News release

October 16, 2003

Canada’s food safety is worth more than peanuts

Ottawa--The employees of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) were handing out peanuts to management today in order to express their anger towards their employer’s final position in collective bargaining.

The demonstration was held at CFIA headquarters, at 59 Camelot Drive in Ottawa.

“The Agency’s offer of 1% increase each year of the contract is an insult,” said Ed Cashman, Regional Vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the union representing the Agency’s 3,500 employees.

PSAC members working at the CFIA receive salaries much lower than their colleagues working for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the rest of the federal public sector.

”The Agency’s employees fulfill a very important role in Canadian society and they deserve a pay increase that is above the inflation rate,” Cashman said.

Since the beginning of the negotiations in May 2003, the employer’s attitude is tantamount to a refusal to negotiate. While the union made significant efforts to present a package that could lead to an agreement, the employer has not made any movement on any of the union’s key issues.

“This employer inflexibility is very frustrating,” Cashman said. “The employer does not seem to have any idea of the value of our work in protecting the health and welfare of Canadians.”

The PSAC recently requested the help of a conciliation officer to assist in their negotiations with the CFIA in order not to disrupt one of Canada’s most important public health protection systems.

“We know how valuable our members’ work is for Canadians,” Cashman said. “We don’t want to disrupt this very important public health protection system, but the employer will have to agree to truly negotiate with the workers.”

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Information : Alain Cossette, PSAC Communications (613) 560-4317

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