News – Page 92

2012/02/16

PSAC Members at CSTMC – United for a fair contract

PSAC Members at CSTMC - United for a fair contract

Our members employed by Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation want better job security. They also want protections against their work being contracted out. Canada Post, the Museum of Nature and the National Arts Centre have agreed to superior protections for PSAC members – but the CSTMC won’t budge.

We are determined to achieve better protections for our members’ jobs; they deserve nothing less.

Because the parties are deadlocked, the bargaining team has applied to the Labour Board for third-party mediation. Conciliation (or mediation) is not arbitration; in this case, a third party is assigned by the Labour Board and works with both parties to come to an agreement. The conciliator doesn’t have the power to impose a decision.

For more information, download this bilingual poster from the PSAC. Better yet, print some off and share them with your members!

The Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation oversees the Canada Agriculture Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Canada Science and Technology Museum.

2012/02/15

PSAC at Statistical Survey Operations – United in support of our rights

PSAC at Statistical Survey Operations - United in support of our rights

It seems like Stats Canada is abandoning its “no layoff policy” because of the possible budget cuts courtesy of Mr. Harper. Policy or not, our collective agreement requires the employer to look to attrition to accomplish any reduction in workforce. Stats Canada has to make every effort to avoid laying off PSAC members working as Interviewers and Senior Interviewers in regional offices.

These protections are in our collective agreement; we will enforce them!

For more information, download this bilingual poster from the PSAC. Better yet, print some off and share them with your members!

2012/02/01

February: Black History Month

This year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History chose Black Women in American Culture and History as their theme. In their description of the theme, they wrote, “in slavery and freedom, [Black women’s] struggles have been at the heart of the human experience, and their triumphs over racism and sexism are a testimonial to our common human spirit.”

Black history, especially Black women’s history, has historically been overlooked.

“Black women’s history has been in the shadows for too long,” said Audrey T. McCluskey, Professor of African-American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University-Bloomington. “While the work by noted historians such as Darlene Clark Hine and Deborah Gray White, is helping to move it into the mainstream, so much more needs to be done to bring this history of struggle, courage, disappointment, and overcoming—continually overcoming—to a broader audience. Black women’s history needs to be engaged beyond Black History Month, and become a part of the curriculums of schools everywhere. Students lives will be fortified and enriched by its telling.”

The story of Mary Ann Shadd Cary, a pioneering Canadian black woman, is one that has been sadly overlooked. Like many free Blacks and fugitive slaves, she came to Canada shortly after the U.S. passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The Act meant that fugitive slaves were no longer free in the North. The vague language meant that even free Blacks were threatened. Many saw Canada as a place where they could escape the clutches of slave-catchers and the laws that empowered them.

Continue reading “February: Black History Month”

2012/01/31

My wages = your profits

The PSAC recently created these great little cards to remind those in the private sector that public service employees contribute to the economy. Permanent layoffs can cripple a local economy. While the pain will surely be felt by those who’ve lost their jobs, those on Main Street will undoubtedly feel it too.

You can download and print these cards yourself. Next time you buy a lunch, a coffee or the must-have book of the month, slip a card in with your cash. Tell them public servants are part of the 99%, just like they are!

	English cards
	French cards
	Inuktitut cards

2012/01/10

Help save our museums!

Our members gathered outside the Canada Museum of Science and Technology on Thursday and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum on Friday to fight back against cuts to public services. Just two weeks before Christmas, the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation decided to lay off 17 employees.

UNE National President Doug Marshall had a message for the corporation: “We need to keep the craziness in the crazy kitchen and out of management and out of the federal government!” Marshall was of course referring to the Canada Science and Technology Museum’s most popular exhibit; a kitchen in which visitors experience spatial distortion.

There are signs that the craziness may have escaped the kitchen. The corporation says budget pressures were the reason for the layoffs. Nonetheless, 15 senior management positions were kept (one senior manager for every 13 employees) and their annual bonuses were paid out.

“When you destroy quality public services, you’re destroying Canada,” said Larry Rousseau, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President for the National Capital Region. “That is what this institution has always represented for me, for my family and for people throughout Ottawa and Canada.”

The UNE Separate Employers regional team also came to show their support and reach out to museum patrons. Museum workers distributed factsheets explaining how these cuts will negatively impact future exhibits and the preservation of artifacts, among other services.

“We just want to do our job and take care of our great collection, not only for the people here today, but for future generations,” said a museum employee. “We want people to bring their kids and have their kids come back with their children – and experience the same great collection we’ve always had.”

