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Parks Canada is hiring (soon!)

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by Eddie Kennedy

After suffering from crumbling roads and dilapidated buildings for some time, it looks like there’s help on the way for our national parks and historic sites. The federal government has announced that it will invest the bulk of a $2.8 billion fund towards some much-needed infrastructure projects at Parks Canada.

During a January 20 meeting, Parks Canada provided us with an update on the coming changes to their staffing policies, as they begin the process of hiring personnel to work on these projects.

Pierre Richer de La Flèche, chief human resources officer at Parks Canada, explained how the agency plans to implement a streamlined process to facilitate hiring new employees. The agency aims to manage the hiring process at the national level.

During the meeting, Richer de La Flèche also outlined the agency’s plan to create pools of qualified candidates that will be accessible to managers across the country. These pools will be used to fill new positions and backfill for others. To select a new employee from the pools, managers would use the “right fit” approach. Parks Canada intends to provide clear guidelines and keep the processes transparent.

The agency will use a variety of methods to advertise the vacant positions, including social media. Some job opportunities may only be posted internally, while others may also be promoted externally to PCA and the public at large, depending on the level and the skills required. Managers can still hire locally, bypassing the pools, but only for determinate staffing and only by using the same statement of qualifications as the national competition.

The agency said it remains committed to its obligation to the priority placement process as it moves forward with staffing.

Parks Canada also acknowledged that many questions remain, since some plans and processes haven’t yet been finalized. For this reason, the agency intends keep us regularly informed of what is happening.

They also encouraged us to keep them informed of our members’ concerns; they understand that our ability to communicate issues early on can help them respond to concerns and provide factual information to employees. For this reason, they see great value in our capacity to shed light on our members’ concerns.

As your union’s representatives, we’ve expressed some concern about the use of pools. We’ve had issues with pools in the past, since they inject a degree of bias in the selection process. For one, it allows for the hiring process to be easily manipulated; favouritism and prejudice can lead to the best person for the job being sidestepped in favor of a different candidate.

It goes without saying that we appreciate the work that will be generated by these infrastructure projects. Like many of you, we look forward to seeing improvement in the facilities where we work – improvements that should make our workplaces better places to work. That said, we also want to ensure that our members are treated fairly by the staffing process.

Over the coming months, we will be meeting with senior management as they finish fleshing out the rest of this staffing policy. We encourage you to contact us if you have any concerns with anything related to these projects.

On our end, we will continue to keep you updated of any new developments as they relate to this topic.

In solidarity,

Eddie Kennedy

Eddie Kennedy is the National Advisor on Parks Canada for the Union of National Employees. If you’d like to reach him, you can send him an email at eddie.kennedy@une-sen.org.

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Support healthy workplaces

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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.

 

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Honouring our heros

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Last Sunday, hundreds gathered on Parliament Hill to pay their respect to the men and women of law enforcement who lost their lives during the course of duty.

This year’s ceremony was an occasion to remember the three Mounties who were killed during the June 4 mass shooting in Moncton. The names of a Toronto police constable and a Saskatchewan conservation officer who died in the line of duty were also added to the honour roll this year.

But the memorial also serves as an opportunity to say thanks to the countless police and peace officers who regularly put their lives at risk in the name of public safety.

In our national parks, that responsibility falls on park wardens. During the course of their day, these men and women face dangers ranging from unruly campers to hungry grizzly bears. The most recent fatality involving a park warden happened in 2002, when Michael Wynn’s life was cut short due to an avalanche.

Wynn, aged 37, had worked for Parks Canada for 13 years.

“Our national parks are breathtaking places,” said Eddie Kennedy, national advisor for Parks Canada. “But they come with their share of hazards. Our visitors owe a great debt to the wardens who keep our parks safe.”

Kennedy was in Ottawa last Sunday to represent our union during the ceremony.

Each year, the Union of National Employees and the Parks Canada Enforcement Branch collaborate to send ten park wardens to represent their comrades during the memorial. This year, the participants were Ben Alderman, Lisa Babineau, Courtney Bearinger, Jonathan Jansen, Eric Jensen, Daniel Keenan-Pelletier, Patrick Latreille, Julia Montgomery and Tyler Tilson.

