Alliance Vol. 10 No. 1 Spring 1997
PSAC Home Page d'accueil français
Feature - Alliance members who have experienced the non-unionized workplace and who have joined the PSAC, all agree they made the right choice. Want to hear what they have to say? Phone your PSAC regional office and get a copy of the video "Get A Future!".
Collective Bargaining - Bargaining demands for some 135,000 federal public service workers have been exchanged with Treasury Board. The Liberals now have the opportunity to prove that they intend to keep their commitment to "make every effort to resolve issues at the bargaining table".
April 28 - The National Day of Mourning when we remember Canadian workers, PSAC members and co-workers killed or seriously injured on the job during the past year.
Pay Equity - January 24th marked the final day of the Equal Pay Tribunal hearings. Now more than 80,000 federal public service workers, who have been waiting for 10 years for their money, continue to wait until the Tribunal makes its decision.
Federal Election - As part of its federal election campaign strategy the Alliance hit the airwaves with the issue of Pay Equity.
"It's time to be fair" - Community and national newspaper ads reminded the public of the promises made by the Liberals during the last election campaign on the issue of collective bargaining.
News & Views - It pays to know your collective agreement.
Membership Services - The benefits of being a PSAC member.
Organize and speak with a united
voice together we'll be heard For the past four years we've seen the federal Liberals break almost every promise that they made to the Canadian people when they were elected. Whether as an employer or as the provider of the services Canadians need, the government has failed working people. They've reduced Employment Insurance benefits, cut public sector jobs and attacked Medicare. They've blocked pay equity through every legal trick in the book. And, they've conveniently "forgotten" their promises to establish a national daycare program and eliminate the GST.
Many people will tell you that the Liberals are giving our country a raw deal. We need to do something more with our frustration and anger than just talk. We need to organize. In our homes, in our workplaces, in our communities, we must speak with a united voice. When individuals speak up alone, their voices can be carried away by the wind. When we speak with one voice, one united voice, we can be loud enough to make ourselves heard.
If we do not speak up for the things that matter, no one will. We must show that there are real alternatives to the Liberal agenda of corporate profit at all cost. We know that there is a better way. We've promoted the Alternative Federal Budget, which shows how taxpayers' money, our money, can be invested to benefit all Canadians, rather than just a wealthy few. We've supported projects like the National Forum on Health, which urges that we protect Medicare and exposes the link between high unemployment, poverty, and sickness. We've spoken out for the people who are bearing the brunt of the devastating economic policies which we see coming from Ottawa.
We cannot wait for someone else to do the organizing for us. Each of us must make a personal commitment to speak with friends, family and co-workers. Each of us must take responsibility for standing up for the values of fairness, equity and community. We cannot let the bashing of the poor, those on social assistance and members of equity groups, continue. We cannot let anyone get away with implying that Canadians can no longer afford decent housing, Medicare, quality social services or decent working conditions. We know that the truth is that we cannot afford to do without these things.
There is a small wealthy, corporate elite that would gladly see us live at a lower standard if it means that they can line their pockets. They have sacrificed many Canadians at the alter of the deficit and the national debt. At an enormous cost to working Canadians, the deficit is fast dwindling out of sight. Some federal funds, such as Employment Insurance, now show a surplus. The suffering which we as a nation endured to achieve this so quickly was never justified. However, by any measure, the crisis which the Liberal government manufactured is over. Now, more than ever, it's time for the suffering to stop. It's time to invest in Canada and Canadians.
If we speak together, we can make this happen. In your home, in your workplace, in your
community
- ORGANIZE. Together, we are an unstoppable force.
Daryl T. Bean, National President
by Debbie Broad
Have you ever wondered why, if given a choice, anyone would join a union? After all, unions just take your money and don't give you anything in return and then force you to go on strike, right?
Well, that's not what people like Liliane
Spahr-Fortin, Rob Nuttall, and Shauntay Gordon believe. These workers and others like them
know what it's like to not be unionized and they didn't like it. They tell their stories
in a new video called "Get a Future!" which is being premiered at the
PSAC's Triennial National Convention in Toronto from April 14th to 18th.
