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Read the PSAC 2006 Convention Report
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Read the latest on the Government's pension grab...
PSAC donates $175,000 for Tsunami disaster relief through Social Justice Fund
OTTAWA * The Public Service Alliance of Canada Social Justice Fund will contribute a minimum amount of $175,000 to disaster relief to victims and to rebuilding efforts in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami in South Asia and Africa.
"The members of our union, like all Canadians, have been greatly affected by the immense suffering and devastation experienced by the people of South Asia and Africa," said PSAC President Nycole Turmel. "There have been so many lives lost and millions left homeless without food, clean water and vulnerable to disease. We hope that our contribution, made on behalf of all 150,000 PSAC members, to the international relief effort will help bring much needed immediate support as well as help in the reconstruction of devastated communities and economies."
About one-third or $60,000 of PSAC's initial total contribution will be donated immediately to two Canadian aid agencies involved in emergency relief efforts in affected areas, with $30,000 going to Oxfam Canada and $30,000 to Save the Children. Another $30,000 is earmarked for Doctors Without Borders to support the second phase of its relief efforts.
The remaining amount, including future additional donations from PSAC components, regions and locals, will be used to assist workers and their organizations in affected areas to help restore their ability to earn an income. This initiative will be undertaken in co-operation with the Canadian and international labour movement.
This initial $175,000 contribution was raised from $50,000 from existing funds in the union's Social Justice Fund, another $50,000 added to it by unanimous decision of the PSAC National Board of Directors, and the remainder from contributions by PSAC components, regions and locals.
In addition, the PSAC is encouraging its members across the country to continue to donate to recognized aid organizations providing relief and emergency assistance to affected countries.
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For information: Joselito Calugay, PSAC communications officer, (613) 560-4235 or (613) 293-9324
***Learn how to make your own contribution! Click here....
PSAC 2006 National Convention Report
For those of us from the Union of Taxation the Convention started on Sunday, April 30th at 9:00 with a Component caucus. As well as discussing resolutions and planning convention strategy, it was an opportunity for first time delegates to get together and review convention protocol. A PSAC Regional caucus whereby observers and delegates gathered to discuss convention issues from a regional perspective followed this meeting.
Sunday afternoon there was a PSAC Pacific Regional caucus as well as a Political Action and Social Justice forum. The invited speakers and their main topics were; Hassan Yussuff of the CLC, (Social Justice Fund) Alex Munter, (Social Justice Fund) Olivia Chow NDP MP, (Child Care) Carole Lavallee Bloc Quebecois MP, (Social Justice Fund, Anti Scab Legislation) Jim Sinclair BC Federation of Labour (Privatization, Anti Scab Legislation).
Monday morning 9:00, Day 1
The convention begins with the song, “Solidarity Forever”, an Aboriginal ceremony and opening remarks from Elder Tim Brown. He gave a heartfelt speech centered on Aboriginal persons awareness and relationship with the Earth and their struggles in preserving it for generations to come.The National President then called the meeting to order.
Two speakers followed; John Cartwright, President of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council and David Miller, Mayor of Toronto.
Address by the National President.
Adoption of the Rules of Order followed and a necessary debate ensued as there had been some additions and changes to the rules prior to convention.
Adoption of the National President’s Report.
It wasn’t until after lunch and about 2:00 that the Finance Committee got to the podium to deliver their report and recommendations. It wasn’t long after that that the floor referred the recommendation back to the committee to separate the recommendation to, first, deal with the strike fund levy and two, deal with the dues increase. This topic was heavily debated prior to and during the convention.
The meeting recessed at 6:00
Tuesday morning 9:00, Day 2
Rousing rendition of “Solidarity Forever”It was time for the Constitution Committee to report. During this time 2 resolutions were referred back to the committee for further study and 8 resolutions were passed.
Tuesday afternoon there was a Human Rights forum and the panel comprised of; Maria Eva Villate a Human Rights activist and lawyer from Columbia, Terry Fenge, Strategic Council to the Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference and a specialist in Aboriginal rights, interests and environmental affairs and Sandra Carnegie-Douglas, program director for policy and special projects with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and President of the Jamaican Canadian Association.
Delegates then adopted a new budget amended to eliminate the dues increase by increasing the membership base and adjusting the average salary used to calculate revenue to reflect actual salaries at the end of 2005. There was also a reduction to a number of line items in the budget.
The day ended with an all candidates meeting, recess 7:00
Wednesday morning 9:00, Day 3
“Solidarity Forever”This day started with many Privilege points dealing with funds that were being collected throughout the convention for various causes. The one cause that stood out was the fund for the Ekati Mine workers in the north. At the end of the day $145,000 dollars was collected of behalf of our brothers and sisters who are on strike at BHP Billiton Diamond Mines Inc.
A well-attended outdoor rally was held at lunch to show our support for the approximately 400 Ekati Mine workers.
The General Resolutions Committee managed to present 2 resolutions today, not the least of which was a resolution to accept a policy on defending quality public service. This resolution was carried and the consequence will be a dues increase of .18 cents per member per month.
The Finance Committee came back with the following important recommendation, which subsequently was carried.
“Strike Fund: PSAC will institute a special levy to replenish the strike fund. From July 1 to December 31, 2006, the levy will be $2.00 per member per month for members earning $30K a year or less; $5.00 per member per month for members who earn more than $30K. From January 1, 2007 until the strike fund has a balance of $25 million, a levy of $2.00 per member per month for members earning $30K a year or less and $2.75 per member per month for those earning more than $30K.
The month after this special levy ends, the regular contribution by members to the strike fund will increase to $1.00 per member per month (up from the current 35 cents). In future, whenever the strike fund balance falls below $10 million, a special levy will be implemented until the fund balance exceeds $25 million. That levy will be $2.00 per member per month for members earning $30K or less and $4.00 for members earning more than $30K.” (PSAC)
Finance passed 3 other resolutions and then the Constitution Committee came back and had two resolutions carried and two defeated.
The convention recessed at 6:00.
Thursday morning 9:00, Day 4
“Solidarity Forever”After the credential committee reported we were introduced to our next guest speaker, Ken Georgetti, first elected President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Mr Georgetti pledged the support of the CLC to assist the PSAC in their fight for quality public service.
The Collective Bargaining Committee was next up and managed to get 4 resolutions dealt with. This doesn’t sound like much but the impact of these resolutions will be greatly felt by the members. They dealt with the elimination of regional rates of pay, Ships Crews being given their own bargaining table, as well as defeating a changed to PSAC Reg 15, which would have given the National President greater authority during negotiations and lastly a new student employment policy. Highly consequential stuff, which will result in an approximate .30 cent dues increase per member per month.
