Union Update

October 1 - December 22, 2006

Acrobat format

In this issue:

• Former PSAC National President receives community award
• Preparation for federal negotiations begins
• Defending Quality Public Services?An idea on the move
• PSAC says Oda must go
• PSAC has 7,000 research and teaching assistants … and counting

Former PSAC National President receives community award

Nycole Turmel, former PSAC National President, received the 2006 Mitchell Sharp Award for Meritorious Service from the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign (GCWCC). This award recognizes people who have made a significant contribution in the service of others and their community. It was named for the late Mitchell Sharp, one of our country’s best-known public servants, and someone who, even in retirement, remained dedicated to our country and the well being of its people.

According to Linda Shirley, who presented the award, Turmel truly embodies the passion, determination and commitment that this award was created to recognize. Her leadership, both in her official capacity and in the community, has established her as an invaluable member of not only the Ottawa region but the rest of the country.

Throughout her career and into her retirement the recipient of this year’s award has been an ambassador for the GCWCC and the life changing work that it does. Whether it was attending meetings with senior officials, sitting on campaign teams for both the GCWCC and Centraide Outaouais or taking time from her busy schedule to partake in a small departmental event, she was always ready and is willing to throw her full support behind the campaign whenever needed. Currently she sits as a member of the GCWCC retirees committee where she continues to help to make a difference in her community.

Mitchell Sharp’s lifetime devotion to his country and the citizens who comprise it is legendary. He dedicated his life to serving his fellow citizens as a public servant, Member of Parliament, Minister of numerous departments and as an advisor to several Prime Ministers. Even after his retirement, Mr. Sharp continued to play a strong role in the shaping of this country as a senior advisor to the Prime Minister for the now famous salary of $1 dollar per year.

Preparation for federal negotiations begins

PSAC members are working hard to prepare for the next round of negotiations with Treasury Board and three large government agencies. They participated in two regional bargaining conferences in December 2006, one in Montreal and one in Vancouver, to prepare for a national bargaining conference which will be held in Ottawa in early February 2007.

The PSAC will be negotiating on behalf of about 130,000 members under new legislation, the Public Service Labour Relations Act (PSLRA), which replaces the Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA). The new legislation promises to pose some challenges for the union, including the negotiation of Essential Services Agreements (replacing the old designations process) and the conducting of strike votes. Membership mobilization and timing will be crucial in this coming round of bargaining.
The delegates at the two regional conferences discussed union building and mobilization strategies as well as receiving an overview of the changes under the new PSLRA.  They also elected their delegates for the upcoming National Bargaining Conference.

At the Eastern Bargaining Conference, delegates came from the Atlantic, Quebec, National Capital and Ontario regions while the Western Regional Bargaining Conference welcomed delegates from the Prairies, British-Columbia and the North.
For PSAC National President John Gordon, mobilization among the members is the key to successful negotiations. During both the Eastern and Western Conferences, Gordon explained to delegates that “the PSLRA will impact our bargaining timelines, especially in regards to strike votes. This is why effective mobilization strategies are so important.”
According to Gordon, with the Conservative government in power, the PSAC will make defending quality public services a vital part of its mobilization campaign. “We are going to have to fight to maintain and enhance public services across the country. We are going to need to instill pride in our members, and reinforce that quality public services are a human right that all Canadians deserve and expect. This is going to require participatory strategies for all PSAC members, their families and communities to help defend and enhance our public services.

“We need to challenge Harper and all that he stands for. We need to explain why tax cuts hurt Canadians, as they reduce the government’s ability to provide quality public services to Canadians.”

Defending Quality Public Services?An idea on the move

The policy on Defending Quality Public Services became the PSAC’s first priority at the Convention in May 2006 and the work to put the policy into action has begun. The union believes that Canadians have a right to receive quality services from the government and that the services are best delivered when they are in the hands of the public sector workers.

PSAC National President, John Gordon,  and National Executive Vice-President, Patty Ducharme, have personally assumed responsibility for DQPS and have initiated a consultation process with national and regional staff. A position of National Political Action Officer has been created to develop and implement the Defending Quality Public Services policy framework to the fullest capacity and to integrate it into all aspects of the union’s work.

An inventory of privatization and devolution issues is being maintained and a body of knowledge on privatization successes and failures is being assembled.

The PSAC Program of Demands, which was prepared by the union for Locals in the federal public sector to use when developing bargaining demand input, includes proposals to contract in public sector work, to restrict the ability of the employer to contract out public services and  bargaining unit work, and to update and strengthen workforce adjustment language and provisions.