An upbeat, youth-oriented production that was made primarily to be used in new organizing campaigns, "Get a Future!" is a 12-minute video produced by Clarence Street Films of Ottawa for the Organizing Section of the Alliance. During these campaigns we try to reach workers in a number of ways to let them know who we are and why they should consider the Alliance when choosing a union.
Given that most people receive their information from video sources these days, we thought this would be an effective way of getting our message across. The purpose of the video is essentially to motivate workers to seriously consider the union option by showing them what people have gained by joining unions in the past and why they continue to do so in the '90s.
The video features new Alliance members--workers who have experienced the non-unionized workplace and have made the deliberate choice to join collectively with their colleagues and form a union. Each individual's situation is different and their reasons for organizing vary but they all agree on one thing--they made the right choice!
The recently unionized members illustrate the varied sectors in which the Alliance is now organizing. There is a perception that our union only represents federal public service workers--a perception we need to correct if we are going to become an option for the thousands of workers out there who may be looking for a union. In the video, we are introduced to members working at such places as Casino Regina, the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, and, the University of Western Ontario. We see how these workers have found a home in the Alliance.
Through historical photos and voice-over, the video describes to viewers why workers originally chose to unionize and some of the major gains won by unions that have accrued to all workers (a wonderful poster comes to mind that says "Unions--the people who brought you the weekend!").
Many of us take for granted conditions of work
that we somehow assume were always there, like vacation, the 8-hour day, maternity leave
and minimum wage. It took years of struggle for workers to see these "benefits"
written into legislation that would apply to all employees. It's amazing how many people
believe their employers provide a certain standard of working conditions out of the
goodness of their heart! They are unaware they owe their generally decent worklife to
their grandparents and great-grandparents who joined together in unions to strive for
fairness and respect in exchange for their labour.
"Get a Future!" also gives workers insight into the Alliance and the kind of union we are. By explaining some of the issues on which Alliance members have taken the lead, viewers become more knowledgeable about us and can put this information to good use in their process of deciding on a union.
Non-unionized workers have choices in terms of joining a union and they are, more and more, looking for the one that is the "best fit" for them. They look at a range of things from dues and traditional membership base, to more specific factors such as women's programs and social activism. Each group of workers has its own combination of criteria that its members want to try and have met in their union.
Because of their experience, new members bring another perspective to our union. They have different employers, different work situations and often different concerns. They are eager to share their experience with others and learn from the experiences of long-time Alliance members. They remind us that diversity is a positive thing and that by welcoming them into our union we are making ourselves stronger.
Perhaps the most important thing we learn from
our new members is the value of our union membership. Many of us hear the refrain,
"But what does the union do for me?" and maybe ask ourselves that question from
time to time. Those who do should pick up a copy of "Get a Future!" and
have a look. Better yet, show it at your next Local meeting or at a lunchtime brown bag
event. After hearing from workers who lived a situation, we now hear some people
advocating, i.e. the non-unionized workplace, that it may not appear to be such an
attractive option. There are reasons why our new members have come to the Alliance. They
are happy to tell anyone who will listen. Let's all listen.
You won't find "Get a Future!" at Blockbuster but it will be coming soon to a PSAC Regional Office near you!
(Debbie Broad is a project officer in the Organizing Section of the PSAC.)
by Pierrette Landry
On August 29, 1991, Jean Chrétien wrote to Brian Mulroney urging the government to return to the bargaining table and "make every effort to resolve issues". The Liberal opposition carried this rhetorical commitment further in its 1992 pre-election red book, when it promised free collective bargaining, pay equity, improved morale and better labour relations.