A better part of the afternoon was devoted to well deserved tributes to Nycole Turmel, National President, for her hard work and dedication to the PSAC.
Convention Recessed at 4:30 in preparation for a dinner/dance to be held in the same hall.
Friday 8:30, Day 5
“Solidarity Forever”This morning was devoted to the elections for the positions of President, Vice President and Alternate Vice President. Mr John Baglow chaired the elections.
For the position of President, 4 persons were declared candidates.
John Gordon, Heather Brooker, Robyn Benson and Jean-Francois Des Lauriers. After the first ballot Des Lauriers was dropped, following the second ballot Brooker was dropped. John Gordon was elected President on the third ballot.
The position of Vice President was decided after one vote between Patty Ducharme and Joanne Ursino who was nominated from the floor. Delegates elected Patty Ducharme as the National Executive Vice-President.
Richard Des Lauriers was elected Alternate Vice President winning in an election over Jeannie Baldwin.
Elder Tim Brown returned to the dais with some closing remarks, which closed the convention.
Convention was adjourned at 12:30
If anyone would like to see the actual convention reports, budgets and guides please let me know and I will make them available to you.
You are also welcome to go on to the PSAC and UTE web sites to read more news and view highlights from the convention.
In solidarity,
Wayne Little
President, Local 20028
President’s Report 2006
Welcome to the 2006 Annual General Meeting.
Recently, one of our members asked that I make an attempt to put more humour into the AGM and my report. As hard as I try I just can’t find anything funny about the way this employer manages our members and how it’s now treating the Canadian taxpayer. Maybe there is some humour there. I’m never sure whether to laugh or cry each time I see a new “initiative” being introduced by this employer.
Locally, we have seen changes within the office. We are now dealing with “affected” employees under Workforce Adjustment. We are working hard nationally, regionally and locally to ensure our members are looked after. I believe that we have made some successful progress within the confines the employer has established. We will continue to be vigilant and to that end we now have a WFA Committee in the office. It’s only taken the employer 4 years to agree to it, but we now have it and this should help.
I’d like to acknowledge those members who assisted us with public information plantgating last year. During that time we collected more that 600 signed letters from the public. I believe that this strategy assisted us in having the employer keep the cash units open. We’ve started again, and you will see more public plantgating in the near future and I ask all of you to take some time and join us to help each other. As well, we will start a new campaign aimed at contacting our MP’s and informing them of the issues we’re facing.
I would also like to acknowledge the return of all our UTE members who had to transfer to CEUDA a few years back. We never forgot you and certainly welcome you back to the union you rightfully belong to. I’d like to add and thank Barb Bell, local CEUDA president for the work she has done representing members during this time. Barb has been a good friend to our local and I trust she will continue to work hard for members.
As well, the EAP committee has been working diligently on this year’s wellness fair. The date is May 3rd. Please take some time to attend. The employer has granted 1 hour of leave for this event.
Last year I, along with other executive members, had the opportunity to attend the UTE triennial convention. Two hi-lites from that convention were; first, the convention passed a resolution to make the first VP position a full time paid position. Certainly one reason why we decided to ask Bob to attend our AGM. I believe it’s important for members to get to know their elected officials. Secondly, a resolution was passed to allow members to put forward bargaining demands anytime throughout the year. I would suggest that if you have any thoughts or demands that you send them to us now rather than waiting. This way, we will be able to get our demands to the national a lot sooner and hopefully they will have more time to gather and determine the best demands to put forward to the employer.
As I’ve said before this employer put the union and its members through hell to get to our last agreement. Let’s not let it happen again. I know our agreement isn’t up till Nov. 07, but believe me that date will come sooner than you think.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of Gerry McElroy, who is stepping down from the executive after 10 years of service. Among other things, Gerry worked very hard ensuring that the members came first. She was a constant reminder to the rest of the executive of this point. I always looked forward to working with Gerry and I know that, although she may not be attending meetings, she will be there when called upon. We are very fortunate to have stewards like Gerry.
I would like to announce that we have some new executive members who will be sworn in tonight. They are; newly appointed Secretary Tina Doehnel, and stewards, Gord Leach, George Matthews, and Scott Parker. I applaud them for getting involved and look forward to working with them on the executive.
As well, I would like to acknowledge and congratulate Cindy Little for being elected President of the South Vancouver Island Area Council and Sara Cousins for being elected as that Council’s new Treasurer.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the members of last year’s local executive. John Rumsby, Vice President; Sara Cousins, Chief Shop Steward; Cindy Little, Treasurer; Brenda Esplen, Secretary; and the stewards, Brenda Busch, Gino Nasato, Anne Godwin, Gerry McElroy, Jackie Robertson, Tove Mills, Deborah Sheeran. And a big thank you to Robert Mitchell who looks after our website. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out. Thank you all.
As a local, we are very fortunate to have such dedicated people working for us. I know a lot of the work that they do on your behalf goes unseen but believe me when I say that they work tirelessly, unselfishly and devote a lot of their own time to the local.
In closing, I apologise for the lack of humour, however, I’ll promise to try and lighten up for the following year.
Respectfully submitted,
Wayne Little
President
Local 20028
Press Conference Speech
April 1 2005
It’s time for Canadians to once again file their Income Tax returns and pay their taxes. Just don’t try paying your taxes at the offices of the Canada Revenue Agency. THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOL’S JOKE!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Betty Bannon, National President of the Union of Taxation Employees, a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. The Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC represents 23,000 members employed by the Canada Revenue Agency.
Some time ago, the Government of Canada established an Expenditure Review Committee to examine ways and means to save the government money. Each department and agency was required to review how they conduct their business and to make recommendations to this Committee to save money.
In spite of the Canada Revenue Agency’s slogan MORE WAYS TO SERVE YOU!, one of the expenditure cuts proposed and accepted by the Canada Revenue Agency was the closing of the cash and client service counters at the 47 Canada Revenue Agency Tax Offices across the country. Today, taxpayers can walk into any of the client service counters in any of these 47 offices and be provided with service. Individuals and small business owners rely on this service to make payments in a number of ways, including cash. They currently also have the opportunity to receive the answers they need with respect to their personal and business tax questions. Problems with Income Tax assessments, filing inquiries, Child Tax Benefits, GST rebates and other such matters can be dealt with on the spot.
