PSAC has successfully negotiated long overdue improvements to the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP), which provides benefits to most federal public service workers and retirees.
As part of the agreement, PSAC secured improvements to vision care and massage therapy benefits. Plan members will also see a major increase to psychological services, as well as an expansion of eligible psychological practitioners covered. Acupuncture will now be covered when performed by a licensed acupuncturist, and a prescription will no longer be required to access paramedical benefits like massage therapy or chiropractic treatment.
PSAC also won a significant victory to protect the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ members, increasing coverage for gender-affirming care and procedures.
These improvements reflect priorities identified by PSAC’s membership during a comprehensive survey. The changes will take effect on July 1, 2023.
The PSHCP hadn’t been reviewed since 2006 and needed significant updates, especially to reflect increased health care service costs.
PSAC negotiates the health care plan directly with Treasury Board, alongside other bargaining agents of the National Joint Council and the National Association of Federal Retirees, representing retired members. This is done outside the regular bargaining process for collective agreements. This final agreement is subject to Treasury Board approval.
PSAC is pushing for a quick resolution as Treasury Board continues to delay implementation of a pay parity arbitration ruling that is meant to close a pay gap for many TC group members.
PSAC won a successful arbitration ruling in January 2022, with the arbitrator ruling that the pay gap should be closed between Engineering and Scientific Support (EG) members in the Technical Services (TC) group and EGs at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The TC group covers nearly 10,700 members, with the EG classification making up more than 60 per cent of its members.
Since then, Treasury Board has refused to make payments to any EG members in the TC group, arguing they won’t implement the changes until PSAC and the government reach a new collective agreement.
We believe this is a clear violation of the arbitration ruling. We are addressing this situation with the arbitrator to have it resolved favourably in the near future. Closing this pay gap is long overdue and the government should not deny workers amounts that they are rightly owed.
These new rates will be subject to any further gains made in the current round of negotiations, which are underway now with Treasury Board. PSAC will be seeking regular annual economic increases for EGs and for all TC members, along with allowances for specific groups.
This arbitration decision has no impact on what PSAC is seeking at the table in this round of bargaining. Check out our bargaining toolkit to learn more about this round of bargaining, the issues that matter most, and how to get involved.
Please be sure to keep your contact information up to date to receive the latest updates for TC members.
In 1834 the British Parliament abolished slavery in the British Empire. In March 2021, Canada’s House of Parliament finally voted to recognize the end of this atrocious part of our history by designating August 1st as Emancipation Day.
Although this day marks the end of the enslavement of People of African descent, Emancipation Day must be observed as the recognition of the struggles of all marginalized communities. A struggle that continues to this day. When we recognize the struggles of the past, we can take steps to avoid repeating those mistakes and move forward to improving the lives of all the people.
We need to realize that signing a piece of paper to abolish slavery may have ended the physical bondage of Canadians of African descent, but the mental bondage, the mental slavery still exists. Nelson Mandela said, “For to be free is not merely to cast of one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others”. I believe that one way in which we can begin to erode this mental bondage is to teach the next generation of Canadians the parts of our horrendous history that has been ignored and to ensure that these atrocities never happen again. We need to learn about our true history and heritage so we can begin to move forward with the healing.
As a society, we need to come up with new and innovative ways of combating all forms of oppression that we experience today. In other words, we need to identify the social, economic, legal and political restrictions imposed on marginalized communities and ensure that appropriate steps are taken to liberate these communities. We still experience discrimination in health, housing, employment, gender, sexual orientation, and economic equality, to name a few. Until we overcome these obstacles, Canada will not be a free and just home for all of its people.
On this second Emancipation Day in Canada, let us all remember the past, reflect on the present and plan for the future. Peace, Justice and Freedom for all.
“A luta continua”
Sam Padayachee UNE National Equity Representative for Racialized Members
A look back on John Watkins and the 2SLGBTQ+ Purge by the Canadian Government
By Kay Hacker
Content warning: This article includes explicit descriptions of systematic, institutionalized homophobia and transphobia, as well as non-graphic descriptions of violence against members of the LGBTQ2S+ community. This article also contains non-graphic mentions of torture and death. Finally, this article talks in-depth about police violence and police brutality involving the RCMP.