However, as soon as the new Liberal government was elected, a very different reality began to emerge:
* The government reneged on its commitment to pay people equally, and continued the stonewalling of the previous government;
* The 1994, 1995 and 1996 budgets drastically cut departmental spending and introduced new privatization and commercialization measures;
* The newly-elected government did nothing to end the wage freeze that was imposed by the former Conservative government;
* The government legislatively amended the 1991 Work Force Adjustment Directive (WFAD) on two occasions to facilitate a 55,000-person employment reduction program. In so doing, the government weakened the WFAD and penalized PSAC members.
Broken promises have resulted in huge sacrifices on the part of Alliance members - both when the Conservatives were in power and since the Liberals have been elected. Billions of dollars in salaries, wage increases and equity payments were withheld. All this to allow the government to pursue its stay-the-course policy: putting Canada's financial house in order by giving corporations lots of tax breaks and having the working men and women of Canada pay off the deficit.
Canadians are constantly warned by business
commentators that government deficits have reached historic heights and are out of
control. What about the $40-billion in deferred taxes owed by corporations (1995) or the
more than 81,000 corporations with combined profits of $17.1-billion who did not pay one
cent in income tax in 1994? In the past decade, corporate taxes have dropped from 15 per
cent of all federal revenues to about 8 per cent. Is it unconscionable for the government
to allow these corporate privileges to continue while cutting services to Canadians,
freezing wages and steadfastly refusing to live up to its legal obligation to pay equity.
The poverty line for a family of three living in a large urban center with a population of 500,000 or more was $26,675 in 1995. It was around $23,000 in an urban area with a population ranging from 30,000 to half a million. At least 18,000 Alliance members earn a salary equal to or below those salary levels. Moreover, PSAC members only received a 3 per cent increase in salary between 1991 and today!
Bargaining At Last
In the 1996 budget, the government announced that the wage freeze would not be extended, and that bargaining would return to the federal public sector in 1997. We hope that this will finally be the time that the Liberals' 1991 and 1992 commitments to federal workers come true, and that the government allows negotiations to proceed to a successful conclusion.
In early 1996, the Alliance began preparing for bargaining by conducting an extensive membership survey on the issues that are important to members. A series of regional bargaining conferences followed to review and refine the issues as well as to elect negotiating team members. The negotiating team members, elected at the bargaining conferences and appointed by the Alliance Executive Committee (AEC), met in Ottawa in November 1996 and in March 1997 to finalize a program of demands and define the bargaining agenda. On March 7th, 1997, the PSAC exchanged bargaining demands with Treasury Board for 135,000 federal workers. Face-to-face negotiations are set to start in late April.
Five Tables, Five Agreements
Bargaining will be done by five negotiating teams at five tables. The five PSAC negotiating teams are committed to working diligently in the hope and expectation that a tentative agreement can be reached by the fall of 1997.
Table 1: GE (PM, AS, WP, IS, CR, CM, ST, DA, OE, EU)
Table 2: FR, GLT, GS, HP, HS, LI, SC, PR
Table 3: DD, EG, GT, PY, PI, TI
Table 4: CX
Table 5: LS, ED
In order to facilitate the negotiation process and ensure that issues that are common to most groups of employees are addressed in a consistent and comprehensive manner, Tables 1, 2, 3 and 5 have elected members to form a Common Issues sub-committee. The mandate of the sub-committee is to negotiate new language and language improvements on common issues with Treasury Board.
A Substantial Order Of Demands
It has been a full 10 years since the PSAC tabled a set of demands that were addressed at the negotiating table and incorporated into signed collective agreements. It has been six years since the PSAC has been at the bargaining table on behalf of its Treasury Board units.
The workplace has also changed dramatically. Telework and new managerial approaches are but a few realities PSAC members are confronted with. Many needs can only be answered through modification of the collective agreement. This is why the program of demands is substantial.
PSAC Bargaining Demands
Bargaining demands are the proposals the Alliance presents to the employer - Treasury Board - on behalf of its bargaining groups. The PSAC has prioritized the following issues: employment security, pay equity, and economic increases including national rates of pay for the GLT and GS groups. These issues will also be priorities during the upcoming federal election campaign.
