News – Page 68

2014/11/21

Our deteriorating heritage

In case you missed it, last week, the Royal Society of Canada released its expert panel report on Canada’s libraries, archives and public memory. Its analysis of the current state of Library and Archives Canada is scathing to say the least.

The expert panel used words like “embarrassment” and “appalling” to describe what’s happened to the institution responsible for our collective documentary heritage. The main sources of frustration among Canada’s academic community stem, in part, from the 2004 merger of the National Archives and the National Library and the 2012 budget cuts.

“In Australia, New Zealand and the EU, the merger of LAC is presented as an appalling model to be avoided by libraries and archives,” declared the authors.

The merger promised easy and integrated access to our national documentary heritage. Instead of reaping the benefits of convergence, the authors contend that the merger resulted in discord between librarians, archivists and record managers.

“We are told that morale is at an absolute low, with some of the morale deficit attributed to human resource issues associated with the merger of the organizations.”

Enter the April 30, 2012 budget cuts; a day that is colloquially called “Black Monday” in the archivist community. A reduction of 23% of LAC’s full-time employees is expected by 2016. The Royal Society has called these service reductions “draconian”.

In the report, Dr. Ronald Rudin, a Concordia University professor of history, details his recent frustrating experience dealing with LAC. With the loss of specialised staff and no access to digitized finding aids, Rudin ultimately had to make a second trip to Ottawa to accomplish his research.

“I am sure that there are stories that are more dramatic,” he wrote, “but you might keep in mind that I have 40 years of experience with using the LAC, and so I can only imagine how the various barriers would have discouraged someone doing this for the first time.”

Rudin remarked that he had no complaints about the LAC staff, “all of whom were courteous and clearly overworked.” He did note, however, that the absence of sufficient staff made his experience unnecessarily complicated.

The report also points to some of the programs that have either been eliminated or curtailed as a result of the 2012 budget cuts. Gone is the National Archival Development program, which helped support over 800 archives across Canada over the last 26 years. Scrapped are public exhibitions and the Portrait Gallery initiative. Digitization keeps dragging on (the Canadian Association of University Teachers estimates that at the current rate of spending on digitization, it would take LAC 300 to 700 years to digitize its published holdings). And since LAC’s budget for acquisitions has been slashed, more and more of our national treasures are ending up in the hands of foreign private collectors.

The Royal Society has offered a number of practical recommendations that could dramatically improve things at LAC.

“We sympathize with the challenges presented to LAC by budget reduction, as do the majority of LAC’s institutional stakeholders who know that changes are required to cope with declining resources, since they have been similarly tested,” the authors wrote.

“But, dialogue – lacking in LAC decision-making for a decade or more – can often achieve compromise solutions. In this regard, stakeholders also know that with some consultation they can help coordinate new processes to address service gaps.”

2014/11/202014/11/24

Rally in Sherbrooke for StatCan and SSO members

Our members have been rallying on the 19^th of every month in order to raise awareness of the upcoming federal election. Yesterday, in Sherbrooke, Quebec, members held a rally to call attention to the cuts’ severe impact to Statistics Canada and to shed some light on what our members at Statistical Survey Operations have to deal with.

When we last reported on the status of bargaining for our members at SSO, our case had just been presented in federal court. At present, we are still waiting to hear a decision.

The following is a speech that National President Doug Marshall delivered at yesterday’s rally:

I don’t think that I need to describe how this government treats science and statistics; it makes a mockery of them. By 2016, Statistics Canada will have lost a third of its staff.

What can we expect as citizens?

Less data

Less information

More decisions based on ideology instead of facts.

The disdain that this government seems to have for statistics apparently trickles down to the employees who are responsible for collecting the data.

Our members at Statistical Survey Operations have been working without a contract since November 2011. These are the men and women who collect data by going door-to-door or from a call centre.

Their work hours depend entirely on workload.

Those members who go door-to-door – a group made up primarily of women – have no guaranteed work or minimum number of hours. Their salary is totally unpredictable.

In other words, they have no minimum wage.