Every June, the rainbow flags come out for the ultimate celebration of love and all the diverse forms it takes- a way to celebrate our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirit and otherwise Queer and Trans (LGBTQ2S+) siblings in all their beautiful diversity. Many people wonder- why June, specifically?
Well, Pride isn’t always in June. In fact, in Vancouver, Pride is usually celebrated in August! This year marks Vancouver Pride’s 44th anniversary. But internationally, June is recognized as Pride month as a result of the Stonewall Riots in New York City. The Stonewall Inn is a well-known gathering place for LGBTQ2S+ people. In the 60s, it was subject to frequent police harassment. When the police raided the bar in 1969, the patrons (many of whom were trans women of colour) fought back and rioted against police brutality.
See, that’s the thing about Pride: it’s more than just a rainbow party, and more than just a celebration. Pride is a reminder to keep fighting. Pride is a reminder that we as LGBTQ2S+ people are still here, a rebuke and vindication against those who have tried to erase us.
Let me tell you about this fight. Let me tell you about the history of LGBTQ2S+ membership in the public service.
In the 1950s and 60s, the Canadian government made a concerted effort to remove any “suspected homosexuals” (not the words we would use today) from the public service. At first, the focus was mainly on MSM (men who have sex with men), as well as men who acted in ways that did not conform to their expected gender roles, such as wearing the wrong kind of clothes, since the vast majority of public servants were men. WSW (women who have sex with women) and women who acted outside their expected gender roles were also subject to persecution.
Why? Because they stepped outside of what society expected and that was considered dangerous. This was the Cold War, and for the Canadian government it was Us against Them. And there could be no “homosexuals” on our side, therefore They must be against Us.
It was considered a threat to national security to have LGBTQ2S+ people in the public service and specifically in the diplomatic apparatus, since gay public servants might be vulnerable to blackmail. Anything other than perfectly adhering to the gender you were assigned at birth and being attracted to the correct gender in the correct way left folks exposed to violence, discrimination and even criminal prosecution. So, according to the Canadian government, the best way to make the public service less vulnerable to blackmail was to uncover and uproot every possible weak spot (read: LGBTQ2S+ person) before the Russians could.
Despite the fact that there was no evidence of any successful attempts to blackmail LGBTQ2S+ members of the public service, the RCMP launched a massive campaign to unearth any member of the public service suspected of “perversion”. They monitored LGBTQ2S+ establishments and photographed patrons, conducted brutal interviews of suspected and confirmed gay public servants and tracked people down in their private lives. I invite you to think of each violation of these peoples’ basic human rights as an act of violence. LGBTQ2S+ public servants were forced into hiding, fearing for their jobs and for their safety. Thousands of “suspected homosexuals” were put on file in what is now called the LGBTQ purge.
All of this happened at the same time that the Public Service Alliance of Canada was taking shape and stepping up for public servants. This happened when my grandparents were finishing high school. You might have been alive when this happened- you certainly know at least one person who was.
I’m only telling you a small portion of the story today. I want to include so much and I know that there is still so much left to uncover. And at the same time, writing this article has been very difficult for me. Each personal narrative that I read, every article trying to capture the sea of pain in a tidy bucket… it feels like a punch in the gut. This is my community- both the LGBTQ2S+ community, and the public service.
To end this article, I want to tell you the part of the story that hit me the hardest and has stuck with me, even now: the story of one man, one victim of the LGBTQ purge. For me, the entire LGBTQ purge is filtered through his experience.
Let me tell you about John Watkins.
John Watkins was Canada’s first ambassador to Moscow. By all records, he was quite good at it, arranging for a landmark meeting between Lester B. Pearson (then-minister for external affairs) and Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union. He was a good diplomat, and a good man- popular in the public service, always with a story to tell. He was also a man who was attracted to other men. John Watkins died in 1964 at the age of 62, in a hotel in Montreal, of a heart attack. He died at the end of a four-hour long interrogation by the RCMP. By that point, he had been under constant surveillance and daily 3–4-hour interrogations for almost a month.
I would classify 28 days of interrogation as torture. The RCMP classified it as “need-to-know” information, had him declared dead of a totally coincidental heart attack and kept the reality of the situation secret until 1981. The purge of LGBTQ2S+ public servants continued until the early 1970s. LGBTQ2S+ purges continued in the RCMP and the military up until the 1990s.