Employment Security
The Work Force Adjustment Directive was legislatively modified and/or changed twice since 1991, to implement the on-going 55,000-person employment reduction program and Alternative Service Delivery (ASD). These changes have had, and will continue to have, a destructive impact on the morale of federal public service workers as their employment security diminishes.
The Common Issues sub-committee plans to use the 1991 WFAD as the basis for negotiations on employment security. Improvements we have asked for include:
* ensuring that future reductions of the workforce be implemented by way of attrition;
* reestablishing the "reasonable job offer" across the federal public service;
* ensuring that the employer does not contract work to non-union employers;
* extending the Early Retirement Incentive (ERI)/Early Departure Incentive (EDI) until the end of the new contract;
* ensuring the members' rights are vested with them in the event of employment transfers to federal agencies, other levels of governments or the private sector;
* creation of an employer-paid training fund to be jointly administered with the union to improve employee training opportunities.
Pay Equity
Equal pay for work of equal value became law for federal public service workers in 1978 under Section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Since that time, Treasury Board has done everything it can to delay the fulfillment of its obligations under the law. A joint Union Management study undertaken between March 1985 to September 1989 showed that all the female-dominated groups (CR, ST, DA, HS, LS, EU) were underpaid for their work.
Treasury Board has since refused to implement the full results of the study. Over $2-billion is owed to some 80,000 members. A judgment from the Human Rights Tribunal is expected sometime this year. While proposals have been tabled to rectify this historical pay equity problem, the PSAC has made it clear that the pay equity settlement will not be considered as a pay increase to be costed as part of the wage increase to be negotiated during this round of negotiations.
Economic Increases and National Rates of Pay
Public services are a cornerstone of the economic and social stability of Canada. PSAC members deserve fair wages for working hard to serve the Canadian population.
All negotiating teams at all tables will work to secure a wage increase that compensates workers for increases in the CPI, reflects the internal and external market conditions and provides a shorter work week without loss of pay.
Other group-specific demands include the elimination of all zone rates for the GLT and GS groups (national rates of pay).
Other Issues
Other important issues to be negotiated by the five tables or the Common Issues sub-committee include:
* demands to enhance the union's presence in the workplace and to ensure that members who encounter problems in the workplace are represented;
* leave for union business;
* reducing considerably the risk of violence and the provision of support to workers who experience violence at work;
* removal of all forms of discrimination on the basis of sexual preferences, language, political affiliation/activities and marital status;
* defining teleworkers as employees, ensuring they are treated like other employees and they can communicate with the PSAC during working hours;
* providing leave with pay for a pregnant employee for the purpose of attending medical appointments.
It's time for Treasury Board to be fair and for members of the PSAC to receive their fair share!
(Pierrette Landry is a PSAC research officer.) 
April 28 the day each year when we remember Canadian workers, PSAC members and co-workers killed or seriously injured on the job during the past year.
We know of three members who were killed on the job and one who was severely injured recently.
* Dean Jeffrey Miller, a Fishery Officer, died September 18, 1996 of a cardiac arrest while on a training exercise on the Kitimat River;
* Arnold H.Harrison, a Correctional Officer, was killed in a motor vehicle accident while escorting an inmate in a CSC van, near Moncton, N.B. and, in the same accident,
* Fred Newman, Correctional Officer, who was driving was hospitalized in critical condition;
* An Inspector with the Health Division of the Food Production Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food, died after falling while conducting an inspection at a seed establishment in Harriston, Ontario.
* Peter Lewis, a mechanic, who was working in a garage at the Ottawa Airport, died March 12, 1997.
STATISTICS
According to Human Resources Development Canada's recent report Occupational Injuries and their cost in Canada 1991-1995, the total cost of workplace injuries is $9.9-billion every year. This information is based on the reported and compensated cases to the Workers' Compensation Boards (WCBs) and the reports submitted by employers in the federal jurisdiction.