In one year alone, several of our members have suffered a drop in salary of more than 50%.

Work hours vary from week to week. It’s either feast or famine. Several members at Statistical Survey Operations live below the poverty level.

Work hours are assigned entirely at the discretion of managers. Seniority is not taken into account.

As one member put it, “If they don’t like you, you don’t get any work.”

Since 2011, our union has been fighting to ensure the fair treatment of our members and to eliminate favouritism by applying a system based on seniority as opposed to the whims of managers.

But this government has constantly undermined these efforts and opposed seniority from the start. We are currently awaiting a federal court decision that will enable us to pursue negotiations.

We hope that the employer will return to the negotiating table to improve the working conditions of our members.

We look forward to the end of negotiations with this employer … and the end of the Harper government.

2014/11/192014/11/19

Trans Day of Remembrance – Nov. 20

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) occurs annually on 20 November; it’s “a day to memorialize those who have been killed as a result of transphobia or the hatred or fear of transgender and gender non-conforming people, and acts to bring attention to the continued violence endured by the transgender community”.

TDOR was founded in 1998 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith, a trans woman and activist, who wanted to memorialize Rita Hester, a trans woman who was stabbed to death in Alliston, Massachusetts. Since its inception, TDOR has been held annually on November 20^th each year.

Specifically, it memorializes our dead brothers and sisters that have been killed because they dared to be themselves.

Killed because of human intolerance and bigotry.

Killed because they did not fit into someone’s viewpoint on what makes a man or a woman.

They came from all races, religions, ages and countries around the world. And they died horrible deaths – beaten to death, shot, stabbed, beheaded, run over by cars….

We remember and honour them because it is important to honour their bravery and conviction to live their lives honestly, and to be the person they were meant to be. It’s important to remember them because we all know that this could happen to us.

And we know that it is up to us to continue to fight for rights and protections that will make all of us safe.

And to stand up and say: “NO! This is not right!”

Personally, it is also a time to remember other brothers and sisters in the trans community that didn’t make it out alive for a variety of other reasons: those that could no longer live with the pain and checked out, those that died before they could complete transition and those that left us with a hole in our hearts where they used to be.

So, on November 20^th, please remember my fallen brothers and sisters. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Attend a TDOR ceremony in your community, if you can. And support the efforts of all of those who are trying to advance the cause of getting trans rights enshrined in law, in all the countries of the world.

Let all of us help stop the killing.

Finally, as union activists, please, please get out and support the passage of Bill C-279, which would insert gender identity into the Canadian Human Rights Code and into hate crimes legislation. The bill has been passed in the House of Commons and is currently sitting in a senate committee. Contact the senators on the senate committee and tell them over and over and over again that they need to support passage of this bill in its current form.

We are your friends; we are your brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, mothers and fathers, and even your grandparents. Help us get the same rights of all Canadians. Help us to truly take our place in this society.

Kate Hart is the Union of National Employees’ national equity representative for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. This article was written as part of our union’s member journalism program. If you’d like to find out more, click here – to pitch a story or for any questions, please send an email tocommunications@une-sen.org.

2014/11/12

UNE – Human Rights Calendar is back!

HRCalendar

The UNE Human Rights Calendar that debuted at Convention in August, is now available to all members.

The Human Rights Committee decided to create a 2015 calendar to showcase the colours of our union. The pictures represent our union, our workplace and our diversity. We also wish to thank everyone who submitted wonderful and colourful pictures we are so proud to display in our 2015 – Human Rights Calendar.

What better gift can we give ourselves than one of pride and solidarity for 2015. Calendars are still available in the component office on a first come first serve basis. Please contact your Regional Human Rights Representative if you would like to receive more.

2014/11/06

The Union is US

TheUnionIsUS

There’s no doubt that the Canadian Labour Congress’ Fairness Works campaign has helped to create a national conversation about unions’ contributions. As the labour movement’s very existence is challenged by conservative lawmakers, pitting workers against each other, the labour congress is making a simple argument: when workers thrive, we all benefit.

It’s a message that resonated with the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ), the largest labour federation in Quebec. Its leaders had an earnest desire to take that same message to Quebecers, but to also go further.