The government apologized for the purge in 2017, a year before I joined the public service, and paid out a settlement to many of those affected, after victims spent years fighting for recognition.
This is not ancient history- this is living memory. As we celebrate Pride this year, as we lift up LGBTQ2S+ people in our lives, we must remember what came before- the bloody, brutal fight for recognition, and the many barriers towards LGBTQ2S+ survival. Those of us in the PSAC must recognize the history of violence against our LGBTQ2S+ members and work to avoid perpetuating this harm ourselves. The union was not able to protect LGBTQ2S+ members in the past. We will do better this time. We must.
I ask you, this Pride season, as you put up rainbow stickers and temporary tattoos, to remember John Watkins. Remember where we came from. Allies must learn to live with this tragic history, hold space for our pain, because for LGBTQ2S+ public servants, this tragedy is inescapable. It is part of the burden taken on when we chose to be public servants, and it is a burden borne most heavily by public servants who are out and proud.
We must all work towards a better future. The battle for LGBTQ2S+ rights is not over just because June has passed. LGTBQ2S+ people invited you to the party. Now, we invite you to the fight.
Kay Hacker –Local 20278.
Sources:
Levy, R. (2018, October 3). Canada’s Cold War purge of LGBTQ from public service. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lgbtq-purge-in-canada
Our history. Public Service Alliance of Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2022, from https://psacunion.ca/our-history
UPI. (1981, December 23). RCMP interrogation of Canada’s first ambassador to Moscow, John Watkins, was kept secret to prevent scandal and to keep counter-espionage operations under wraps. UPI. Retrieved June 2022, from https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/12/23/RCMP-interrogation-of-Canadas-first-ambassador-to-Moscow-John/1926377931600/
Your Regional Team invites you to participate in the Saskatchewan Regional Seminar scheduled to take place at the Hilton DoubleTree September 16-18, 2022.
UNE Regional Seminars are packed with presentations, workshops and training that will give you the knowledge and tools to help your members. They are also a great place to meet other activists and forge long-lasting friendships.
UNE will fund two (2) participants and an additional (1) youth participant per Local:
The Local President or designate;
A member who has not previously attended a seminar should be given priority
A youth member (age 35 or younger as of December 31, 2023).
Locals should also encourage the participation of equity members and may send additional members at the Local’s expense.
Participants will be expected to arrive for on-site registration at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening, September 16, 2022. Accommodations will be arranged for delegates to spend two nights at the hotel for the Friday and Saturday night of the Seminar as activities are scheduled to take place into the evenings. The Seminar ends on Sunday, September 18 at 12:00p.m.
You must apply by Friday, August 26, 2022. Unfortunately, we will not consider late applications.
Your Regional Team invites you to participate in the Quebec Regional Seminar scheduled to take place at the Delta Trois-Rivières September 9-11, 2022.
UNE Regional Seminars are packed with presentations, workshops and training that will give you the knowledge and tools to help your members. They are also a great place to meet other activists and forge long-lasting friendships.
UNE will fund two (2) participants and an additional (1) youth participant per Local:
The Local President or designate;
A member who has not previously attended a seminar should be given priority
A youth member (age 35 or younger as of December 31, 2023).
Locals should also encourage the participation of equity members and may send additional members at the Local’s expense.
Participants will be expected to arrive for on-site registration at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening, September 9, 2022. Accommodations will be arranged for delegates to spend two nights at the hHotel for the Friday and Saturday night of the Seminar as activities are scheduled to take place into the evenings. The Seminar ends on Sunday, September 11 at 12:00p.m.
You must apply by Friday, August 5, 2022. Unfortunately, we will not consider late applications.
The UNE 2022 Local Presidents’ Conference is just a few short months away! This event will bring presidents from every UNE Local to Gatineau, QC, August 11-14 for our first in-person event in over two years. Participants will attend educational sessions, hear from guest speakers and network with other union activists.
While this conference is geared toward Local President training, there will be a secondary theme of health and safety as our members have had to navigate both mental and physical challenges in workplaces and at home during the pandemic.
Your Local’s participation is very important. If you are unable to attend, we encourage you to designate another member of your Local Executive to attend the Conference, with preference given to your Local’s Health & Safety Representative.
Locals may also send observers at the Local’s expense.
If you are unable to register, please contact Suzanne Boucher at 613-560-4359 or at events@une-sen.org.
