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National Day of Mourning

DayOfMourning

By Geoff Ryan

April 28 is the National Day of Mourning for Workers Injured or Killed on the job. On this day flags on government buildings will fly at half mast, and ceremonies will be held in communities across Canada. Workers will gather at these ceremonies, some will wear black arm bands, some will lay flowers or wreathes, candles will be lit and the names of workers who died due to workplace incidents and illnesses will be read. People will be asked to observe a moment of silence to remember and honour them.

It is important for everyone to attend these events, not only to remember those people who have died, but also to bring awareness that health and safety in the workplace needs to be improved in Canada.

Most people are aware of the dangers in using a power tool, but what about the dangers entering an office building? Did you know that asbestos exposure is the single largest on-the-job killer in Canada accounting for almost one third of all workplace death claims approved since 1996? Asbestos is in products such as brake pads and can also be found in pipes and insulation. Many countries have banned asbestos, but Canada has not. The government also has not cautioned citizens that even low levels of asbestos can be a carcinogenic health risk. There is no national database of buildings containing asbestos in Canada despite requests from unions to create one. Saskatchewan is the only jurisdiction in Canada with such a database. It was created with the passing of Howard’s Law.

The annual observance of the National Day of Mourning strengthens the resolve to establish safe conditions in the workplace, and prevent injuries and deaths. As much as this is a day to remember the dead, it is also a call to protect the living. I encourage everyone to participate in the Day of Mourning ceremony in their area and if there is not a ceremony in your area please consider having a moment of silence in your workplace.

Geoff Ryan is the UNE’s National Vice-President for Human Rights.

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Parks Canada – Have you received your designation letter?

ParksDesignationLetters

By Eddie Kennedy

You may have noticed that members in your workplaces have started receiving designation letters in the event of a strike during the current round of collective bargaining.

Both the number of letters being issued by Parks and the designations are different from what happened during the last round of collective bargaining. Since that time the Conservative government has made changes under Bill C-4; these changes have allowed Parks to identify a greater number of designates than previously.

Under the old legislation the Agency would propose a list of designated essential service personnel in the event of a strike. The Union would then review and challenge any positions that we felt were not necessary to maintain public safety. If we couldn’t reach agreement with the Agency, the outstanding positions would go to the Public Service Labour Relations Board  ( PSLRB), an independent third party, for review and resolution.

Under the new legislation the Agency once again proposes its list of designated essential service positions and the Union can again challenge it. However, under this new legislation there is no third party to resolve any outstanding disputes. Parks can either change or reject our challenges to their list.

This has resulted in an increase of 60% to the number of people (1757) identified as essential services in comparison to the last round of negotiations.

In addition, under the old legislation there were 3 codes of designates:

Code 1 – Full time essential service

Code 2 – Replacement for any full time worker who was unable to perform their tasks due to illness etc.

Code 3 – Conditional essential services which are triggered by a condition such as an emergency. Part time essential service in the event of an emergency

Under the new legislation all designates are considered to be level 1 full time essential service –   required to perform the full range of their job descriptions.

The Union is looking at ways to challenge this current legislation as it impacts on our rights to fair collective bargaining.

In the meantime we will ensure that the Agency sends a list of all essential service personnel to each respective local so that you will be able to identify these members in the event of a strike.

For more information, please contact Eddie Kennedy, UNE National Advisor on Parks Canada.

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Give employees some credit!

GiveEmployeesSomeCredit

What does your bank account have to do with your capacity to do your job? According to the Harper government, there’s apparently a correlation – but we couldn’t disagree more.

The federal government recently revealed its intention to add mandatory credit checks as part of its employee screening procedures.

The Union of National Employees condemns the new invasive screening procedures.

“The credit check is overly intrusive,” said national president Doug Marshall. “This process is irrelevant for those not involved in finance. It’s quite frankly a solution where there is no demonstrable problem. Privacy is a human right and forcing employees to disclose this information is a violation of their human rights.”

Government workers already endure intense screening processes to gain levels of security clearance. And lately, there has been a backlog as both potential and current employees wait for their clearances to go through. But somehow the government has the resources to add credit checks to these processes?

Another problem with credit reports is that they were designed to inform financial institutions of your capacity to pay back a loan; they were never designed to glean information on your reliability as an employee. And using these as employment screening devices only hurts the economically disadvantaged.

Furthermore, credit reports are often flawed. From moneysense.ca:

A national survey by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre found a 20% error rate in which people sampled said items on reports were inaccurate or should have been removed. Based on his experience as a mortgage and credit risk specialist, Mike Morley says the error rate may be as high as 40%.