Although the Government announced its expenditure review initiative in its recent budget announcement, the details of the service cuts have not been announced. Furthermore, although the Canada Revenue Agency has already decided to close its cash and client service counters, they have withheld this information from the public. As a result, the Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC has decided to launch a national campaign commencing today to announce this initiative to the public and to strive to have the Liberal Government and the Canada Revenue Agency to rescind this decision.
Members of the public visit the Agency’s client service counters for a number of reasons. Primarily, these taxpayers want to receive their service face to face. Even the Canada Revenue Agency itself acknowledges that this service is greatly needed by calculating “wait times”. In its 2003-2004 report, the Agency standard was 20 minutes, which they admit they achieved only 81% of the time. If members of the public have to wait for service, it is clear that there is a need for the service, even though telephone and electronic services are also available. And the members of the Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC who are employed by the Canada Revenue Agency also agree that this service is needed and wish to continue to provide this service.
In future, instead of being able to walk in at their convenience, anyone who needs tax assistance will now be required to phone the Agency and make an appointment. The Agency call centres are already overworked and anyone calling will now have to get in line just to make an appointment
The decision to close the cash and client counter and to eliminate this service was not thought through by the Canada Revenue Agency, in our opinion. The elimination of this service will affect all members of the public and will profoundly affect seniors, low wage earners, recent immigrants who may face language barriers, persons with literacy problems and citizens eligible for GST rebates and Child Tax benefits. Frequent and regular users such as Accountants, Lawyers, Tax Preparers and other Tax professionals will also be greatly affected.
The Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC is at a loss to understand why the Government of Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency would eliminate a service that is so greatly needed by the Canadian public for the sole purpose of saving money. We would understand, however, as we have done in the past, when the Agency enhances services to the public through the introduction or improvement of technology. This is not the case however, with the elimination of these services.
Canadian taxpayers are currently paying for these services through their taxes and we are confident that they will insist on the continuation of these services. In spite of this, these taxpayers are being told that they are no longer welcome to walk into the offices of the Canada Revenue Agency without an appointment and they will not receive the services that they deserve, and that cash payments will not be accepted from them at these offices.
One focus of our national campaign is aimed at informing the public of this unfair and arbitrary decision to eliminate services and to engage them in assisting their own cause by voicing their dissent concerning this unjust decision. To this end, we had attempted to have our members distribute literature to the public today and to wear buttons with the slogan “You’ll miss us when we’re gone” to bring this matter to the attention of the public whom we are entrusted to serve. The Canada Revenue Agency’s response to this was to deny all leave without pay and vacation requests by our members to leaflet the public with information and not to allow them to wear these buttons while serving the public. We believe that this is an attempt to interfere with our right to publicize this decision. They have also effectively placed a gag order on our members by directing them not to discuss this issue with members of the public, even when raised by these taxpayers whom we serve.
The Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC feels that you have the right to know! We also intend to engage in a variety of activities to save these services, including but not limited to, meeting with Members of Parliament, as well as reaching out to affected organizations, such as seniors’ groups like CARP, Canada’s Association for the Fifty Plus, whom we have a representative in the audience today, tax professionals and other citizens affected by this initiative. We also ask for the support of the Canadian public and we ask that every Canadian strongly voice their objection to the elimination of these services by contacting their Members of Parliament and their local Canada Revenue Agency office.
Thank you.
Betty BannonNational President
President's Conference
President’s Conference - March 2005
It was noted that the deadline for Convention is at 12 noon on Saturday.
Introductions and administrative details
Betty’s opening remarks - This year we have a lot of things to deal with but we also have to discuss the impact of the Government Budget which hit the GSU and UTE the most of all of the components. The executive council has authorised a committee be struck to deal with this issue. Since there are not as many items on the agenda we will get an opportunity to discuss the issues at length. Each local needs to ensure that they have a WFA committee to deal with the impacts of the budget. This will not be a short campaign as the budget is laid out over 3 - 4 years. We need to do our campaign on three front s. First of all we need to deal with the members and we all know that we have members who are from the me generation. We have to get them to wake up and activate all of the members. The second front is the public. No one likes the tax man and we will not be able to centre our campaign around what we are losing but on what Mr and Mrs Taxpayer will be losing. One of the organizations we need to deal with is “grey power”, the older generation as the don’t use ATMs and email etc as they like coming to deal with use personally. The third front is the politician’s which we started lobbying during the strike. Most of the MP’s don’t have any ideas and we need to deal with this. We need to educate them that the jobs hit their constituents. The information will be supplied that we can deal with the politicians at all levels. This will be a large campaign and we will be striking the committee quickly as we want to start the campaign by April 1st. The work will have to be done at the local level as this type of campaign can not be done at the top. We need the local’s commitment to get involved. During our next few days we will need to come up with some solutions like a big brain storming session. They will be taking notes and giving them to the committee. Sister Turmel will be coming today to talk to us. An NDP member will also coming today about the value of lobbying so we understand why we should go to the politicians who implemented the budget. If every president gets involved in the discussion, we will have a good conference. Two leather jackets will be won this weekend.
Hilde brought forward her point of privilege about Jean.
Betty did a brief review of some of the resolutions that Executive council passed such as Political Action Campaign and Communications Strategy.
Items:
§ Disciplinary review committee - across Canada update - All locals reported what they’ve done with penalties and scabs etc. Once the NBOD has finished with their ruling can the names be put on the website? Betty - Yes. Betty asked Pierrette to put this down for discussion and mentioned she would rather the names be all put up in one actions. It was noted that there were four regions that had NO scabs. Also noted that we had far fewer scabs than in 1991.
The chair requested that all locals that have not submitted a covering letter for their resolutions need to do this to certify that Local has submitted x number of resolutions. If they do not have one of the covering documents they can just use a blank sheet of paper.
CEUDA and their designates - David Quist mentioned that not all of the CEUDA designates were requested to submit all of their 25% amounts and wanted to have UTE follow up with this with CEUDA. Betty emailed Ronny Moran and then spoke with him where told his people that they had to do this. He also asked for the PSAC Constitution about this. She has not received a copy from him about this by letter and she is ready to charge Ronny Moran if this
has not been done. If he has done this and some locals have not done
this she is prepared to charge the locals. Betty also got Sister Turmel
to mention this at the NBOD. § Variable work schedules and part-time work status - David Quist - A member got a letter from their Doctor that they should go on a variable work schedule instead of Part-time status. The employer refused to allow them to do this. The member has since quit but they did file a grievance on it.