“Ours is a campaign that first and foremost targets our members,” explained Johanne Deschamps, political advisor with the FTQ. “What we asked unions to do is to train their members – facilitators in the workplace – to speak with their members. It’s about engaging members in conversations about the different issues.”

On one hand, the FTQ wants union members to have a closer relationship with their union. They also want members to have a greater sense of being a part of their union and to think critically about some of the conservative policies being proposed by the federal government.

“They often tell us, the union is YOU, whereas we want to tell them, ‘no. The union is US, together.’”

The organization recognizes that anti-union sentiment isn’t something that just exists within conservative factions of our society; there are anti-union misconceptions that are deeply engrained in the minds of our very members. Through a series of short YouTube clips, showcasing young union members, the FTQ is trying to dismantle the myth-machine.

“I don’t need the union; I can figure stuff out on my own with the boss,” reads one myth.

“What if things don’t work out with the boss? What can you do? Do you have any recourse? At least, with the union, you have other steps,” answers Lydia Bouzgaren, a PSAC member, in her video.

Deschamps said they drew inspiration from unions in Belgium, which launched a similar campaign that targeted both union members and the general population.

“They created a small booklet that was titled ‘Toxic Ideas’ – in other words, problematic ideas, and how to counter that sort of thing.”

And these days, toxic ideas are abound. Unions are battling a series of attacks at all levels of government.

“The federal government and provincial governments all seem to have this attitude, whether they’re conservative or liberal, they’re telling the entire world that there’s a problem; the debt is enormous, we have no money, so we have to cut.”

“But that’s a false argument because ultimately, they’re dismantling the state.”

“The province of Quebec, the government of Quebec, isn’t going to resemble what it used to look like before. The model that we worked on for so many years is being demolished.”

Deschamps points to the much revered Quebec daycare system, which charges parents $7 a day, as an example. There’s even a union-led campaign making the case for that model to be adopted at the federal level. But now, even that standard is being threatened in Quebec.

“It shows that even our gains can be challenged at any moment. Nothing is certain anymore.”

The political advisor acknowledges that keeping track of all these cuts and their impacts is a tall task – even for those of us whose jobs involve following these things day in and day out.

“It’s hard for us; imagine how tough it is for the general public to be accorded their rightful place in those things and to be indignant. One day, they’re going to get mad, because they’ll notice that the bill just went up – and they won’t necessarily have seen it coming.”

“I look at the title of our campaign – Pour un monde plus juste (For a fairer world) – and it takes on a special importance,” concluded Deschamps, her voice getting softer and sullen. “It really takes on a special importance because I really don’t know how we’ll get a fairer world with the decisions that these governments are taking.”

We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Johanne Deschamps for taking the time to talk to us about the FTQ’s campaign and the conservative ideas and actions that plague our society. If you’d like to find out more about the campaign, we urge you to visit their site, keeping in mind that the content is only available in French.

2014/10/31

Support healthy workplaces

Healthy-workplaceshighres-E

Do you support paid sick leave for federal government works – and for all workers across Canada? No one should face a choice between going to work sick or losing pay.

Treasury Board has proposed a “Go to work sick” plan that would encourage people to come to work sick, passing the germs onto their co-workers or the public they serve.

Click here to visit the PSAC website and sign the pledge – support the union’s efforts to negotiate provisions that will result in a healthier workplace.

2014/10/242014/10/24

A message to UNE members following the Ottawa Shootings

OttawaShootings

The incidents that shook the nation on Wednesday remind us all of what is important – family, friends and loved ones. As union members, we have always recognized these fundamental principles.

Our sincere condolences go out to the family of Corporal Nathan Cirillo.

We are proud of the work of all first responders during this chaotic day, and every day. It reminds all Canadians that the work they do, whether seen or unseen, is to serve and safeguard all Canadians.

In the coming weeks and months, we will work with all our employers to review and enhance workplace safety practices and procedures in order to ensure that members – and members of the public alike – can access the services we provide without fear.