The report says that in 1995, one Canadian worker out of 15 was injured at work every 8.7 seconds of time worked; one worker out of 29 was severely injured enough to miss at least one day of work. This represents one loss time injury every 17 seconds.
In the federal jurisdiction, in 1995, every 6 working minutes, one worker is injured severely enough to lose at least one day of work; and every 7 working days, one worker is killed. This information is based on what we know and what is reported.
TRUE PICTURE
In fact in the last few years, governments and employers want us to believe that injuries and fatalities have been declining. The statistics confirm that the number of injuries has been fluctuating and the costs have been increasing steadily. But is it the true picture of today's workplace?
We know that:
* many occupational diseases are not included in the compensation disease schedules, e.g. chronic stress;
* many diseases are not recognized as being work-related;
* many injuries are not reported and more so in these times of workplace downsizing, reorganizing and restructuring;
* workers are working longer hours;
* laws are poorly enforced because of the lack of inspectors.
We also know that occupational injuries and diseases continue to be low on the political agenda. To add insult to injury, this is happening at a time when health and safety as well as compensation laws are being severely eroded. If our politicians are not concerned with the human costs to workers, one would think that, at least, the financial losses to the Canadian economy would get their attention!
PREVENTION
In most cases, accidents that kill or injure workers are found to be preventable. Accidents don't just happen, they are caused. The cause is often an unsafe situation, machine or work process which has been allowed to continue, for expediency's sake, or due to inattention or complacency on the part of management. One of the best tools available to workers to stop this carnage is PREVENTION.
To this end, the Alliance has produce a pamphlet Spot the Hazard and a Checklist on workplace inspections. And, to alert everyone in your workplace to the hazard, red stickers are provided to identify any hazards.
Preventing disease and injury on the job is one of the most important and satisfying aspects of being involved with health and safety. Prevention does save lives and health.
by Peggy Smith Krachun
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
That was evident to some Alliance members who took part in the Silent Vigil on January
23, sitting in on the second last day of the Equal Pay Tribunal hearings.
The tribunal began in 1991, after Treasury Board refused to honour the results of the joint union/management equal pay study and the Alliance filed a Human Rights complaint on behalf of its six female-dominated groups. The vigil was the way that Alliance members decided to make the tribunal aware, as the hearings finally drew to a close, of the faces behind the issues the real people that would be affected by their decision. They were, in fact, representing the 80,000 employees and former employees in the CR, ST, DA, LS, HS and EU groups who are anxiously awaiting that decision.
One of the first things Sandra Burrows noticed in the hearing room that day was the brass-plated nameplates of the three tribunal members. "I came back to my office and looked at my cheap plastic one," she laughs, "and I thought that after 20 years, this is all I merit." As the day wore on she made a more sober observation: "We are paying Treasury Board lawyers out of our taxes, to do us out of money."
As far back as 1981, Sandra and her colleagues at the National Library thought the LS complaint settlement had ended their struggle for equal pay. As it turned out, the study showed that this was not the case; more money was owed. Yet they were somehow not surprised when Treasury Board, in announcing the unilateral wage adjustments in 1990, stated that nothing would be paid to the librarians because they had already received some money.
What struck Neil Manwell at the vigil was the "heroic patience" demonstrated by the tribunal members and the other parties as the Treasury Board lawyer, Duff Friesen, went on and on with his arguments to justify Treasury Board's position on the various issues in dispute. Neil, an Appeals Clerk at Revenue Canada, has been keeping a file on equal pay for eight years. His interest is not only personal; many of his colleagues are single mothers who are very frustrated with the time it is taking to achieve equality in wages.