The Union of National Employees wishes to recognize all our brave park wardens for their important public service.

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A new addition to the team

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During convention, our members voted in favour of an emergency resolution to add a new elected position, that of National Advisor for Parks Canada.

It was only last May when we first got news that Parks Canada was possibly interested in having a full-time union representative to deal with national labour issues. The position would have its salary and benefits paid by Parks Canada, but would report to the UNE national president.

Such arrangements aren’t all that uncommon; they exist in other components within the PSAC. And in some Locals, the local president is paid to focus solely on labour relations issues. National President Doug Marshall will be following up with Parks Canada in the coming weeks to ensure that the terms of this new position, once negotiated, are in our members’ best interest.

With a large chunk of our membership made up of Parks Canada employees, it goes without saying that we could use all the extra help we can get on that file!

But it won’t just be Parks Canada members who will benefit from this decision. By having a full-time union representative handling the Parks Canada issues, other elected officers will have more time to focus their attention on the more than 60 other workplaces we represent.

“With only one full-time paid elected position at the UNE, there’s always more than enough work to go around,” explained National President Doug Marshall.

The day after delegates gave the position a thumbs-up, Eddie Kennedy was elected by acclamation to the position. With already three years of experience under his belt dealing with Parks Canada issues at a national level, Kennedy says he’s confident that the new position will help resolve workplace issues in a timelier manner.

“Let’s say a worksite is scheduling students when our members are on seasonal layoff and it can’t be resolved at a local level – they’ve met with local management and they’re holding firm on their position. They would normally have to wait for a national labour-management consultation committee meeting to raise that concern.”

Traditionally, these meetings are held only twice per year.

“Now we’ll have a direct line to the chief human resource officer to raise the issue directly, nationally, right off the bat,” explained Kennedy. “Our members can expect a much faster turnaround time.”

In the future, when the local executive reaches an impasse at their level, we encourage them to contact the national advisor directly. Kennedy says he will be working very closely with staff, regional teams and the other national officers to find solutions for members.

As part of his new position, Kennedy will also be fighting on behalf of members who are still fighting the 2012 job cuts.

“Parks still has about 75 who are still in the affected stage – there’s also another group of about 55 who are moving from educational leave to layoff priority status.”

The first group finds itself in a sort of purgatory: “They don’t know whether they’ll be surplused or not,” explained Kennedy.

As for the second group, the agency still has a lot of work to do to find them new jobs.

We kindly ask for your patience while we bring a few tweaks to our website to reflect the addition of this new position. If you wish to contact Eddie Kennedy, you can email him at Eddie.Kennedy@une-sen.org. 

 

 

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May 18 – International Museum Day

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May 18 is International Museum Day; so, you may wish to plan a visit to a museum near you this weekend! Our nation is home to some very spectacular museums; for a great number of our members, it’s also where they work!

But our museums haven’t been immune from budget cuts in the name of austerity. The members who work in that sector are grappling with some unique challenges.

“Most people who work within museums, galleries and archives would much prefer to have funding agencies at arm’s length,” explained Terry Quinlan, professor of conservation at Algonquin College, in Ottawa. The college has the oldest-running museum studies program in Canada, with 40 years in operation.

Our national museums have the all-important task of collecting, researching, interpreting and preserving items of cultural significance – items that we all own, collectively. Meanwhile, the federal government has a legal obligation, under the Museum Act, to provide the means for these institutions to perform that work.

“That’s a fundamental core requirement of public institutions; the federal government must supply them with the funds to achieve their mandate.”

Increasingly, however, museums are rubbing shoulders with corporations to meet their fiduciary responsibilities. Quinlan points to Barrick Gold’s $1M sponsorship of the Canadian Museum of Nature as a troubling example of this trend. He calls the increasing amount of corporate influence “frightening”.

Despite the new source of funding, however, there’s still a disturbing amount of cost-cutting happening in national museums and historic sites.

“Across the country, we’ve seen pretty major slashes,” explained Quinlan. “If you take a look at Parks Canada, many people are unaware that Parks had service centres across Canada that cared for our collective cultural artifacts from all our national historic sites.”