Correcting errors can take several months to a year; and the legwork, unfortunately, lies with the individual, not the credit reporting agency.

Is the Harper government saying that private credit rating agencies have a greater capacity to screen prospective and current employees than CSIS?

Anyone can suffer some financial hardship during the course of their life. A divorce, a prolonged period of unemployment, an unforeseen expense, a misplaced invoice that goes unpaid; all of these things can affect your credit rating to some degree. None of these things play a role in your reliability as an employee.

So if you are asked to sign an agreement for a credit check, consult the union! We are here to help you through this attempt at privacy invasion by the current government.

As a general rule, every Canadian should be aware of the information on their credit report. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recommends that you check your credit report from a credit agency at least once a year to ensure that it is correct. You can obtain your credit report from two Canadian credit agencies: TransUnion and Equifax. 

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Parks Canada Update: the Expedited Mediation/Adjudication Process

ParksCanadaUpdate

  • The Public Service Labour Relations Board (The Board) ordered us to stop dealing with new files and turn our attention to the 163 files that were referred to the Board (the order was dated April 30, 2014).  75 of these files belonged to UNE and 88 belonged to UCTE.
  • We have dealt with and closed 65 of the 75 files that belong to our component over the last 11 months.
  • We have also dealt with and closed over 1636 files related to this project overall (since 2006 – the date grievances began to be referred to UNE).
  • Most recently, Bill C4 eliminated the PSLRB and created the new PSLREB (December 2014).  The latter does not subscribe nor recognize the expedited process we have been using since November 2010.  There are talks occurring with the Parks Canada, PSAC, UNE and UCTE regarding the Board’s position (outlined in a letter to all parties on January 22, 2015). To date, there have been no decisions made by the PSLREB so we don’t know how the PSLREB will process files.

For more information, please contact Michelle Brunet at 613-560-2680.

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New Employee Announcement

UNESENTeam

The Union of National Employees would like to welcome Rodney Mockler as the new term User Support Technician until the end of October.   Rodney brings with him many years of Information Technology support experience.

Rodney’s first day with us was on Monday, March 16, 2015.

Please join me in welcoming Rodney to Union of National Employees.

 

Doug Marshall
National President
Union of National Employees, PSAC

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Wages, Contracting Out, Other Matters in Dispute

CMSTBargainUpdate

More dates being set for later this month

On Tuesday our Bargaining Team met with the Museum to continue talks for a new contract. While some progress was made, we remain in dispute with the Museum concerning compensation, protections against contracting out, leave provisions and other matters.

With respect to wages, the Museum’s position continues to be dramatically below what has recently been agreed to by other federal employers in the cultural sector, including both the National Arts Centre and the National Gallery. The employer’s position is also well below current and forecasted economic trends. Consequently the parties remain far apart on wages.

With respect to protections for our jobs, management continues to take a position that is inferior to what has been agreed to elsewhere in the federal cultural sector.

The issue of sick leave arose in Tuesday’s session. Management signaled an interest in proposing language that would contemplate the parties agreeing to reopen the contract and negotiate sick leave after the agreement has been signed in the event that changes take place in the federal public service. While we indicated that the union will look at any proposal in good faith, we have no interest in opening the contract once it is signed to discuss potential cuts to our sick leave. Our union signed a 4-year agreement with the Gallery last year with no mention of a sick leave reopener. Our union is currently in bargaining for a 3-year agreement with the House of Commons where no language concerning sick leave is being sought. We told management on Tuesday that the same should also apply with CSTMC.

Union taking action over layoffs.

Last month the Corporation reduced a number of VE positions and a position in the Boutique. Our local will be filing grievances over these reductions as it is our position that the contract was not properly followed and that employees should be reinstated. We will also be consulting union legal counsel to determine if additional legal action might be followed in light of the layoffs.

We will uphold our contract rights.

We are in the process of scheduling more bargaining for later this month. We’ll be sure to update as things progress. If you have any questions speak with your union representative, or a member of our Bargaining Team (Sharon Babaian, Bryan Casey and Yvon Renaud).

Source: PSAC Members at CSTMC United for a Fair Contract

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SSO arbitration decisions a significant victory

SSOMoreDetails

Finally, after three-and-a-half years, we received the arbitration awards for  interviewers (belonging to the RO and FI classifications) who conduct surveys for Statistics Canada.

There are a number of significant victories in the decisions:

  • We achieved wage increases totaling 9.6% over the life of the contract, with full retroactivity – significantly more than what management had proposed in negotiations.
  • We achieved new protections and rights for employees in the context of work assignments.
  • We got new job security rights.
  • There are increases in premiums.
  • There is new language concerning AWW’s, with the parties directed to meet and negotiate further on the issue concerning the union’s proposals.

