sectors. The union's wage demand builds on the results of the joint wage comparability study completed for Table 2 members at Treasury Board, which covers many trades positions at Parks Canada. The Table 2 study, completed by the research firm Moreau-Sobeco, clearly indicated that the wages paid for federal trades workers are much lower than those paid by other private and public employers for similar work.

The Auditor General has warned in her recent report that Canada 's heritage sites, many of which are being preserved by PSAC members, are deteriorating due to underfunding.   This means PSAC members have had to work with fewer resources and under extreme working conditions to maintain and enhance many of these heritage sites.

“Government neglect of our parks and heritage sites does not justify neglect of our members by the Parks Agency at the bargaining table,” says Wing. “We will not let this happen.”

“Despite the employer's assurances that they would be in a position to bargain efficiently, they have been dragging their feet, making it obvious that they don't have a clear mandate at the negotiating table.”

  The union hopes a clear strike mandate from its members will shake the employer awake enough to bargain seriously.

The results of the strike vote will be announced in May 2004.

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For information:     Joselito Calugay, PSAC communications officer,
                                (613) 560-4235