The government shut them down; there’s only one facility left in Ottawa. According to Quinlan, even that facility’s operations have been scaled back; they used to have about 20 conservators – they’re down to about 7.

While the preservation side of things is taking a hit, so is these institutions’ capacity to really engage and educate visitors. Sadly, 26 historic sites lost the interpretive guides that make history come alive – that make learning more engaging. On Parks Canada’s 2012 list of national historic sites moving to the “self-guided” format, Laurier House was twelfth on the list.

“We have been partnering with Laurier House for 15 years,” said the conservation professor. “I’ve watched those guys get beaten up something fierce in the last six years. It’s an exceptional site, there’s plenty to interpret, tons to share with the public, and they’ve completely scaled it back.”

Professor Quinlan says there’s a push to do tours of the site through an app.

“It’s completely bizarre,” he added. “I think that some divisions of the federal government are quick to jump onto technology and suggest that because it’s a cheaper way of doing things, it’s a better way of doing things.”

“I don’t buy that. Give it five years, you’ll see.”

But if you can’t engage people through the internet, you have to get them in the door. Quinlan says many museums are trying innovative ways to reach people outside their typical audience.

“One of the bigger challenges – and a lot of institutions are trying to do this now – is to capture that middle-of-the-road demographic,” he explained. “People between the age of 20 and 35 – they’re trying to get them engaged in learning about their collective cultural past. They’re trying contemporary technology to do that; they’re trying innovative ways to do that.”

According to him, the Canadian Museum of Nature’s Nature Nocturne series are a great example of trying to reach that demographic. The museum describes its late-night events as “a chance for adults to play and enjoy the museum on their own terms.” All the galleries are open to visit, but there’s the added bonus of music, food and drink… and a dance floor!

“The Royal Ontario Museum is doing something very similar to that,” added Quinlan. “Who knows how successful those things are going to be; they’re just starting now.”

“I think it’s great. I think that if you try to remain the institution of the past, you’re not going to survive. It’s just not going to happen.”

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National Day of Mourning – April 28

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As labour activists, perhaps our most important work revolves around workplace safety. Each year, far too many workers succumb to fatal injuries or occupational diseases.

Unfortunately for many Albertan families, 2013 was a disastrous year for workplace fatalities. According to the Calgary Herald, occupational diseases nearly doubled, accounting for the dramatic increase.

Alberta’s booming industries come with a heavy share of health hazards: 99 workers lost their lives in 2013 due to lung diseases. For coal workers, black lung disease is a common culprit. Other workers who are exposed to asbestos run a great risk of developing asbesotis and mesothelioma.

But you don’t have to work in a coal mine to come into contact with hazardous materials.

“Our members still work in government buildings that have elements of asbestos,” explained Regional Vice-President Kevin King. “There’s a ban in Saskatchewan, but they still exist in federal buildings in Alberta.”

And of course, many of our members work outdoors, in national parks and historic sites across the country. King says outdoor elements bring their own hazards into the mix.

“Inside national parks, we have issues with how trees are felled. We also have issues with respect to the operation of chainsaws and other equipment.”

Given how badly Parks Canada was hit during the 2012 cuts, King is worried about how a lack of resources could affect the basic maintenance of potentially dangerous equipment.

“We’re still expected to serve members of the public, but by and large, it’s questionable whether there’s enough time to perform maintenance on these things.”

The recent changes to the Canada Labour Code are also top of mind for the union leader. As you may recall, Bill C-4 robbed health and safety inspectors of their enforcement powers and handed them over to the minister of labour.

The government maintains that health and safety officers will continue to enforce the Canada Labour Code.

“There’s no enforcement until there’s an incident,” explained King.

“It seems to me that it’s changed. And we’ve gone backwards a generation or two.

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…for bargaining demands!

We don’t want to freak anyone out… but if your bargaining unit belongs to Treasury Board or Parks Canada, there’s less than a month to submit your bargaining demands!

We’ve extended the deadline for bargaining demands to November 15. Now it’s up to you to make your voices heard.