§ Recycling bins - Penny - (mini bins) Chris Aylward said that they now have a mini bin working group. There was a variety of different scenarios in various locals. In Halifax they have had recycling done by staff for the last 5 years. In Surrey we just found out that there may be a problem with the classified waste where the handicapped people dealing with this may be laid off. Surrey will be putting this on the UMC on the 24th and will update the UTE if needed.
Betty introduced David Christopherson, NDP MPP critic for labour. (Betty listed his many credentials among which he was also a Local President of a UAW local which is now CAW.) He also walked the picket line with members in Hamilton during the strike.
David congratulated us on doing a phenomenal strike.
It’s important to sit down across from your rep telling them why your situation is important. Be nice to start with and remember to phone ahead and make an appointment. Don’t overwhelm them so only bring about 3 - 5 people with you. At most they deserve respect. The only real power we have over them is votes so make sure that you take someone who voted for them otherwise they will have lost nothing if they don’t deal with your request. Then ask for a commitment but if they won’t commit tell them that you will be forced to vote for someone else. So get a commitment from them about something. We want a paper trail and then hold them to it. Get your MPs as early as possible. If you can get them to sign a letter etc as its harder to wiggle out of their commitment if this is done. Make sure those visiting or writing provide their addresses to show them that they are a voter. If you get a chance to hold a news conference to show them you are on the side of the angels.
Remember that this is one way communication and reporters will go and find out the MP’s position. Your members also love seeing you out there speaking on their behalf.
Now if someone is out there threatening (don’t threaten something if you can’t do it) tell them that you will be there on a weekly basis as the MP’s do not like picket signs in front of their offices. Make sure everyone else in Canada knows what you are doing so something can be coordinated across Canada. The ultimate goal is to get their vote on way or another as they need to represent their community,
If an MP is doing something for us reluctantly still say thank you anyways. You want to be as credible and mature as possible. In the long run you want their fear that if they don’t support your issues, you can do something about their not getting re-elected. In the long run it’s all about winning.
Betty commented that Mr Christopherson was informative and entertaining.
Ian Daykin asked if it has any effect to go above them by going to their superior. Response - Not really unless they have not replied or dealt with you. This would only help you if the leader is on side with you.
Betty gave Mr Christopherson a UTE sweatshirt to wear on our next picket line.
Betty introduced Nycole Turmel. Nycole talked about the modernization act. She also wanted to talk about the Federal Budget. She also mentioned that during the strike we had a camper across from Mr Alcock’s office in Winnipeg as he had to come out of his office sometime.
The eleven billion dollar budget cuts will effect around 11, 000 people. What they are not saying is what they are not saying is what could happen in moving people from one place to another. Nick stein is reviewing some WFA info from PSAC which will be on our web soon. PSAC members need to make people understand that services will be negatively affected and that the cuts will have an effect on them.
Betty gave Nycole a notepad & a pen because she does not wear the shirts.
Friday
Shawn Bergeron - Point of privilege on member
Norbert Wenzel - Point of privilege mentioned Health & Safety award Patricia Payton received.
David Orfald and Jacquie deAguayo held a presentation on Bill C-25
Jacquie - The Public Service Labour Relations Act - It’s supposed to be more enabling and is intended to make things more harmonious. This is not true. It’s more about Divide and Conquer. Essential services agreements will now ask, "Is the service essential?" To determine this they’ve added a facility and an entire segment of the public. If we can’t come to an agreement on this we have a complaint and we know how quick they really are. If we decide that a service is an essential one, the employer then has the right to set the level of service. We can’t challenge this. Right now the designated worker only has to do their specific job but with the new Act they have do everything that is deemed essential. There are a lot of unknowns on how we will get to an agreement on who will be deemed essential. The process will be a lot more work than before. There is something called an emergency situation.
Currently we have strike votes but with this the union has to give every worker a reasonable ability to vote and a reasonable chance to find out what the vote was. The moment a strike vote was held a clock starts ticking and the union has sixty days and we have to go out on strike. If we don’t hold a strike right away we have to ask the EMPLOYER for an extension. If we don’t want to do this we have to hold another vote. All members, rands, suspended members etc must be allowed to vote. If denied they have ten days to complain to the board.
There is a provision in the act that restricts picketing. You cannot impede or attempt to impede essential workers. This will help them on an injunction application. If you go up to an essential worker just to talk to them and give them a paper, you may be considered to be impeding them.
Employer free speech clause - the employer has the right to express his point of view as long as it doesn’t include coercion, intimidation etc. If they then talk to the employees it is our obligation to prove they were doing something wrong.
The Union cannot discipline members in a discriminatory manner and the member has all sorts of avenues of appeal through the board etc.
There have been changes to the grievance procedure and adjudicators now have the right to apply and enforce the Canadian Human Rights Act and award $25,000 in damages, interest. Our collective Agreement still has the No Discrimination clause.
There are two new kinds of grievances - Group Grievances and Policy Grievances.
If you are grieving something monitory and the union is saying that they are denying OT or something. In a group grievance only the members who signed get paid. Whereas a policy grievance decides that the employer did something wrong.
The new staffing according to the Act effective December 2005 will be the same as the CRA’s.
David - Consultation and co-development are supposed to be part of the nice stuff. Every deputy head MUST establish a consultation process with the bargaining agents. Two particular areas are harassment and whistle-blowing and we don’t think it will be any different than the current procedure. You may find that the deputy head may try to establish a consultation with all Unions simultaneously. Co-development is defined as a form of some kind of enhanced consultation. This is thought of as a nice thing but is not mandatory. As a union we have had some success with initiatives of co-dev such as Term Studies etc. In all the situations where we have had success it was because it was tied to collective bargaining.
About compensation research - This is a new thing for the board but not the public service as there used to be a body that dealt with these things. That body was closed in 1992 by the Mulroney government and this is one of the few places that the Fryer report that the government picked up on. The will help us establish that we actually make less than the public sector but there are a few places that will result in the opposite.
Negotiations and dispute resolution - We are still prohibited to negotiate anything about staffing, pensions etc. We can still choose to go the strike route with conciliation or to go through arbitration. Notice to bargain is now four months instead of three months prior to the expiry of the contract. The chair of the board can now establish a mediator without our asking for a mediator. There is now something concerning the public interest.