Research activities have been initiated to support our policy goals. They include:

• the compilation of a list of contracting in and contracting out language;

• an inventory of Auditor General reports that discuss unnecessary costs caused by privatization, contracting out, downsizing and public service reforms;

• an analysis of contracting out initiatives for professional services over $100K.;

• discussions for a research project with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Work with the PSAC’s Components on the impact of Service Canada and the devolution of services to provinces is on-going.

The PSAC is defending quality public services on the legislative front as well.  With our labour partners, we are opposing the deregulation of the federal health and safety regulatory process.  We have also made a submission to the federal government on the so-called fiscal imbalance, stressing the important role that  federal government plays by providing quality public services.

The PSAC Organizing section has been very successful in the past in organizing former  members whose work has been contracted out.  The section will be providing input to the union on new units that could be targeted for organizing as part of our defense of public services.

The union’s national conferences will be integrating the policy goals into the design of workshops and selection of speakers. The Education section is examining how current  education initiatives can incorporate the defence of quality of public services goals into various aspects of their programming.

The Social Justice Fund is already involved in the struggle against privatization and defending public services is the focus of many of its  initiatives.

The PSAC intends to continue on the same path in the future. Some of the next steps include actions against the Conservative agenda and preparation for the next federal election and producing popular materials for the membership and the public on privatization, contracting out, deep integration, international trade threats and deregulation.

The PSAC is also leading an initiative to organize a Defending Quality Public Services Conference in 2007 that will be used as a springboard for public service unions to reinforce their respective campaigns to protect public services, as well as working on its partnerships with community groups, NGOs and the like.

PSAC says Oda must go

PSAC has called on Bev Oda, Minister responsible for the Status of Women, to resign following the Conservative government’s $5-million cut to Status of Women Canada’s budget and the changes in the guidelines which have resulted in the elimination of funding for research and advocacy for women’s equality rights.

“What the Harper government has done to Status of Women Canada (SWC) is an outright betrayal of all Canadians, women and men, who have been working to ensure that systems and programs that promote equality are supported,” affirmed PSAC National President John Gordon.

For Robyn Benson, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President responsible for women’s rights, the Minister simply cannot claim to be representing Canadian women, nor defending women’s equality.  “How can Minister Oda expect Canadians to believe that she and her government are acting in the best interests of women?” asked Benson.

The government also decided to eliminate almost half of SWC’s workforce across the   country. Out of 131 positions, 61 positions are being cut and 12 of 16 regional offices are being shut down.

Benson believes SWC should be more than a granting agency and secretariat to the Minister.  It should have in-house policy development on gender equality, monitoring of government policy for its impact on women and independent research on women’s issues.   Benson added that the SWC should be able to promote women’s equality everywhere – inside and outside government here in Canada and internationally. 

“We haven’t achieved equality yet.  To achieve equality, restoring funding for advocacy and research and increasing funding to the Women’s Program should be a priority,” confirmed Robyn Benson.

“The government should listen to elected MPs on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women” said Heather Brooker, President of the PSAC National Component which represents the affected workers.  “Their majority report calls for a reversal to the cuts in SWC’s operating budget.”

PSAC has 7,000 research and teaching assistants … and counting

A PSAC elite team made waves in Quebec last year when it organized more than 7,000 teaching and research assistants from three universities. The team’s twelve members were in Gatineau recently to support a campaign initiated by the National Capital Region at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO).

The application for certification of the 300 assistants of the UQO was filed in late November.  They will join the 2,500 assistants from the Université du Québec à Montréal who joined PSAC in 2004 and the 2,200 from Concordia University in Montreal and the 2,600 from Université Laval (in Quebec City) who were recruited this year.  Furthermore, another vote will be taken shortly among the 3,200 Université de Montréal assistants.  A vote held this year garnered more than 85% support for PSAC, but the 50% absolute majority threshold was not reached.

With these 7,000 new members, PSAC has therefore organized more than one half of research and teaching assistants in Quebec universities.  Nothing seems to be standing in the way of this team that has now set its sights on the other 6,000 or so assistants in Quebec who are still not organized.

According to Jean-Sébastien Schetagne, who had the Université de Montréal campaign under his belt and was present in Gatineau, “We are having success, because we are living the same realities and sharing the same issues as assistants at UQO or other universities.  Initial contact is positive, and we feel they are sensitive to our arguments.”

“We don’t feel any resistance,” pointed out Alexandre Gaudreault of Université Laval.  “In addition, PSAC is very well known in the Outaouais, and the team manages to get people to sign cards 95% of the time.  It’s very encouraging.”

According to PSAC Regional Executive Vice President Jérôme Turcq, “The arrival of thousands of new members will pose an interesting challenge for PSAC in the coming years.”

“These are dynamic, very progressive young people keen on making progress on their issues, which the union movement will learn to live with.  I know we will all benefit from their enthusiasm,” declared Ed Cashman, the PSAC Regional Executive Vice President for the NCR.