Sandra Burrows observed that Treasury Board seems
to be using old ideas and old precedents that are not relevant to this situation. For
instance, one thing the Alliance wants the tribunal to do is award $5,000, plus interest,
to each affected
member as Special Compensation for "hurt feelings" that is, for the financial
deprivation and the discrimination they have endured. Mr. Friesen's comments on this left
Sandra and the others gasping in disbelief. "It is not the kind of thing that would
cause personal offence," he said. The discrimination was "systemic" rather
than "overt" and thus could not be compared to racial slurs, for instance. There
was, he claimed, no intent to discriminate and no stereotyping, and underpaid federal
workers were not victims because they chose to work in jobs that were lower paid. This
is where the gasps were the loudest. As Suzanne Langlois, a clerk at Immigration,
remarked, "It was hard to just sit there quietly and listen to that."
Did Sandra Burrows choose to work in a job that was lower paid? With her background in history, she wanted to be a historical researcher but found the field closed to her because she had a master's degree in Library Science. "That was 1977," she says, "and the Old Boys' Network was in place." But she has tried again several times over the years, without success. Not that there should be anything wrong with being a librarian. But according to Sandra, the losses are more than financial. "Your sense of professionalism suffers. There's the perception that librarians just stamp books. You get the feeling you're just not worth as much." Neil Manwell feels that his job in a female-dominated group has made him a victim of discrimination. As to Mr. Friesen's statement that "people made choices to enter the public service knowing the wage rates", Neil says, "Of course we knew. Everybody knows the rate of pay when they take a job. That doesn't mean it's a fair rate. I thought it was a reasonable starting salary at the time and that I could work my way up." But Neil bumped his head on that famous glass ceiling that women know so well. "I'm labelled as a clerk, so the perception is, how can I be an officer? It's not easy for me to move into another category from here, and it's even harder for women." Neil has a college diploma in Pure and Applied Science, and initially tried to get technical or laboratory work but found that none was available. Neither he nor Sandra have seen much evidence of the choices that apparently abound in Treasury Board's world.
Dorothy Rubenstein, another clerk at Immigration and a federal employee since 1967 (10 years before the Canadian Human Rights Act made equal pay the law), knows first-hand the suffering that can result from years of being underpaid and undervalued. Until her mother died three years ago, Dorothy was her sole support. She had to cash in her RRSPs to help pay for her mother's funeral. She has also been forced to take out a second mortgage on her home and to work part-time cleaning hotel rooms. "And it's still a struggle," she says. "Sometimes bills haven't been paid on time. I almost had my hydro shut off once. Everything else is going up, but our incomes are not."
Peter Duchênes can heartily echo those words. He has several disabilities, and a wage adjustment that would bring librarians' pay on a par with male groups in the public service would certainly ease his situation. "The cost of such things as medication and special transportation is constantly rising," he says. "And, as it does, the quality of life keeps going down."
There are 80,000 such stories, each one different but all reflecting one simple wish: to have their work valued, and to have it compensated accordingly.
Now that all the evidence has been heard, Alliance members want and expect a resolution soon. Neil, Suzanne and some of the others who watched the proceedings on January 23 are cautiously optimistic. They have reasonable faith that the tribunal will deal fairly with the issues, and they think Treasury Board is resigned to the likelihood that payments will be ordered. But the question is, will Treasury Board continue to look for ways to delay those payments? Alliance members have been waiting far too long. What they hope for now is:
* that the tribunal will sift through the mountains of evidence quickly, make a fair decision, and not be afraid to render that decision; and,
* that Treasury Board will accept the ruling.
Dorothy is not so sure this will happen. She has faith in the tribunal's sense of fairness, but she is worried that Treasury Board will appeal the ruling. "Hopefully they'll be smart enough not to. This is costing the taxpayers millions. They may think we're at the point where we'll settle for anything," she says. "But they're wrong. We won't." Alliance members want what is rightfully theirs nothing more, and nothing less.
Sandra Burrows thought a few years ago that it was the Conservative government that was blocking equal pay. She realizes now that it's just the government no matter who they are. "The Liberals were championing our cause when they were the Opposition," she says. "Now, they couldn't do a better job of sabotaging it if they had set out to do so."