In the future we will have to give the conciliation board all of our proposals. Also there will now be a list put together by the board and the chair has to be approved by the minister. Right now this will be the minister of Canadian heritage. If both parties agree the minister is just supposed to rubber stamp the appointment. They used to have fourteen days to report and seven days after that we can strike. Now they have thirty days to report. The mandate for conciliation and the PICKS has an addition of a factor to consider the state of the Canadian economy and the government’s fiscal situation. We think there will be a bigger deal made out of this than appears to the eye.
The most fundamental changes in the dispute resolution process will affect how we do the strike vote process, when we do the vote and when we actually strike. The don’t need to deal with the essential services until twenty days after we serve notice to bargain. If we ask for conciliation, do a strike vote at the same time, and we don’t have an essential services agreement done we are in serious trouble of having the 60 days to strike vote going stale. Through this legislation they have seriously affected our ability to hold strike action.
How will the act affect the present ability to discipline our members? Jacquie - There are transitional provisions in the bill but there are none in the bill that give us guidance on that. Discipline that is occurring now may well find its way in front of the board. Until such time as the board establishes what constitutes discipline the present rules will probably apply.
Co-development really means joint decision making. If one party does not agree, we cannot go ahead.
Policy grievances will not function any different that the current section 99 grievances. The time limits for filling provide for 31 calendar days after the issue happens. With Section 99 grievances we had no time limit. This may force management to deal with the problem more expeditiously. This is only collective agreement stuff.
Betty thanked them for coming and gave them both UTE golf shirts. Betty also noted that both Jacquie and Dave both wear their stuff around the building.
§ On-line access Tracking System “OATS” - Complaints that this is being used for discipline in some locals in Ontario. Pierre Mulvihill mentioned that OATS was not mentioned to the tech change committee. Betty said that they will look into this and issue a bulletin to ensure that is only used for access purposes. Johann will send Betty any emails on this as soon as he finds it.
§ Budget effects on CRA to be dealt with later.
§ UTE Web mail and email - Gerard complained that the system is not retaining old emails when they are using forwarding. Betty came back later with the solution that they will have a place on the Webmail site to show all of these.
§ Rands - Gaetz/Halifax - quite a few locals are having problems with having the Rands changed on their list when the signed up. Betty wanted us to ensure that when someone is a “times-out” that we notify the UTE if they are now PIPSC, quit or deceased etc.
§ Airfares - Jean Pierre - Airfares have been changed since last year and the dollars that are being sent to locals have been reduced by at least 30 %. Can we have this corrected? The bylaws talk about “H” class fares and the airfares have been changed several times and right now the air industry is in flux. Bob said that they had a problem with this and as a result the decided to pay 1 ½ times latitude as the regulation allows them to pay more than 1 time latitude. They will also now try to ensure that the taxes are added into the fare dollars they send out. Betty also responded that they will now be sending out 1 ½ times latitude.
Bob mentioned that Delegates will be staying at the Delta ($129 + 15% HST) and all of the Observers will be staying at the Hilton ($139 + 15% HST). It was also noted that the Hilton is slightly better.
Bob also brought up that the Bank of Nova Scotia will be doing up a package for members to try and get them some better deals on accounts, safety deposit boxes and mortgages etc. They will be giving us a package on deals at the Convention.
Chris said that there is a new first aid policy and there is a hang-up. The employer wants to take the obligation of supplying a first aid kit for members using their vehicle out of the policy. Another thing being reviewed is the policy on the H & S workplace representatives. The defibulators will not be issued until Treasury Board sends out something and TB has stated that the employer can choose what they want to do. Posters for April 22nd Earth Day and H & S will be handed out tomorrow.
Brother Bill Chedore from the CLC did a presentation on OSH, Bill C-25 and an overview of amendments to the criminal code. Westray April 9, 1992 was mentioned. The government knowingly failed to enforce H & S regulations and failed to support JHSC. Corporate leadership flagrantly ignored H & S. As a result 26 people died. H & S requires routine enforcement of regulations and effective committees. (www.hazards.org <http://www.hazards.org>)
Betty gave Bill a UTE golf shirt as a thanks.
§ Targeted behavioural interviews and competency assessors - Greg Reid asked how many assessors we have across the country? Kent replied about 40 to 46. Greg had some problems with these assessors and Betty said that any problems should be addressed through their RVP’s first. Kent said that 80 % of our members should be deemed to meet the competencies of their job.
Saturday
§ Designates and Dues deductions - Barry Melanson - The PSAC had told members that the deductions had to be in by February 10th to received a receipt for 2004 but had not told the Locals.
§ A resolution was brought to the floor to ask UTE to do a study to do a feasibility study on providing onsite daycare. Passed.
§ The Pay Equity hearing was scheduled for Jan 18, 19 & 20 but heard on 18 & 19 and no response has been seen yet. Bulletin No. 61 is on the Pay Equity web site to which you can subscribe. The Pension hearing date has been set for November 15, 2005.
§ Deemed not qualified employee - Charlottetown - A person who was deemed to be incompetent was put in an acting position instead of people who were deemed to be competent in a pool. Discussion was brought to the microphone. Chair of the Staffing Committee (Kent) mentioned that the member should not be said to be deemed to be incompetent but should be deemed to be not qualified. Kent mentioned that this was something they foresaw a long time ago. The committee needs to have any situations sent to them so the can show them to the employer. The problems here are the selections tools - assessment criteria are wrong. The Ads and Directors are not doing their jobs by telling HR that these processes do not work and this is causing problems too. This is not getting any better but we have to keep trying and all you can do is try to speak to your director and appeal to his/her common sense. The people who are at the local level that are making the decisions need to be dealt with and encouraged to do the right thing. Betty mentioned that having “Staffing on the UMC agenda on an ongoing basis is a good idea. This way management could bring forward some of the staffing processes and they might be dealt with.
§ Health Canada Referrals - David Quist - When the employer brought pout the injury and illness report we were the only union who met with the employer. If we have some member who needs to have a reduced number of hours due to an injury they like to send the member to Health Canada. The chair of the H & S committee (Chris Aylward) mentioned that they have to have reasonable grounds for not going by the member’s Doctor’s letter. The employer simply saying because they want to does not meet the test of reasonableness.