While we did not achieve everything we asked for, we made real progress in areas that our bargaining teams indicated were critical for this round of bargaining.

We won these because of the hard work and determination of our bargaining teams and the solidarity of PSAC members at SSO.

Since the fall of 2011, PSAC has been engaged in a fight with SSO to improve working conditions for interviewers and SIs at Statistics Canada.

We should all be proud of the work we did to achieve these victories, despite it being a difficult and lengthy round of bargaining.

The next round will begin shortly, and given the position taken by the government with other PSAC bargaining units, we can also expect it to be tough. Now is the time for members to not only take the time to learn about and understand the rights provisions under our new contracts, but also to prepare for the coming round. We will provide a more detailed list of all the changes in the new collective agreements very soon.

Source: www.psacunion.ca

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World Water Day – March 22

WaterDay

Last Friday, water rights were top of the agenda at the human rights committee meeting. Creative juices were flowing as the members around the boardroom table offered their ideas for a campaign aimed at  promoting awareness of water as a human right.

During our 2014 convention, delegates voted in favour of a resolution to “fund the continuation of the water rights campaign adopted at the 2013 human rights conference.”

And when it comes to water, there are a ton of worrisome issues; there are countless communities in our own country who don’t have access to clean water, water is increasingly being privatized, major cities are seeing boil advisories…. And that doesn’t even include issues in the developing world.

“There was a lot of interest and discussion around the table,” said Geoff Ryan, national vice-president for human rights. “People felt very passionate about the issue; it’s a topic that’s very important to us.”

And for some, the issue hit particularly close to home. Jacqueline Nanali, who is a regional human rights representative in Manitoba, shared her experience with the boil advisory that affected all of Winnipeg, late last January.

“Everyone was running to the stores to pick up bottled water,” said Nanali. “Some chiefs, from nearby First Nations communities came back and said ‘well, this is what happens in our communities; this is how we live.’”

“I think it’s important for us to realize just how important water is. For me, losing basic access to water and having to boil water all day just for a simple glass of water to drink or a cup of tea… or just to brush my teeth; it really opened my eyes.”

The city of Winnipeg issued the boil advisory January 27 when the presence of E. coli was detected in the water supply; it was lifted 48 hours later. For two days, Winnipeggers were forced to boil water each time they needed to drink, cook meals, or make infant formula.

This incident garnered national attention from the media, but there are over a thousand boil advisories across Canada at this very moment. For many communities, what Winnipeg experienced is a daily reality.

After some fruitful discussions, the human rights committee members agreed that more light needs to be shed on how political decisions impact accessible clean water for Canadian communities. They dedicated a great portion of the day towards fleshing out a campaign.

“We’re very much in the beginning stages, but I’m excited to see what this will look like,” said Ryan. “We’re hoping to reach a broad swath of the Canadian public; I think many of the great ideas I heard around the table will help us accomplish just that.”

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Parks Canada Bargaining Update

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Members of the bargaining team for Parks Canada met with the agency last week, where they exchanged proposals. In an email to its employees, Parks Canada maintained that it is committed to “continue this open and constructive dialogue” with the union.

“We remain confident that, together, we will reach a renewed collective agreement that is fair and equitable to the Parks Canada team members and to Canadian taxpayers.”

In case you don’t speak Harper, this translates to “scrapping your current sick leave provisions”. The bargaining team categorically rejected that idea. In fact, they are determined to nix any proposals that would erode our rights and benefits under the collective agreement. As reported by the PSAC:

“Your bargaining team also rejected all of the Agency’s concessions and expressed our displeasure with what we feel is an unnecessary and unjustified attack on Seasonal members. For example, the Agency is proposing to extend the time period that disciplinary action stays on a Seasonal member’s record, and to lower the amount of Family Related leave for Seasonal members by pro-rating that entitlement. Your bargaining team believes that leave for family related reasons should remain based on needs of members and their families.”

The bargaining team also told the employer that its policies and the collective agreement ought to be applied consistently across the organization.

The bargaining team will meet with the employer again at the end of May.

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World Record Beaten!

snowmen_update

We’re happy to report that, last weekend, Ottawa beat the world record for the most snowpeople built in one hour. Our members who work at Amethyst Women’s Addiction Centre were part of the more than 1,000 people who gathered at Lansdowne Park to build a ton of snowmen and raise money for local mental health initiatives.

At the end of the hour, 1,299 snowpeople were built. It was enough to beat the previous record of 1,279, which was held by Salt Lake City, Utah.

Congratulations to our members at Amethyst!

(Sorry, Utah!)