We look forward to meeting once again, in person, for the first time in over two years. But times have changed, and provincial health regulations have been extremely fluid. Participants will be expected to follow regulations put in place at the event venue and public travel hubs such as airports and railway stations.
As per PSAC’s current COVID-19 Vaccination Policy Guidelines, participants must attest to being fully vaccinated during online registration and have their proof of vaccination verified at the Conference.
Again, this is our first in-person event in over two years. The state of the pandemic is constantly evolving and regulations could change. We appreciate your understanding and patience while we navigate this together.
There will be more information circulated as the Conference date approaches, but don’t hesitate to check the UNE website for the latest updates.
In Solidarity,
Kevin King National President Union of National Employees
Amethyst Women’s Addiction Centre Best Theratronics Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Canada Council for the Arts Canadian Museum for Human Rights Canadian Museum of History Canadian Museum of Nature Canada Science and Technology Corporation CMHC Granville Island, B.C. House of Commons Jeunesse j’écoute Library of Parliament Kids Help Phone Mohawk Council of Akwesasne National Battlefields Commission Nordion (Canada) Inc. Office of the Auditor General Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp c.o.b OLGG Slots at Rideau Carleton Raceway Parks Canada SeedChange (formerly known as Unitarian Service Committee of Canada) Senate of Canada – Operational Group SSHRC Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Treasury Board
Why is it important that you sign your card? Click here to view and print 10 reasons. You’ll make our union stronger and have more voice in how we fight for your rights.
If you are a UNE member whose workplace is not on the list above, you can still contact us and we’ll send you a physical membership card.
Treasury Board continues to stall on negotiations following the latest round of Education and Library Science (EB) bargaining on March 8-10, 2022.
The EB group includes over 1,090 members responsible for education, education support and library services.
Bargaining is moving at a crawl, thanks to the employer’s stalling tactics. While PSAC has tabled all of our demands along with a comprehensive wage proposal, the employer remains closed to negotiating on nearly all of our priorities. Treasury Board also continues to put forward concessions on scheduling and shifts under the guise of “improving flexibility.”
Market adjustments
In addition to PSAC’s demands on wage increases to meet rising inflation and skyrocketing costs of living, PSAC also previously tabled wage adjustments based on market comparators. The employer says their research does not support the wage adjustments that PSAC tabled in January. PSAC’s bargaining team has requested these findings in addition to a counter-wage offer.
Show your support
Meet your bargaining team, learn why they got involved in this round of negotiations and show your support with our bargaining graphics:
Please be sure to keep your contact information up to date with the member portal to receive all the latest updates as we negotiate your next contract.
In North America, the Francophonie is a historical and geographic fact. More than 14 million speakers contribute to the vitality and visibility of the French language. In Canada, more than a quarter of the population considers itself to be Francophone, a reality that was recognized when Parliament adopted the Official Languages Act at the end of the 1960s.
It is therefore normal that institutions from the government or other sectors reflect this reality by recognizing the rights of individuals and communities to receive services and communications in the language of their choice, and by making federal institutions a place of work that is conducive to the use of both official languages in regions that have been designated as bilingual. However, beyond laws that have been adopted, the everyday reality is quite different. Even though the Official Languages Act has made French one of two official languages in Canada, its minority status causes it to be constantly threatened.
To wit, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages is forecasting that it will end the current year with five times more complaints than the annual average. In addition, according to a recent survey conducted by the Office of the Commissioner, close to half of federal public servants feel uncomfortable in using French at work, and this in the administrative regions where bilingualism is required. Many Francophone employees don’t feel like they can use the official language of their choice at work, and a good number of them experience organizational difficulties in working in French, especially in a context where the English language predominates.
There are many examples that illustrate how the use of French is threatened in federal institutions. The Francophone Committee therefore believes that the union movement, especially the one representing the federal public service, must be exemplary regarding the respect of linguistic rights of activists. It is therefore normal for structures within unions to ensure the respect of the right of members to advocate in French.
It would be fitting and essential that PSAC create a national Francophone Committee, which would have the same mandate as the one of SEN, as promised during PSAC’s last Convention held in 2018. The existence of UNE’s Francophone Committee is still totally pertinent, and its members are still, ten years after its creation, advocating for the respect and promotion of the French language within UNE.
The UNE’s Francophone Committee wishes you a great International Francophonie Day!
