Union Update

January 30 to February 10, 2006

Acrobat format

In this issue:

• The PSAC to Harper: This is an opportunity to do the right thing
• Bargaining Update
• Getting down to business for the PSAC convention
• Pension Grab: Judge says yes to written documents in pension surplus case
• Strike vote at diamond mine
• New Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP)
• PSAC unionizes third ferry in NWT
• Black History Month: Labour history must include contributions of Black labour activists

The PSAC to Harper: This is an opportunity to do the right thing

PSAC members mobilized during last federal election

Organizers of the Fredericton All-Candidates meeting: Tania Hache (Chair Fredericton Area Council), Debbie Graham (UNDE VP NL/NB and Alternate REVP Atlantic ), Michelle Richardson, (UNDE) and Bea Breau, (Chair Fredericton RWC)

For the PSAC, the results of the last election provide the newly elected Prime Minister with an opportunity to bring stability within the federal public sector and to ensure quality services for all Canadians.

In a letter to the newly elected Prime Minister, Nycole Turmel, the PSAC National President, reminded Mr. Harper that the federal public sector has been in an almost constant state of program review and expenditure reduction for more than a decade that has created a climate of poor morale and led to a deepening uncertainty about the future of many services.

All candidates meeting on women's issues in the PSAC building in Ottawa during the federal election.

Turmel asked the Prime Minister to meet with her in order to discuss his gove r n m e n t 's policies and provide him with the opportunity to re c e i ve direct input from the PSAC, the largest union re p resenting federal government workers – the people behind the service.

The PSAC National President believes that the minority government the Conservative Party won is an indication that Canadians do not want indepth changes.

For Turmel, this election is also an opportunity to put an end to the fractiousness of the 38th Parliament and to enter into a new spirit of cooperation for the benefit of all Canadians. She believes the PSAC members and all federal public sector workers are committed to the work they do on behalf of the Canadian people.

“All Canadians have a right to high quality services, delivered by people who are accountable to the government and to Parliament. Given that your party promised increased spending in some areas, our members and the public want reassurances that these initiatives will not result in cuts to other programs, services or expenditures.”

To read the letters to the Prime Minister and to the leaders of the opposition, please visit the PSAC web site at www.psac-afpc.com.

Bargaining Update

Negotiations are underway towards a first collective agreement between the PSAC and Marine Atlantic Inc. (MAI) in Newfoundland . The PSAC represents a group of supervisory personnel employed at North Sydney N.S. , Port aux Basque NL and at Argentia NL.The PSAC received certification to represent these workers on June 1, 2004 , despite the employer's attempts at the Canada Industrial Relations Board to thwart the organizing campaign.

MAI provides a passenger and freight ferry service between Newfoundland and Labrador and mainland Canada .

The preparation for bargaining began in the beginning of 2005 and the PSAC negotiating team met with the employer in April, November and December 2005. So far, several non-monetary articles have been agreed to and negotiations will focus on the union's comprehensive pay demand when the face-to-face meetings resume in March 2006.

The PSAC filed a displacement certification application on January 4th, 2006 to represent 100 police officers employed by the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Services Board ("NAPS" Board). NAPS officers provide culturally sensitive police services to First Nations and Aboriginal, Inuit and Metis communities in the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation area.

PSAC already represents and has negotiated a first contract for 20 civilian employees of the Nishawbe-Aski Police Services Board. PSAC members ratified tentative agreements with the City of Timmins Airport and the Halifax Transition House Association.

Getting down to business for the PSAC convention

The Fourteenth National Convention of the Public Service Alliance of Canada will be held at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto , Ontario beginning at 9:00 a.m. , Monday, May 1st, 2006 and concluding Friday, May 5th, 2006.

Close to 500 delegates are expected at the Convention along with many guests and observers.

Before a PSAC Convention takes place, Convention Committees are brought together to perform the important task of reviewing all of the resolutions which have been submitted for consideration by Convention delegates. These resolutions come from Component and Regional conventions, equity conferences, Area Councils, Direct Chartered Locals and the National Board of Directors.

The Committees are established to expedite the work of Convention by making a recommendation on each resolution that is submitted. After detailed and sometimes intense discussion, they recommend whether or not the delegates should accept or reject a given resolution. The Committees may also group resolutions which cover the same topic into what is called a composite resolution which often helps to streamline the work of the convention.

The committees will be meeting in Ottawa from February 13 to 17 to review general resolutions and those regarding collective bargaining and the Constitution. Another meeting starting on February 11 will review the proposed PSAC 2007-2009 Budget as well as Finance resolutions. In total, the four Committees will review some 461 resolutions.

Pension Grab: Judge says yes to written documents in pension surplus case

The judge hearing the case against the federal government's pension surplus grab has ruled that 128 government documents are admissable as evidence at the trial. Lawyers for the government had tried to block this written evidence as they wanted the unions to have to call the authors of all the documents during the trial, which would have created serious delays in the already six-year old case.The trial is expected to continue in the spring.

Strike vote at diamond mine

After many months of bargaining for a first collective agreement the PSAC/UNW have decided to ask their members working at BHP Billiton's Ekati Mine for a strong strike vote prior to heading into mediation in early February of this year.