§ Appeals Reorganization - Barb Stewart - There is a pilot reorganization going on in appeals. There is a relocation of work happening and they will be reducing the number of chief of appeals. Locals need to be aware that the WFA is to be applied in relocations. The employer disregards the local’s comments when WFA is mentioned. Joe Parish said that there are no appeals in small offices so it’s not a pilot, it’s been done. Hilde Sellmeyer mentioned that they were a part of the pilot and they would be the regional office to handle appeals. In Quebec, Jean-Pierre Bonin mentioned that there is some consideration on people being moved around and we need to ensure that the WFA is taken into the picture and to be careful about applying the distance moved. Nick Stien mentioned that there are two issues here and that the WFA needs to be dealt with and if needed a grievance needs to be filed as they will not ignore a grievance. The other issue is that the chiefs are now responsible for more than one office and the Admin Assistants are now an affected employee.
§ Grievance replies - Gerard Ennis says that there are a number of grievance replies that have the incorrect address. Do they not check the system? Betty’s response was that they are probably being taken from the grievance file so it’s important to ensure that the file info is up-to-date.
§ PM 2 Auditor doing RAPs - Bob Carpenter - This is probably taking away work from other clerks and officers. Several other offices are doing this. What are they doing about it? Chair of the staffing committee had a request to have the offices to show them where this is in their job descriptions and then forward this on upward so it can be dealt with as it’s not in their JD. Ester mentioned that when they were part of Office Exam they did RAPs so when they went to Audit they kept doing this. Bob mentioned that their people are not office exam officers but are PM2 and PM3 Auditors.
Bob Campbell asked that more people send in articles for the newsletter. At your AGMs please also check to ensure people are receiving the newsletter. Ian Daykin asked if there could be a section for our successes at the National level like a short review of an ITPR that we won. Bob responded that this has already been done.
Bob also mentioned that they want people to look at the budget and to ask questions now if they have any but not a million questions.
Betty was looking at putting a link on the UTE website to receive changes in addresses that Sylvie would update. The returned mail was about a thousand originally but has been reduced significantly since.
Betty then brought up two resolutions that were passed at Executive Council. Resolution No. 31 and No. 32.
No. 31 Political Action Campaign - Press Kit
Be it resolved that UTE develop a political action campaign surrounding the recent announcements under the expenditure review for the CRA.
Be it further resolved that the development of a Political Action Campaign include a “Press Kit” and information package to be utilized by the local executives and council members when contacting MP’s, MLA’s and local municipal officials.
No. 32 - Communications Strategy
Be it resolved that the UTE Develop a Communications Strategy aimed at educating the public and the media on the loss of CRA jobs which have provided valuable services to the public.
Be it further resolved that the Communications strategy be developed with the intention of beginning this campaign no later than April 1st, 2005.
Normand Pelletier said that we need to first know how the changes will affect our members before we can deal with this at a local level. Betty responded that the most that Government Services Canada was to be giving out forms not specific tax information.
Various locals gave info on what they wanted included in the “Press Kit”.
Concerning No. 32, Nick stated that his information says that there will be not counter cash service in April 2006. We need to know when a workload is going and to where so we can try to deal with this. We need to give the message that we are still the engine that drives the revenue income. They need to know that they are chopping the wrong part of the tree! Don’t chop off the trunk and be sure that you are giving information out that you really know.
Pamela said that she has confirmation that the counter will be closed within the next 12-16 months and cash will be gone too. She also said that there will be at least 40 jobs gone in the Pacific Region. This type of campaign cannot go for a long stretch as this will happen in a short time. It will be a fight between the three regions to see who gets the call site as they are looking at one call site down the road.
Betty responded to a question about contracting out that she felt that three areas they could already do this is in IT, HR and supplies etc.
Linda suggested that a button is done to have every cashier wear to tell the public that this is the last season that they will get this service. We need to let our staff know that we should no longer do volunteer for preparing tax returns. We need to let our members know that the cash people will be going but that there will still be cash etc coming in and we should not do those peoples jobs so they can be laid off. These cuts also mean that our equity groups will be very affected as they fill in the gaps with terms from equity groups.
Richard Hyatt mentioned that cutting our services to the areas we volunteer in is not a good suggestion as these are the people we need to reach to keep them informed. Another member mentioned that these are the people that really need us due to their situation financially etc.
Kent McDonald and Shane O’Brien along with two reps from CEUDA met with the employer last Tuesday (a week ago) to discuss the Term study. The Union believed that the CRA would sit down and explain how they would implement the employer’s commitment to change the tenure of these employees. At the meeting last week the employer said that that they had no intention to consult with the Union on how this was to be done. They also told us that they already hired 92 members through a competition. As a result of the discussions at executive council they met with the employer yesterday at lunch. In addition Linda Cassidy attended as the person who was at the original meeting where they made the agreement. Yesterday two of them met with Dan Tucker and the person who was in charge of this initiative. The employer said that all they had to do was to ensure it was done and that’s all that counts. We asked that we would be informed as to the present numbers and where these people were etc. The employer lied to them yesterday as their position changed as they were going to do the change of tenure by selection process only. This was not in accordance with the original agreement. They will compile a list of these 1100 individuals and give specific information such as the office and what section they were in. One of the things that perturbed Kent was the lack of the person dealing with this wanting to do any work as the CAS system doesn’t tell them that. Kent responded what is wrong with the telephone and she stated, “You wouldn’t want me to do all those phone calls did you?” Kent said if they gave him the Phone #’s he would call them. Kent told Dan Tucker that the employer had already set up a three year review so they could follow up on staffing and they couldn’t follow up on this? They should be able to pick up the phone and check on all of this.
Kent wanted all locals to go back and find out how many terms over three they have and what are they going to be doing about them?
Annette Melanson gave a brief update on the Convention activities etc. She mentioned the links on the website for PEI and other areas. It was mentioned that there would be cool evenings and fog during July so please keep the weather in mind. Air travel in and out of Saint John is not great so book your flights as soon as you can to ensure that you get there when you want to get there. Now about fun night info will be sent our and it was asked that everyone Theme is Maritime Kitchen Party - Lobster 1 ¼ lb or steak or surf and turf or vegetarian quiche. The cost will be $35. To begin the evening there will be a guided bus tour and there will also be a shuttle for those that do not want to do the tour. There will be many prizes and there will be a dance will be a band which we heard last night.
Letter from David M. Odell, Vice-president Local 00001, Toronto East to John Cannis, MP for Scarborough Centre on same gender marriage
February 2005
John Cannis,
MP for Scarborough Centre
Hi John,
I hope things are going well for you. Things are much better for me
now that we have a collective agreement.
I'm just dropping a note to let you know what this constituent thinks
on the issue of same gender marriage and the Civil Marriage Act. I meant
it to be a short note, but it got out of hand.
