Union Update Vol. 12 no. 16 for the period September 4 - 15, 2000
The time has come for all public sector workers to be covered under the Canada Labour Code, PSAC National President Nycole Turmel said in the PSAC's presentation to the Advisory Committee on Labour Management Relations in the Federal Public Service on August 30. "And, it should be your recommended course of action," she continued.
Turmel said that failing this, there needs to be a sweeping legislated reform of the Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA) that would provide for the effective negotiation of critically important collective bargaining issues such as classification, staffing, technological change, and workplace and organizational change. "It must also be changed to address process issues such as union grievances, designations and essential services."
Turmel also covered the issue of back-to-work legislation. "You must in our view forcefully condemn the government's use of back-to-work legislation and do something serious by way of recommendation that is aimed at ending the practice," she said. "Otherwise, nothing that you say or do will have any chance of restoring faith in the system."
"Legislative intrusions into the bargaining process, the passage of back-to-work
legislation and legislated terms and conditions of work have created much of the distrust,
anger and frustration that has undermined the system. Real progress towards a return to an
orderly and effective bargaining process requires a strong signal that the legislative
solution is no longer available to the government. In other words, it must negotiate in
good faith with the intent of reaching agreement rather than simply waiting for the
government to impose its will."
"One of the issues that clearly needs to be addressed in the context of reform of the PSSRA is the government's decision to suspend arbitration in the context of bargaining groups that are designated at very high levels. Forcing highly designated workers to follow the strike route when it is known that they cannot properly implement a strike is an unconscionable infringement on their right and ability to negotiate reasonable collective agreements that reflect their legitimate aspirations."
The Advisory Committee was set up to formulate recommendations aimed at fixing some of the many problems with the federal public sector labour relations environment. The Committee's first report was released in May of this year.
The Alliance has successfully negotiated the implementation of pay equity on behalf of the Administrative and Support bargaining unit members at the Library of Parliament in Ottawa. This bargaining unit consists of some 45 members and is one of three units the Alliance represents at the Library of Parliament.
Unlike other pay equity settlements, this is not as a result of a complaint filed, but as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was negotiated into the collective agreement in 1990. The MOU requires that the Library of Parliament follow the formula adopted by the Treasury Board in respect of pay equity for the CR and ST-OCE groups in the public service.
Since 1990, PSAC negotiating teams have been successful in simply renewing the MOU which has resulted in the current pay equity payments.
The recent recall of 6.5 million Firestone tires in the United States and in Canada illustrates the extent to which tactics used by some companies to break a strike can backfire.
According to the Vice-President responsible for Communications at Ford, the tires recalled by Firestone were made at the Firestone/Bridgestone plant in Decatur (Illinois) during a strike which began in July 1994.
Examination of the defective tires by Ford led to the conclusion that problems were mainly found on tires made at the Decatur plant. While the same tires made in 1991 were problem-free, those made between 1994 and 1996 have shown a high level of defects. To date, the recalled tires would have caused hundreds of accidents and led to 46 deaths in the United States. The steel belt of these tires would have a tendency to come off.
Members of the United Steelworkers of America working at the Decatur plant were on strike from July 1994 to May 1995. Firestone/Bridgestone hired 2,300 scabs and relied on its managerial staff to build the tires during the strike, and even until November 1996. According to Ford, the Decatur plant is the main source of the defective tires, and the plant experienced its major quality control problems between 1994 and 1996, that is while scabs were used.
The PSAC extends condolences to the family of William (Bill) Peterson, life member of the PSAC's Government Services Union, who passed away on September 2 in St. John's, Newfoundland.
Brother Peterson became active in his component in 1970 when he was elected as Executive Representative for the Heating, Power and Stationary Plant Operation (HP) group. In 1976 he was elected as Regional Vice-President, Atlantic and held that post until 1979 when he was elected Regional President, Atlantic. He was re-elected as Regional President in 1980 and 1981. In 1981 his Local, 90011, nominated him for Life Membership in his component, the former Public Works Component.
Striking PSAC members at the Edmonton Airport returned to work on Thursday, September 7 following the ratification of their five-year collective agreement.
The agreement was reached with the assistance of Mediator Tom Hodges and ended a 37-day strike.
Congratulations are extended to ATCO Frontec workers in Moose Jaw, Sask. who have chosen to remain with the PSAC and negotiate their terms and conditions of employment as a new local of the Union of National Defence Employees.
These members, who were privatized under the Alternative Service Delivery (ASD) Program within National Defence, provide support services to the military pilot training programs being operated by Bombardier at CFB Moose Jaw. They were recertified by the Canada Industrial Relations Board on August 24, 2000.
The ATCO Frontec membership is looking forward to the upcoming round of bargaining for a fair and equitable collective agreement with the employer.
Give Avis a call and identify yourself as a PSAC member through the union's Avis Worldwide Discount Number (AWD) C835975. When picking up your rental or making your reservation it is mandatory that you use the above AWD number. You should also ensure you have your PSAC member ID number with you.
The AWD number is the key to accessing the special program and privileges offered by Avis to PSAC members.
PSAC members are responding enthusiastically to the Captive Time Questionnaire being conducted for the Table 3 Joint Committee, set up to address the issue in accordance with their collective agreement.
As of August 30th the PSAC had received 372 responses! Over 80% of the submissions were completed on-line via the PSAC web site, www.psac.com, with the remainder coming in by e-mail, fax and regular mail. We continue to receive input at the rate of 5-10 submissions a day, and anyone who has not yet responded is encouraged to do so.
An initial analysis of these results has found that:
* 48% of respondents report work-related travel away from home of more than 40 nights per year; 22% of respondents report travel exceeding 80 nights per year
* 46% report that they've been unable to access Sick Leave because they are on the road, and 42% have been unable to access Family-Related Leave which they otherwise would have taken
* 51% report that they have additional home maintenance expenses as a result of their travel, and 31% report that their spouse has had to take unpaid time off work to deal with family illnesses and other household emergencies
* 15% report that the majority of their nights away from home are weekend nights. These respondents are doing weekend travel to save the Employer money on airfares but the member bears the personal cost.
Members report a wide variety of negative impacts from their extended travel requirements, the majority of which we already know about: being away from family on important occasions; loneliness; the inability to participate in community and sports activities; the theft of personal time from being held "captive" on board a vessel, in a remote field location, or in hotels and motels far from home. There are also reports of marital breakdown and the negative health impacts of such frequent travel. What we are hearing most of all is that members want to be fairly compensated for Captive Time, and that they want better management and scheduling of work-related travel requirements.
This important survey is allowing the PSAC to build up information about who is affected by Captive Time, so that when Joint Committee meetings are held, we can identify how many people are impacted by Captive Time and how many might benefit from negotiated language improvements.
Although the questionnaire was designed for Table 3 and 90% of respondents are Table 3 members, we've also had input from Table 1 and 2 members and from the members at the Parks Canada Agency, Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. They too are experiencing the negative impacts of Captive Time.
The questionnaire can be found on-line at www.psac.com, by e-mail request to <table3@psac.com> or by phoning David Orfald, Research Officer, at 613-560-4382.