PSAC Union Update for the period September 18- 29, 2000
Federal Correctional Officers (CX) in several cities across the country took advantage of Lucie McClung's debut as the new Commissioner of Correctional Services Canada on September 13. They presented her with a copy of the Joint CX Comparability Study and called for her support for their demand for a fair, negotiated collective agreement which includes a decent wage increase.
A bus arrived from Kingston shortly after 7:00 a.m. in front of the CSC offices in Ottawa, filled with uniformed Correctional Officers equipped with placards and handouts. About an hour after the start of the demo, McClung met with the demonstrators.
John Edmunds, national executive vice-president for the Union of Solicitor General Employees (USGE), welcomed her and asked her to support the findings of the joint CX study. Ms. McClung had to admit: "I haven't read it yet!" After that, she quickly went back into the building.
In front of several federal penitentiaries, Correctional Officers also took advantage of that day to distribute information handouts on the current status of negotiations at Table 4.
At the Leclerc and Montée St-François institutions near Montreal, there were some 80 correctional officers who arrived as early as 6:00 a.m. Other workers at the Ferndale, Mission, William Head and Mountain (British Columbia), Fenbrook and Beaver Creek (Ontario), Grand Cache, Bowden, Pe Sakastew and Edmonton (Alberta), Stony Mountain and Rockwood (Manitoba), Renous and Dorchester-Westmorland (New Brunswick), Nova and Springhill (Nova Scotia), and Saskatchewan institutions did the same. Everywhere, they were supported by their co-workers and their PSAC brothers and sisters, who took the time to talk with them about their bargaining issues.
Negotiations between the PSAC and Treasury Board reached an impasse on August 10 after the employer tabled a monetary offer which the Correctional Officers considered an insult. It does not value their professional work nor their exceedingly difficult working conditions.
The conditions of employment for the CXs, imposed by Parliament last year, expired on May 31, 2000. The PSAC has asked for the assistance of a conciliation officer. Hearings are scheduled to take place November 15 to 17 in Ottawa.
At their National Bargaining Conference in Cornwall, Ontario, from September 10 to 13, PSAC members from Tables 1, 2, 3 and 5 developed a framework for this round of bargaining and a process for reaching out to the membership throughout the different stages of negotiations.
The consensus on the best way to gain and maintain membership support is through continuous communication about what is happening at the bargaining table. "The time to gain membership support is now, not later," one team member said. "If you go to the membership looking for support only when you are almost finished negotiations, it is rarely successful."
Each Team selected one member to represent them on the PSAC's Negotiations Strategy Committee for Treasury Board units. It was agreed that the committee would meet within weeks of the PSAC National Board of Directors' meeting in late September to develop an overall strategy designed to keep members informed and engaged in the process.
In addition to discussing their priority bargaining items, the PSAC team members referred a number of additional 'common interest' items to the Technical Team, made up of representatives from all Tables. The Technical Team met on September 14 to review the proposals and to discuss the upcoming round of bargaining.
Once the issues have been developed into contract language and translated they will be posted on the PSAC website at www.psac-afpc.com Discussions are currently under way with Treasury Board to confirm dates for the commencement of bargaining.
Effective September 30, 2000, the amendments (Bill C-12) to Part II of the Canada Labour Code will come into force.
The amendments passed the House of Commons and the Senate prior to summer recess, and received Royal Assent on June 29, 2000.
The new statute gives workplace committees and health and safety representatives more power. The new provisions also now require that employers must ensure that employees with supervisory or managerial responsibilities are adequately trained in health and safety, and that complaints are handled internally between labour and management before a government health and safety officer can get involved. New limited protection for pregnant and nursing employees is also included in the statute.
For further information on the amendments to Part II, please check out the PSAC website at www.psac-afpc.com or the Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) website at http://labour.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) will host a Health, Safety and Environment Conference from October 29 to 31 in Vancouver.
Under the theme, "Our Environment, Our Jobs, Our Future" the conference is about sustainable employment, which includes: jobs that are safe, clean, healthy and stress free; jobs in a sustainable economy; good jobs - quality jobs; union jobs that will last; green jobs; environmentally friendly jobs; and, jobs to guard against environmental crises.
The deadline for registration is October 20. The fee for the conference is $200 per
person.
For registration forms and/or information please contact: CLC Department of Health, Safety
and Environment, telephone (613) 521-3400, Ext. 257, fax (613) 521-3113, or e-mail: dmorrison@clc-ctc.ca
"Unions Mobilizing for Disability Rights" will be the theme of the First Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) National Disability Rights Conference to be held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal from November 17 to 20.
To ensure a strong base for participation of people with disabilities in the Conference as a whole, a one-day 'Forum for Activists with Disabilities' will be held on November 17, just prior to the evening opening of the conference.
The conference will look at, among other issues, human rights obligations and at legal breakthroughs with an eye to their practical application. In addition, participants will examine the role and practice of unions in reducing barriers to employment and returning to work, in fighting discrimination and in working for progress within society as a whole.
The registration fee is $200 and the deadline for registering is October 19. For more information and/or registration forms please contact: Nicole Adani, Women's and Human Rights Department, Canadian Labour Congress, telephone 613-521-3400, ext. 202; fax (613) 521-3113, or e-mail: nadani@clc-ctc.ca
In the Vol. 12 No. 16 issue of Union Update, September 4 to 15, it was reported that Brother Bill Peterson was a life member of the Public Works and Government Services Union. It should have read the Government Services Union (GSU).
As a result of recently negotiated salary increases, the PSAC dues will increase effective October 1, 2000, for the following bargaining units: