 |
Union UpdateJuly 26 - August 27, 2004 Acrobat format In this issue:
Labour Day reminds us of the need for solidarityThis Labour Day sees the Public Service Alliance of Canada in the midst of a very difficult period. We will need the solidarity of all of our members and all of our sisters and brothers in the labour movement if we are to succeed in our struggle against the federal government. We are faced with a government that is disengaged from the bargaining process and has let negotiations for over 130,000 PSAC members drag on for over a year. We are faced with salaries that have fallen behind our private and public sector counterparts due to years of wage freezes. We are faced with a government that appears to prefer the confrontation route rather than respecting its workers and seeking out negotiated solutions. Our members employed by Parks Canada started their strike on August 13. Strike deadlines for PSAC members at the Canada Revenue Agency and at Tables 1, 2 and 3 are coming soon. Our members expect and deserve to have contracts that will protect their incomes from inflation and enable them to better manage their work and family lives. In many cases, what we are demanding has already been negotiated in other private and public sector agreements. We have to ask the question: Why is the federal government targeting PSAC members? The wages of our federal public sector members account for only two percent (2%) of the government's total budget. Waging war against our members is not going to provide the funds for Liberal election promises. On this Labour Day, we need to remember that we can only win with solidarity in the work place and on our picket lines. Everyone has a role to play. Even our designated members can provide support on their own time and through their financial contributions. We need to make sure our employers understand that tens of thousands of PSAC members are ready to do what it takes to achieve a fair and equitable agreement. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all our union brothers and sisters who have supported our strike against Parks Canada. We pledge to be there for you when you need us. In solidarity, Parks Canada: On strike
At press time, the parties had not gone back to
the bargaining table. The message to the employer is the same
across the country: come back to the table and negotiate a fair
and equitable collective agreement. Everyday, picketers heard
members of the public express their support and agreed to contact
their MPs and Parks Canada management demanding a settlement for
our members.
In many locations, groups and individuals found many ways to show their support to our members on the picket lines. For instance, in Churchill, Man, our members had to walk the line during a cold (6 ° Celsius) and rainy day. The folks in Churchill brought them coffee, donuts and even umbrellas. Their sisters and brothers from PSAC/UCTE also walked the line for part of the day. In Iroquois, ON, a local business gave several cases of bottled water to our members. In Waterton, a business agreed to print 1, 000 leaflets for our members to distribute to the public. In the National Capital Region, members of the Professional Institute of the Public Service provided coffee and muffins at a rally at Parks national office in Gatineau, while in Banff, Alberta, members of the Teamsters refused to cross our picket line to make a delivery to the town building under construction. The public also signed a large number of Solidarity Notes expressing their support for our demands. Members of Parliament from all parties, including Liberals, met with our members on the picket lines, or with PSAC leaders, and promised to talk or to write Minister Alcock about the strike at Park Canada. Even the Prime Minister Paul Martin had kind words for PSAC members who did not disturb -even though they could have- the activities of the Acadian World Congress in Nova Scotia. The Prime Minister said that our members showed how dedicated they are by not disturbing the congress. However, the PSAC was quick to retort that actions from the Prime Minister would speak louder than words. The PM could direct Treasury Board to give Parks Canada a revised mandate that will address our key issues and settle the strike. Our PSAC Parks negotiating team is ready at any time to return to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair agreement. For the latest news on the strike at Parks Canada, please visit the Parks Strike Zone. The Conciliation Board process for PSAC members at the Canada Revenue Agency has been completed and the countdown to a strike has begun. Between August 7 and 11, the Board Chairperson spent a significant part of his time acting as a mediator between the parties. Extensive presentations were made by the PSAC negotiating team when the Board heard from both parties on the outstanding issues. While agreement in principle has been reached on a few issues, there are still many major issues not resolved. Some of these include wage increases, the duration of the agreement, strengthened job security and improvements to the Work Force Adjustment provisions, as well as improvements to a number of leave provisions. During the Conciliation Board process, CRA adjusted its wage position to 2.0%, 1.5% and 1.5% over three years; an increase of 0.5% in each year from their original offer. The PSAC negotiating team countered