Surely there can't be much left in Treasury Board's bag of tricks. Aren't they tired of fighting lost causes? Haven't they obstructed equal pay long enough? That remains to be seen. The Silent Vigil ended, and the tribunal hearings ended. But Alliance members are still watching and waiting to see what happens now.
(Peggy Smith Krachun was a job
evaluator on the Joint Union-Management Equal Pay Study and testified before the Human
Rights Tribunal on Pay Equity.)
The PSAC's long-standing issue of Pay Equity for
some 80,000 federal government workers who are doing work of equal value and who are not
being paid equally, hit the airwaves during the week of March 3rd to 7th all across the
country. These radio ads, which are part of the Alliance's federal election campaign,
reminded the public that once again the Liberals have broken their promise to uphold the
20-year old law of equal pay for work of equal value.
In the event you didn't hear the radio ads here is the text.
"Men and women doing work of equal value should receive the same pay. That's been the law for 20 years. Seven years ago a union-management study showed that 80,000 federal government workers weren't being paid equally. But since that time the government has refused to deliver pay equity. Let's hear from one of those workers.
I'm a Librarian. The federal government owes me thousands of dollars. They've tried everything to avoid paying me. It's my money. I've worked for it. It's time they paid up."
"Men and women doing work of equal value should receive the same pay. That's been the law for 20 years. Seven years ago a union-management study showed that 80,000 federal government workers weren't being paid equally. But since that time the government has refused to deliver pay equity. Let's hear from one of those workers.
I'm a clerk who just retired. I'm living on a pension. The thousands of dollars the federal government owes me would make a difference. It's my money. I worked for it. It's time they paid up."
This newspaper ad appeared in community newspapers, as well as some national newspapers, across the country during the week of February 17th, reminding Canadians of the promises the Liberals made during the last election campaign.
For more than a year, Alliance member Milt Estabrooks went above and beyond the call of duty at work but didn't ask for compensation. However, when he finally got what he was entitled to in accordance with his collective agreement, his rightful compensation totalled $11,000.
In August, 1995, Estabrooks, a GS-STS-03, had been
assigned by his manager to be on standby seven days a week to provide access to the
Construction Engineering Section's tool crib that he controls. However, the same manager
failed to explain to him the employer's obligation to provide standby pay.
On December 16, 1996, Bob Hughes, his Local vice-president and maintenance team leader, asked him how he was going to gain access to the tool crib over the holiday period. It was at this time Hughes discovered that Estabrooks had been on call seven days a week for 52 weeks a year. He jokingly asked him what he was doing with all that standby pay money. He was shocked when Estabrooks replied: "What standby pay money?".
A quick explanation of the collective agreement on standby pay ensued and how to use the department's forms to request compensation. A copy of the original memo from the manager assigning the standby duty was also produced. The request was not contested by management and a cheque was then issued in the amount of $11,000.
According to Steve Covell, president of Union of National Defence Employees Local 30905, knowing your collective agreement can pay you big money and if you are assigned new duties, consult a union representative.
The PSAC is pleased about the release of the first major report on racially visible minorities in the federal public service by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC). The study involved 14 departments and agencies and 2,000 racially visible public service workers. Visible minorities were estimated to make up 12% of the workforce in 1996. However, their representation in the Canadian public service was only 4.1% in 1995, compared to 8.2% in the federally regulated private sector in 1994.
The CHRC recommends removing obstacles to ensure that merit is recognized and rewarded. Suggested changes include: making more effort to hire racially visible people into senior management, having racially visible people on hiring boards and focusing on skills and experience rather than degrees. The face of labour is changing - so must hiring practices and workplace habits!
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Ontario: Toll free 1-800-668-0250 local (416) 961-7555
Montreal (Quebec): Toll free 1-800-361-3608 local (514) 967-7555
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Atlantic Provinces: Toll free 1-800-565-1608 local (902) 429-7722
Manitoba, Saskatchewan: Toll free 1-800-387-5601 call collect (416) 961-5013
National Capital Region:
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Hull (Quebec), Place du Centre: (819) 595-0048
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