I come from a strongly religious family that has been in Canada for
many generations. I have ancestors that came to North America as early as
the early 1600's, if my cousin's genealogical research is to be believed.
The most recent arrivals came in the third and forth quarters of the nineteenth
century.
Canada has grown a tradition of tolerance, and grown well as we developed
that tradition. Our horizons of tolerance have grown over the years. In
our earliest days there was discrimination on the basis of culture and religion,
with conflict between the primarily French and Irish Roman Catholics, and
the mostly British protestant groups. We learned to get along, and prospered.
Other european groups were welcomed into Canada, and we continued to grow.
A more recent turning point came from the liberal governments' immigration
policies of the 60's and later, and we have further grown and prospered
with policies that welcomed people to Canada from all over the world.
In today's Toronto, and especially in Scarborough, where we both live,
we are hugely enriched by living in the most culturally diverse city in
the world. We share the streets and our workplaces with people of all faiths,
people from every ethnic group, people from all over the world.
The fundamental values expressed by recognizing and welcoming diversity
have given us the great city and country we live in.
Some people are writing you to say that they fundamentally beleive
that to be gay is evil. Some will say that allowing "those people" to marry
will tear apart the fabric of our society. I say they're full of crap.
Giving in to the attitude that some people are of less value, or are
less deserving of the full protection and benefit of our laws is what will
damage our country.
We welcome people of all cultures and religions. People who think to
be gay is morally wrong are free to believe that, the freedom to believe
as one chooses (or as our parents teach us) is protected. Personally I don't
understand how people can at the same time benefit from our laws protecting
rights, and yet argue against extending those protections to other identifiable
groups.
My own religion teaches me that the highest good is to love God, and
to love your neighbour as you love yourself. For me, as it applies to the
issue at hand, this means that it is a moral and religious imperative for
me to support equal access to marriage for people who are homosexuals.
I support equal access to marriage for myself, my children, people
who are Moslem, Jewish, Hindu, Eastern Orthodox, and everyone else. Straight
people got it by default. It's about time people who are homosexual got
it too.
I think that writing a law that protects all people's right to marry,
while at the same time allowing individual clergy to not marry people if
it is morally offensive to them is a good balance between the groups' rights.
I encourage you to do the right thing, and support the Civil Marriage Act.
Regards,
David M. Odell
President’s Report 2005
To begin, I would be less than truthful if I
were to say that the last year was
uneventful. What with contract negotiations, strikes, grievances, elections
it
was far from it. Contrarily, as a unionist
and activist it was both invigorating and
exciting. It’s what we do this work for.
A year ago we were wondering what would happen
with our collective
agreement and what the outcomes might be. Well,
now we not only know
the answers to those questions but we all had a say in its outcome
by way of the
ratification vote. 85% of the members across
the nation voted to accept the
agreement.
This employer put the union and its members through
hell to get to the tentative
agreement, but because of it I think that we became a stronger
local, regional and
national union.
It would have been easy for us to have rolled
over and given into all the employer’s
demands but we didn’t sacrifice the interests of smaller groups of
members for
the interests of the larger group and that speaks volumes as a union.
As a result of the strike I have seen more determination
and reliance from the
members and I believe that the employer has strengthened our
resolve to be a
better union and trust each other to ensure better practices and better
wages in the
workplace.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the
many persons who assisted during the
strike. The local executive, our picket
captains, designated employees who
walked the line and paid into the hardship fund, our national
bargaining team
and everyone at the national level who worked tirelessly to get
us the best
possible result. All the members in Client
Services, Cash, and the Mail Room who
stayed out during the strategic strike action and took on the extra
duties of walking
other picket lines and taking political actions.
Thank you!
But most of all I’d like to thank each of you
who by standing together as members,
were united and a force on the line. When
you were called upon you rallied and
stood shoulder to shoulder to show the employer your determination. I’m very
proud to say I’m a member of this local.
As we all know, the union movement developed
to protect the interests and to
improve the pay and working conditions of all its members. As an interest
group we differ from political parties because we exert pressure in
order for us to
protect that which we have and to gain that which we want for our members,
not to gain political power.
I’m sure there are more members of interest groups
than there are of political
parties yet, in my opinion; we don’t seem to apply enough pressure
to the power.
We can change that by getting more active. That
is why our local, and I’m sure
there are others, have put forward a resolution to this years
UTE Triennial
Convention to request that there be a standing Political Action committee
to
start working towards putting on that pressure.
What can you do? Well,
there will be a provincial election on May 17. Why
not
get involved? Why not volunteer, attend
meetings, and let your MLA know how
you feel about your issues. An excellent
way to start is by going to the union web
sites and getting the information you need.
Speaking of web sites - our local has recently
updated ours and I would like to
thank Robert Mitchell for getting this done. You
can find the address on the
magnet in your package. If you haven’t
already done so, please visit the site and
let us know what you think. Tell us what
you’d like to have on it and we’ll
do our best to accommodate.
Within the office we have a social committee
and last year this group passed
a budget to allow monies to be allocated to that committee. I know
we have
very good people working on the committee who are looking for ideas
for events
and I encourage all of you to send them your suggestions for social
activities.
I believe that I can speak for the entire executive when
I say; nobody said you
can’t have a little fun sometimes!
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge
Betty Laporte who retired
last year. Among other things, Betty
worked very hard ensuring memberships
were up to date and that orientation sessions were given to new members.
We were fortunate to have been able to give Betty her
retirement gift at a party in
December.
I’d also like to acknowledge Jackie Robertson
for putting her name forward as a
steward and I am pleased to say that she is a new executive member
who will be
sworn in tonight. As well as Gino Nasato
and Sara Cousins for being elected to
the PSAC South Vancouver Island Area Council.
Gino is the newly elected
President and Sara is the new Treasurer. Congratulations
to all of you!
Finally in closing I want to take this opportunity
to thank the members of the local
Executive - John Rumsby, Vice President; Gino Nasato, Chief Shop
Steward; Cindy Little, Treasurer; Brenda Esplen, Secretary; and the
stewards,
Brenda Busch, Sara Cousins, Ann Godwin, Gerry McElroy, Robert Mitchell,
Tove Mills, James Little and Deborah Sheeran.
As a local, we are very fortunate to have such
dedicated people working for us.
I know a lot of the work that
they do on your behalf is never seen but believe me
when I say that they work tirelessly, unselfishly and devote a lot
of their own time
to this local.