What you can do: Contact Denise Amyot, President and CEO of the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation, at damyot@technomuses.ca or at 613-993-0775 or on Twitter at @damyot. Urge her to respect both the Canada Museums Act and our collective agreement.

2012/01/04

National Executive Meeting – January 2012

National Executive Meeting - January 2012

The National Executive will meet in Ottawa from January 24 to 26. The first session will start at 9:00 a.m. in the Union of National Employees boardroom.

Members who wish to attend as observers must pay all their expenses or have their Local cover their attendance. (Policy CC 8)

If your Local wishes to place an item on the agenda, please contact your Regional Vice-President and provide him or her with clear and concise information. He or she will gladly bring your issue before the executive.

About the National Executive
The National Executive is responsible for the policies, programs and direction of the Union of National Employees. Between conventions, it creates policies that help look after and make decisions about our union. The executive also carries out resolutions adopted by the members during the last convention. The National Executive meets three times per year to review the union’s activities and ensure that they reflect the will of the membership.

2011/12/22

Happy New Year from the Union of National Employees!

I wish all the best for you and your family, for our union and for our country in 2012.

I especially want to thank you for all your hard work during the past year. Our union is made stronger because of your determination and unwavering passion for the values we hold dear.

As we begin a new year, I invite you to recommit your efforts to stand up for public services, for workers’ rights and human rights. Take the time to speak to your friends and family about the important work that public service employees do for their country. Also think about inviting others who are committed to justice and fairness to become active in the UNE. While more active members make us stronger, it’s our diversity that makes us great.

Most of all, I hope you enjoy this most precious time to bond with your loved ones and rekindle old friendships.

Doug Marshall,
President

2011/12/15

SSO Bargaining

The PSAC has prepared bargaining packages; Statistics Canada has 20 days to respond.

This past Thursday, November 24, the PSAC bargaining teams for the Regional Office and Field Interviewer bargaining units served Statistics Canada with official notices to start negotiations. They have 20 days to respond.

Recently, the PSAC has made great strides in terms of winning rights and protections for part-time, seasonal and other workers that have not traditionally been guaranteed hours of work.

Now it’s our turn. Together, we can make Statistical Survey Operations a better place to work.

If you have any questions, please speak with your Union Representative or a member of our
bargaining teams, or go to www.psac.com.

Download and print this bilingual flyer – share it with other members!

2011/12/14

New at the 2012 PSAC Convention: A Members’ Plan

Every three years, the PSAC holds its Triennial National Convention, where delegates from across the union come together, debate issues and set direction for the Union for the next three years.

We will be doing something new at the PSAC 2012 Convention: for the first time, delegates will have the opportunity to debate and adopt a “Members’ Plan”.

The plan is designed to set the direction for the Union for the next three years.

How you can contribute to the Members’ Plan:

download, print and post the Member Plan flyer in your workplace
fill in the Our Union, Our Power Survey by January 6 and encourage any union member you know to do the same
put your ideas on the plan in writing using the private feedback form;
talk about the Members’ Plan at your union meetings. You can use the speakers’ notes, and bring the Q&As to help you answer any questions.
Take note of any and all ideas for the plan and send them by email to belangs@psac.com or by fax to 613.567-0385. Let us know where the ideas are coming from (a local meeting, a regional committee meeting, etc.).

PSAC Sixteenth Triennial Convention

2011/12/03

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

My name is Dave Burchell and I am the Union of National Employees Representative for Persons with Disabilities.

I wish to remind you that today, December 3, is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons was held between 1983 and 1992. It urged governments and organizations to make the necessary changes to improve the lives of disabled persons all over the world.

In 1992, as this decade drew to a close, the UN General Assembly proclaimed December 3 as the International Day of Disabled Persons.

In 2007, the assembly changed the name from the “International Day of Disabled Persons” to the “International Day of Persons with Disabilities”. The new name was used the following year.

This year’s theme is “Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development”. My personal favourite was in 2004 when the theme was “nothing about us, without us” made a bold statement which rings constantly in my ears.
Canadian census data reveals that the number of persons who reported having a disability reached 4.4 million in 2006, or 14.3 per cent of the Canadian population at the time.

Persons with disabilities face many disadvantages and are still subject to stigma and discrimination. They are largely excluded from civil and political processes and remain overwhelmingly voiceless in matters that affect them.

I hope that you will join me and all other Union of National Employees and PSAC members, persons with disabilities and their allies in remembering the daily struggles we go through to achieve what able-bodied and sound-minded individuals take for granted. It is indeed a challenge for us, but with your help and the assistance of individuals who care, we can all be identified as ‘people, rather than persons with disabilities.