Once your Local has voted on bargaining demands, you can submit them online by clicking here. Each Local should attempt to submit 25 demands; it’s up to your members whether they wish to submit demands drawn directly from the PSAC’s program of demands or outside of its scope.

Additionally, if you’d like to be a delegate at your national bargaining conference, you must submit your name to us by November 15. You can also apply online via the PSAC to attend the conference as an equity or youth delegate – but the PSAC’s deadline is different; you must apply by November 1.  More details about this here.

Do you have any questions? Check out the bargaining section of our website for a complete guide to the bargaining process as well as frequently-asked questions.

If you have additional questions or haven’t received your PSAC program of demands, please email communications@une-sen.org.

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Honouring our heroes

Did you know the Union of National Employees represents members who work in law enforcement? Our national parks are kept safe thanks in part to the hard work of our park wardens.

“These men and women face unique challenges in the workplace,” said National President Doug Marshall. “It’s important to recognize the risks they take in keeping families safe when they visit our national treasures. It’s important to say thanks.”

From hungry bears to disorderly campers, park wardens are often put in harm’s way due to the very nature of their work.

Last weekend, Marshall was in attendance during the Canadian Police and Peace Officer’s annual memorial service. The service pays tribute to those killed in the line of duty – it’s also a great opportunity to say thanks to the men and women of law enforcement.

Each year, the Union of National Employees and the Parks Canada Enforcement Branch collaborate to send ten park wardens to represent their comrades during the memorial. This year, the participants were Lisa Babineau, Douglas Campbell, Nicholas Cotter, Jonathan Hopkins, Eric Jensen, Richard Lamy, Adam Macpherson, Shaun McKenzie, Michael Misskey and Roger Steadman.

The Union of National Employees wishes to recognize all our brave park wardens for their important public service.

Photo credit: Nicholas Cotter. Published with permission from Parks Canada.

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Let’s get ready to bargain!

As a union member, you’re empowered to make improvements to your workplace. That’s the power of collective bargaining!

That process is about to start for the Program Administration (PA), Operational Services (SV), Technical Services (TC) and Library and Education Services (EB) Treasury Board bargaining units and Parks Canada. The notice to bargain will be served in early spring 2014.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada has sent a Program of Demands to each Local; this document is meant to help you when engaging members in discussions about bargaining demands. Some of these demands come from unresolved concerns from the last round of bargaining – others reflect long-term goals of our union or issues that have emerged during the life of the current agreements.

So, now’s the time to get a few things done!

  1. There’s still time to make some bargaining demands. This is your chance to make things better for you and your colleagues. You can submit bargaining demands via our website by clicking here. The deadline for this is November 1, 2013.
  2. If you’re part of your Local’s executive, this would be a great time to schedule a Local meeting to discuss bargaining demands. Please keep in mind that each Local is restricted to a maximum of 25 demands.
  3. Stay tuned to our website for more bargaining news. In the coming weeks and months, we will provide you with information on the process that Locals and the UNE will follow to prepare for this critical set of negotiations.

The next round of bargaining will be the most important in our union’s history; your participation is vital to our success.

Doug Marshall
National President
Union of National Employees

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Parks Canada Clawing Back Terminable Allowance

The Union was recently notified that the Parks Canada Agency clawed-back portions of the CS terminable allowance, as part of the retroactive payments related to the recently ratified collective agreement.  The Union’s position is that this action violates the negotiated agreement with the Agency.  Therefore, the PSAC, through Union of National Employees, has commenced a group grievance action.  To sign on to this grievance, you’ll need to complete the attached grievance form and accompanying form 19 – following the instructions contained therein.

Click here to download the form – then print, sign and send.

Once you have done so, please forward the grievance and Form 19 to the attention of Denis McCarthy at the following coordinates:

Denis McCarthy
Union of National Employees
150 Isabella Street, Suite 900
Ottawa, Ontario
K1V 1S7
denis.mccarthy@une-sen.org

* If you know of any former CS members who were employed by Parks Canada (on or after August 5 2011) and who are no longer employed by the Agency, we would appreciate if you would forward this message to them.