FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 27, 2001
Conciliation resumes in last-ditch attempt to avoid strike action at Canadian Food Inspection AgencyOTTAWA
…Public Service Alliance of Canada members who work for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will be setting up picket lines in mid-to-late April should Conciliation Board hearings, which resumed today, fail to resolve outstanding bargaining issues and result in a collective agreement for them."PSAC/CFIA members have said enough is enough to the federal government’s double standards of giving whopping increases to Senior Executives and peanuts to front-line workers," says Nycole Turmel, national president of the PSAC. "The CFIA members, who include support staff, dairy, plant health, animal health, fruit, vegetable, meat and fish inspectors, are asking for Respect with a fair economic increase with additional increments," adds Turmel.
"In addition to the whopping 8.7% increase for federal Senior Executives, the Liberal government has increased the housing allowance for Members of Parliament and provided the Parliamentary Secretaries with limousines and drivers. It’s time for them to open the purse strings for the workers who are responsible for delivering Canada’s food safety programs," says Yves Ducharme, national president of the PSAC’s Agriculture Union.
In a show of support and solidarity for their negotiating team, CFIA members across the country will be holding noon-hour demonstrations and plantgating sessions outside their worksites today to inform the public about the state of Canada’s Food Inspection System.
"The federal government received a strong warning from the Auditor General last month that there is a looming crisis of recruitment and retention of federal food inspectors within the Agency," adds Ducharme. "Simply put this crisis exists because the salaries of CFIA Inspectors are way out of line with those in the private sector."
Ducharme says the CFIA can address this crisis through significant improvements in the compensation system for its Inspectors. "If it chooses to ignore it, qualified inspectors will continue to be lost to the private sector."
"These workers are overworked, underpaid and undervalued. As a direct consequence of current staffing levels, Inspectors are not provided with the adequate and consistent training required to do their jobs."
Ducharme adds that food inspection is about the health and well-being of Canadians. If Canada is going to build a better food inspection system to meet the needs of its citizens it must have a workforce which is properly trained and given the necessary tools to perform their work," he concludes.
Conciliation hearings are scheduled from March 27 to 29. In mid-February, CFIA members voted in favour of job action, up to and including a general strike.
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For information:
Nancy Mitchell, PSAC communications officer (613) 560-4235
OR
Yves Ducharme, PSAC Agriculture Union National President (613) 560-4306
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