with a wage position of 4.75%, 4.5% and 4.5% over the same three year period. While the employer indicated some movement to address pay inequity within the MG group, CRA refused to address the union's proposals on wage harmonization and technical classifications, national rates of pay for the GS and GL groups or a cost of living adjustment clause. The union expects the Conciliation Board report to be filed within the required 14 day period which started on August 7 th , the first day of the Conciliation Board. Seven days after the union is notified that the Board has filed its report, CRA members will be in a legal position to take strike action. The union is also ready to meet with the employer if the Agency indicates at any time that is prepared to return to the table to negotiate a fair agreement. “Mr. Alcock, come out in the open”PSAC National President, Nycole Turmel, called upon Treasury Board President Reg Alcock to do openly what he has been doing secretly regarding negotiations in the federal public sector. “On July 21 st , Mr. Alcock told me that neither he nor I should get involved in negotiations and that we should leave that job to our professional negotiators,” Turmel said. “Following that conversation, the union was advised of a situation which clearly contradicted his statement to me.” The PSAC learned that Alcock had effectively intervened and rejected a collective agreement negotiated by PSAC with the Office of the Auditor General and ratified by the members of the bargaining unit. “If the Treasury Board President wants to involve himself in negotiations, he should do so openly”, suggests Turmel. “I have asked him yet again to meet to discuss the state of negotiations in the entire federal public sector. We should be discussing overall mandates and frameworks for settlements as a prelude to resolving the outstanding collective agreements at the bargaining table.” Turmel also said that Canadians have a right to expect Alcock to take his responsibilities seriously and that his failure to do so is the cause of the current strike at the Parks Canada Agency. Over 130,000 PSAC members at the Canada Revenue Agency, Treasury Board and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency could be joining Parks Canada workers on the picket line by the end of the summer if settlements are not reached soon.
|
4,800
PSAC members at Parks Canada started rotating and strategic strikes
at national parks, historic sites, canals and marine conservation
areas across the country August 13.
A| Gail Gallagher and Charlotte
Trudel-Sioui in New York during the United Nations Aboriginal
women issues conference. |
Two PSAC sisters from the National Capital region went to the United Nations in New York to attend to the Special Session on Aboriginal Women Issues of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Charlotte Trudel-Sioui and Gail Gallagher were sponsored in parts by NCR Aboriginal Action Circle (AAC). They attended the conference held from May 10 to May 15. They said it was a great opportunity to network and to learn more about the evolution of gender equality from a global perspective.
Trudel-Sioui and Gallagher noted that several factors compound the issue of discrimination in the aboriginal communities: the facts that they are women, indigenous and poor. For the two PSAC sisters, meetings like the one they attended in New York provide opportunities to learn and to understand the progress achieved on women's issues around the world. They also recognized the need to develop a special approach to gender equality for aboriginal women. The two women underscored in their report that the actual “policy fits all” is inappropriate when addressing the Aboriginal women issues and that there is a need to develop a specific approach respectful of ethnic particularities.
New dates PSAC National Access Conference,
The National Access Conference that was supposed to be held in Montreal from September 30 to October 3, 2004 will be held instead on January 20 -23, 2005
Delegates who cannot attend should inform Seema Lamba, Human Rights Program Officer at 613-560-4387 or via email lambas@psac.com .
PSAC activist to receive Governor General's Award
Allison Brewer, chairperson of the Iqaluit Regional Women's Committee, will receive this year's Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case.
The award, created to commemorate the milestone 75 years ago that gave women in Canada the recognition as 'persons' under the law. The Canadian women who led the fight for gender equality became known as the Famous Five. The award recognizes outstanding people who demonstrate the courage, integrity and hard work that the Famous Five of the Persons Case inspired.
Allison Brewer is being recognized for her efforts to ensure equality rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community in Canada. For over thirty years, Allison Brewer was active in feminist and social justice advocacy through her volunteerism, freelance journalism, labour movement involvement and pro-choice activism. She was a founding member of the Iqaluit Pride and Friends of Pride organization. Allison led the advocacy in support of the controversial Nunavut Human Rights Act in Nunavut which narrowly passed in November 2003 due to its protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Ms. Brewer will receive the award at a ceremony at Rideau Hall in October.