“This employer (BHP) has been unresponsive, indifferent, and just plain disrespectful when it comes to serious negotiations on wages, seniority, and job security”, says Todd Parsons, President of the Union of Northern Workers. “They brag about being in the top 100 companies across Canada but they don't practice what they preach,” he goes on to say.

The PSAC/UNW represent approximately 450 workers at this mine and has been bargaining since early last year in an attempt to reach an agreement. The Union bargaining team feels it's now time to take off the gloves and show BHP Billiton that our members mean business. “A strong strike vote sends a message to BHP Billiton that our members support their bargaining team”says Jean-François Des Lauriers, PSAC Regional Executive Vice- President - North.

Union staff and senior elected officials will be meeting with members at the mine and in PSAC regional offices in Edmonton and Yellowknife . The strike vote is scheduled to begin January 26, 2006 and will run until February 10, 2006.

New Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP)

The PSAC has succeeded in negotiating changes to a number of federal collective agreements to ensure that members residing in Québec will receive benefits under the new Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), which came into effect on January 1, 2006 .

For residents of Québec, the QPIP replaces the maternity and parental leave provisions of the federal Employment Insurance program. The QPIP provides a number of benefits that were not offered under the Employment Insurance program. One of the most significant changes is the addition of up to 5 weeks of paternity leave which is above and beyond the current maternity and parental leave benefits.

The PSAC has negotiated with the federal government and other employers who have employees residing in Québec in order to ensure that the collective agreements are modified to reflect the creation of the QPIP and ensure that the members continue to benefit from the top-up provisions negotiated for the EI program.

A total of sixty eight collective agreements will be revised which impact 32,000 PSAC members residing in Quebec .

To date, we have signed separate memoranda of understanding with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Treasury Board and the Parks Canada Agency which covers 84% of the PSAC members in Quebec . We expect to conclude discussions with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) shortly.

The memoranda provide leaves and payment of the maternity and parental allowance to residents of Québec who qualify for maternity, parental, adoption or paternity benefits under the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), effective January 1, 2006 .

PSAC unionizes third ferry in NWT

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has successfully unionized the crew members of a ferry in Northwest Territories , the Louis Cardinal, which provides service across the Arctic Red River .

This will be the third ferry service in the region that the PSAC has unionized in the last five months. The two other ferry services at Fort Simpson and Fort Providence were recently reclaimed by the Government of Northwest Territories (GWNT) after terminating a contract with the private sector firm, Rowe's Construction, to manage the services. This has meant a reversal of privatization of these two ferry services in the territory. The crew members of these two ferries now have a collective agreement signed by the PSAC-Union of Northern Workers (UNW) and the GWNT.

“This privatization reversal and return of these services to the public sector means better wages, benefits and job security for PSAC members,” says Jean-François Des Lauriers, the PSAC-North Executive Vice-President. “Our new members can now go on with their duties of providing quality, reliable public service to the local population who rely heavily on the ferry service in their daily lives.”

The PSAC-UNW will soon set dates for negotiating a first contract for the crew members of the Louis Cardinal.

Black History Month: Labour history must include contributions of Black labour activists

Black History Month is celebrated in Canada to recognize the contributions of Black peoples to the growth and development of this country and their importance to its history. The contributions of African Canadians are still far from being integrated into the mainstream of Canadian history. However, many now know of Mathieu Da Costa, a man of African heritage who arrived into this land in 1604 with French explorer Samuel de Champlain and who served as an interpreter between the Europeans and the Mik' maq people. Many also know about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railway, a network of safehouses and individuals that helped Black people escape slavery in the United States .

Less well-known, however, are the contributions of Black activists to the labour movement. This aspect of our history is important to recognize because the labour movement was and continues to be instrumental in fighting for human rights and equality for workers and all Canadians. The simple truth is that our struggles for human rights and equity would not have been completely effective without the hard and persistent struggles of Black workers.

All accounts of Canadian labour history must include the collective and individual contributions of Black workers and labour activists. Examples of these include the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a Black-led trade union in Canada that fought to end discrimination in the railw ay employment, and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. There are also some pioneering Black labour activists such as Stanley G. Grizzle who was a leader in the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and who, in 1961, became the first Black labour relations officer in a provincial labour relations board. There is Fred Upshaw, who in 1990, became the first Black person to head a major Canadian union, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. More recently, there is Marie ClarkeWalker, who is currently the executive vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, the first African Canadian to hold such a position.

As the PSAC celebrates its 40th Anniversary, it recognizes and is grateful to the contributions of its Black members and members of African heritage. The actions and dedication of these members has helped advance the PSAC, and put us in the forefront in the struggle for human rights and equality. Their strength, courage and vibrancy are exemplified in the success of the union in negotiations, membership representation, political advocacy and the various committees, including the Equal Opportunities and Human Rights committees.

As part of promoting the contributions of peoples of African heritage to the labour movement, throughout the month of February, Black History Month, we will post on the web some short articles on the Brotherhood of Seeping Car Porters and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, we will also post a web quiz at the end of the month. Visit www.psac-afpc.com for these articles.