We understand that these events were traumatic for many. We would like to remind you that Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselling services are available to discuss how the events this week affected you, either in groups or on an individual basis. For more information, please contact your human resources department.

In solidarity,

Doug Marshall
National President
Union of National Employees – PSAC

2014/10/11

SSOs get their day in court

As we reported earlier this week, the federal court heard our arguments concerning the ability to deal with seniority-based proposals in arbitration. The bargaining team is seeking these provisions for both field interviewers – those who conduct surveys door-to-door – and regional office employees, those who conduct surveys by phone.

Mary Anne Walker, regional vice-president for Ontario and a member of the bargaining team, was able to attend the October 8 hearing.

“The question before the court is: did the arbitrator make a mistake to rule that the two clauses couldn’t be arbitrated,” explained Walker.

Walker was quick to commend Andrew Raven, who represented the SSOs.

“He did an excellent job,” said Walker. “We felt very good afterwards; we felt our presentation was very good.”

The case before the court will undoubtedly set a precedent. But all these judicial hoops we’ve had to jump through to get there have delayed justice for our SSO members; people who are eagerly waiting to be treated fairly in the workplace.

“We can’t thank our members enough for being patient and waiting. It’s not that anyone is trying to not communicate information; things have been at a standstill as we waited for this judicial review.”

2014/10/08

Federal court hears SSOs today

The Federal Court will hear the union’s arguments today. The issue centres on seniority, which the employer, Statistical Survey Operations, contends can’t be dealt with in arbitration.

Bargaining has been at an impasse since October 2012.

“We are all frustrated at the time this has taken, and by SSO’s delay tactics, said the bargaining team in a statement released yesterday. “But we are committed to getting our key issues addressed with SSO – including provisions in our collective agreements that respect our years of service and provide better income stability for employees.”

You can find out more about the current SSO issues in this February article.

We will bring you updates on this story as soon as they are made available to us.

2014/10/012014/10/01

Don we now our FLU apparel

A surprisingly chilly fall day wasn’t enough to keep many members from attending an info session on sick leave on Tuesday. The noon-hour session in Gatineau was organized at the grassroots by four UNE Locals and other PSAC, CAPE and PIPSC Locals.

Regional Vice-President Richard Ballance was there to hand out hundreds of surgical masks to those who came to find out more about Harper’s proposed sick leave plan.

“The hospital mask is basically Treasury Board’s plan for sick leave,” said Andrew Gibson, president of 70312. “If you want express your discontent towards that plan, wear that mask, talk to your colleagues.”

Treasury Board announced its desire to wage war on our sick leave just a few weeks ago when it tabled its bargaining proposals. The employer is hoping to claw-back our sick leave from 15 days per year down to five and scrap our ability to accumulate sick leave credits.

“When we prepare for bargaining, we do that in the spirit of improving working conditions,” explained CAPE National President Claude Poirier, who is also a member of the EC bargaining team.

“Unfortunately, Treasury Board came to us with a mandate that is of a political nature.”

Poirier says his bargaining team is prepared to negotiate improvements to the sick leave system; but as it stands, the system works. Despite Tony Clement’s lies, the fact is that public service employees’ sick leave use is in line with their counterparts in the private sector.

The new plan will undoubtedly force employees to come to work sick, increasing the spread of viruses and posing serious health risks to those with weakened immune systems.

“If you are sick for a week – that’s it for the rest of the year. If you get sick again, you’ll go seven days without pay before even getting one cent,” added Poirier.

“We’re open to discussing sick leave provided that it’s something that makes sense. Right now, what we have on the table is something that doesn’t make any sense.”

But the message wasn’t all doom and gloom. Local presidents urged their members to get involved.

“It’s easy to be demoralized about what the government is proposing to do to our sick leave – but we don’t need to despair,” said Ryan Kelly, president of CAPE Local 514.

“What’s required is that rank-and-file employees – that’s you and me – get involved in their locals. While fighting back is possible, it’s going to require a degree of mobilization and membership participation that we haven’t seen in the federal sector in years.”

There are photos of this event on our Flickr photostream.