In Solidarity,
Wayne Little
President, local 20028
President's Message
This is a big year for the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) as it is
a Convention year. This is the time for our union activists to review what
we have done and make decisions on the direction for our union for the next
three years. They will also be electing the National and Regional leadership
of UTE. It is healthy for any organization to periodically review its’ practices,
procedures, structure and certainly their future financial plan and UTE
is mandated to do this every three years.
Resolutions for convention to be debated and voted upon come from two sources; the National Executive Council and locals. The deadline for receipt of resolutions for this convention is noon, March 12th. These resolutions will be sorted into four committees; By-laws, General, Finance and Collective Bargaining. These committees will meet in April to review the resolutions assigned to them and make recommendations to the convention delegates of Concurrence, meaning the committee agrees with the resolution or one of Non-Concurrence, meaning the committee does not agree with the resolution. The delegates at the convention will then vote on the committee recommendations as each committee reports to the convention floor on all of the resolutions assigned. The resolutions may pertain to the operations of the UTE or the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). Those that pertain to the UTE, if passed, will be implemented immediately after the closure of the UTE Triennial Convention and those that pertain to the PSAC will be forwarded to the PSAC Triennial Convention that will be held in 2006.
This year, our Triennial Convention will be held in Saint John, New Brunswick from July 13th to the 16th inclusive. There will be delegates from every one of our 51 locals present at the convention. We operate on the basis of representation by population so our delegate formula is one delegate for the first 200 members and additional delegates for each 200 members or part thereof. Since your local delegates will be representing you at the convention you should make it a point of finding out who they are. This will provide you an opportunity to give your input directly to the people who will be speaking and voting on your behalf. The delegates will have the resolutions and committee recommendations prior to the convention commencing.
Betty Bannon
National President, UTE
BC Regional Convention 
Alert*** So far, your votes have placed
Cindy Little and Robert Mitchell as delegates and Sara Cousins sits as
first alternate, ready to take the place should a delegate be unable to
attend. Thanks to all who voted!Nominations for delegates to the April 8-10 convention are now closed. Ballots will be mailed out this week and next. Marked ballots must be received back at the Vancouver PSAC office by Friday, February 25 in order to be counted. Narratives for nominees are listed, by area, on the web. Hard copies are also being mailed to all Locals, National Officers, Regional Council members and all PSAC committees.
Four of your own executive are attempting to represent you at this vital convention. Watch for your ballot in the mail and then speak to your executive or read their Delegate Candidate Statements to gain a better understanding of why they wish to attend.
January 18, 2005
TO: AEC
Component Presidents
Andrée Massicott Branch Directors’ Team
FROM: Nycole Turmel
At its meeting on Friday, January 14, 2005, the AEC approved a political action donation to the National Coalition – Canadians for Equal Marriage. This donation is in the form of office space and a number of ancillary services that will see the coalition operate out in part of the former RO space on the ground floor. The PSAC will pay rent to PSAC Holdings on behalf of the coalition for part of the space that is currently unused.
I am sure that you will all join me in welcoming the coalition and the four volunteers who will be working out of our offices for the next three months.
You might find the following description from the AEC’s Political Action decision of use in the event that you are asked questions with regard to our support of the coalition.
Description
Senior Courts in
seven provinces and one territory have struck down the traditional definition
of marriage as an institution restricted to opposite-sex couples. Following
the initial legal decisions, the government drafted legislation and referred
it to the Supreme Court, by way of a reference to seek the Court’s opinion
as to whether the draft legislation was compatible with the Charter.
In a unanimous
decision in December 2004, the Supreme Court concluded that the Charter
protects gays and lesbians from being excluded from civil marriage, clearing
the way for the legislation to be tabled. The government has indicated that
the legislation will be tabled shortly after the House resumes on January
31st, and that it expects it to be passed by the summer recess.
The issue, Court
decisions and the prospect of Parliamentary debate has become the acid test
for equality in the first part of the decade, in Canada and many other countries.
It also draws into sharp contrast political parties with an affinity with
the religious right with parties that are more pluralist view.
In Canada, the
debate has given rise to a National Coalition – Canadians for Equal Marriage
– that has chapters in every Canadian province and territory, except Prince
Edward Island, Saskatchewan and the Yukon. In order to implement a coherent
and effective national and local lobby of Parliament, the National Coalition
is establishing an office from January 24, 2005 until the end of April.
The Coalition was
initially created by Egale and the United Church of Canada, and now has an
extensive list of supporting organizations including the CLC, CUPE and CAW.
A complete list of supporting organizations is available at: http://www.equal-marriage.ca/links.php
“
In Solidarity,
Nycole Turmel
The National EO Conference was held January 13 - 16, 2005. The following presentation is available: Alexander Waddell /Canadian Human Rights Commission "Human Rights Complaints & Discrimination Prevention in PowerPoint and in PDF
January 7, 2005
PSAC donates $175,000 for Tsunami disaster relief through Social Justice Fund
OTTAWA * The Public Service Alliance of Canada Social Justice Fund will contribute a minimum amount of $175,000 to disaster relief to victims and to rebuilding efforts in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami in South Asia and Africa.
"The members of our union, like all Canadians, have been greatly affected by the immense suffering and devastation experienced by the people of South Asia and Africa," said PSAC President Nycole Turmel. "There have been so many lives lost and millions left homeless without food, clean water and vulnerable to disease. We hope that our contribution, made on behalf of all 150,000 PSAC members, to the international relief effort will help bring much needed immediate support as well as help in the reconstruction of devastated communities and economies."
About one-third or $60,000 of PSAC's initial total contribution will be donated immediately to two Canadian aid agencies involved in emergency relief efforts in affected areas, with $30,000 going to Oxfam Canada and $30,000 to Save the Children. Another $30,000 is earmarked for Doctors Without Borders to support the second phase of its relief efforts.
The remaining amount, including future additional donations from PSAC components, regions and locals, will be used to assist workers and their organizations in affected areas to help restore their ability to earn an income. This initiative will be undertaken in co-operation with the Canadian and international labour movement.
This initial $175,000 contribution was raised from $50,000 from existing funds in the union's Social Justice Fund, another $50,000 added to it by unanimous decision of the PSAC National Board of Directors, and the remainder from contributions by PSAC components, regions and locals.
In addition, the PSAC is encouraging its members across the country to continue to donate to recognized aid organizations providing relief and emergency assistance to affected countries.
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For information: Joselito Calugay, PSAC communications officer, (613) 560-4235 or (613) 293-9324
***Learn how to make your own contribution! Click here....
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