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Passing it on!

Last weekend, Krystle Harvey, a member of Local 00383 in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, attended what could be her last union event with the PSAC. Harvey just landed a new job outside Statistics Canada, which means, in addition to saying goodbye to her great co-workers and a job that she really liked, she also has to say goodbye to the union.

“I’m going to miss the union the most because I met so many amazing people and got to do so many amazing things,” she said.

After the training session was over, Harvey took to Facebook and called on her co-workers to get involved. Her status update read in part: “I urge all my stats co-workers to become more involved in your union! Because if you won’t fight for your rights then who will?”

Harvey, a 29-year-old employee at Statistical Survey Operations, admits she didn’t always think unions were so great. In a previous workplace, her main experience with her union was seeing it protect individuals who didn’t really deserve to be protected.

But luckily for us, after getting a job at Stats, Harvey got involved with our union and her opinion quickly changed. She currently holds the position of secretary in her Local. Her involvement, she admits, was a bit of an accident. At the behest of one of her friends, Harvey signed up for a course on political and social activism.

“One of my friends said ‘come, it’ll be so much fun – we’ll have a great weekend,’” recalled Harvey. “And… my friend didn’t actually end up going.”

Nonetheless, Harvey spent the weekend learning more about the union and getting to know members of her local executive.

“It got me a lot more involved – and it got me wanting to get me more involved with this particular union.”

It should be noted that Statistical Survey Operations has a number of longstanding issues that still need to be addressed. Our members hope that this round of bargaining will lead to a much fairer workplace. Harvey believes that becoming aware of these issues helped fuel her union activism.

“I didn’t really know about the issues before I got involved. Once I got involved, I started seeing all of these issues and wanting something to be done about it.”

Last weekend’s training session allowed 11 participants to talk about these issues. Despite the training being open to all PSAC members from the North Bay and Sudbury area, the only members who showed up were from Harvey’s Local.

One member who attended felt it was a pretty sad turnout, but Harvey doesn’t quite see it that way.

“Of all the people in North Bay, of all the Locals – we were the only ones who showed up,” she said. “I think that says a lot about our Local and how involved we are – and how united we are.”

Harvey’s new job outside Stats Canada is a management position. She jokingly admits that she probably won’t be as free to praise unions.

“But I still absolutely believe in unions, regardless of where I’m going and whom I’ll be working with,” she added.

In fact, Harvey is making sure her enthusiasm for the union lives on after she’s gone. In addition to urging her co-workers to get involved, Harvey is compelling her older brother Trevor, who also works at Stats, to get involved in the union.

“I told him, ‘Trevor, my legacy has to live on; so you need to become more involved.’”

Join us in wishing Krystle the best of luck in her new career – and Trevor the best of luck in his union involvement! Leave a comment below!

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SSO issues on the Hill

On May 10, MP Claude Gravelle (NDP-Nickel Belt) stood up during question period and told the House of Commons something that our members know all too well: the government is mistreating Statistical Survey Operations employees.

“This government has been nasty with science and statistical evidence. Now they are mistreating the people collecting the evidence,” said Gravelle. “I have 200 statistical survey operations staff in Sturgeon Falls, part of 1,500 across Canada, who have been without a contract for over a year.”

The PSAC is still waiting for arbitration dates, both for regional office employees, who collect data in a call centre, and for field interviewers, who work door-to-door.

Among the demands is the issue of seniority; our members want the employer to recognize seniority when assigning work hours. As things stand currently, the employer has no obligation to provide a minimum amount of hours.

In response to Gravelle’s question, Conservative MP Andrew Saxton responded: “Mr. Speaker, our government bargains in good faith.”

For more information, please consult the SSO bargaining section of the PSAC website.

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International Museum Day

May 18 is International Museum Day, so we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to showcase some of the great museums where our members work.

The Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg is one of the newest Locals to join the Union of National Employees. Our members there are already hard at work conducting research and preparing exhibits. The museum is set to open in 2014. If you want to take a look at what the museum looks like, you can look at it live via its construction webcams… it looks spectacular!

The Canadian Museum of Civilization is definitely worth a visit – especially if you have kids. The museum is located in Gatineau, just across the river from Ottawa (you can walk there from the Market, very easily, using the Alexandra Bridge). One of the most impressive parts of the museum is its grand hall, which features totem poles and house facades from First Nations on the pacific coast.

If you have more of an artistic penchant, head on over to the National Gallery of Canada; whether you’re into medieval art or contemporary art, you’ll be sure to have a great time. Yes, you’ll find pieces by the Group of Seven, but for something a bit more dramatically Canadian, check out Benjamin West’s The Death of General Wolfe. If you’re looking for something more contemporary, check out Ron Mueck’s Head of a Baby. And finally, there are great photo-ops outside the gallery, among Maman’s eight long legs!

Also close to Ottawa’s downtown is the Canadian War Museum, where, this summer, there will be an exhibition named Peace. The exhibition explores “events and issues that have propelled Canadians to act for peace.” Among its permanent exhibition, visitors will find impressive examples of military technology. There is also a hall that showcases the many ways that Canadians have commemorated fallen soldiers. Finally, take a moment to rest and reflect in the Memorial Hall.

The Canadian Museum of Nature is also a great spot to check out, especially with the kids. Best of all, it’s only a short walk from the UNE’s head office, in Ottawa’s Centretown! The building is impressive; it looks like a castle – and in 1916, it became the emergency headquarters of the Canadian government after a fire engulfed the Parliament buildings. Kids will be sure to love the impressive dinosaur collection and the animalium (those who are scared of tarantulas and other creepy-crawlers, beware!).

Outside of the downtown core, there’s another really cool museum to check out with the kids: the Canadian Science and Technology Museum. Everyone who’s ever been on a school trip to this museum will undoubtedly remember the Crazy Kitchen: a bizarre kitchen that messes up your body’s balance! Hang on to that railing! And yes, there are actual steam locomotives inside the museum!

If you’re in the mood for something a bit more warm and cuddly, check out the Canada Agriculture Museum, where you’ll find pigs, horses, cows… and even Alpacas! There are daily demonstrations that are worth checking out, like cooking with grains, milking a cow and grooming a calf.

Finally, be sure to check out the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. If you’re a bit nerdy, you’ll be happy to hear that, this summer, the museum is hosting an exhibition about Star Wars! But what’s most impressive about the museum is its collection of planes – and just recently, the museum added the Canadarm to its collection.

So next time you’re in Winnipeg or in the National Capital Region, be sure to check out some of the great national museums where our members work!

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May 17 – International Day Against Homophobia

May 17 is the International Day Against Homophobia.

According to the most recent report of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Intersex Association, there are still 78 countries where homosexual acts are illegal. In Mauritania, Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia Yemen, as well as parts of Nigeria and Somalia, being gay is punishable by death.

But the report does remark on some good news; 2012 and 2013 have been great years for those who side with marriage equality. There are now 14 countries where same-sex partners can legally marry. The latest countries to legalize marriage between partners of the same sex include Argentina, Uruguay, France and New Zealand. The United Kingdom is expected to pass its same-sex marriage bill very soon (which would finally end the second-class ‘civil partnership’ nonsense).

Even south of the border, things are changing fast. Just yesterday, Minnesota became the 12th state to approve marriages between partners of the same sex.

But there’s still a long road ahead. This year, Fondation Émergence, a Montreal-based LGBT foundation, is trying to raise awareness about homophobia on social media.

If you want a disturbing look at just how common casual homophobia is on Twitter, you can head over to nohomophobes.com; a website designed by the University of Alberta’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services.

The website tracks the use of homophobic language on Twitter. Last week alone, the website tracked 361,405 instances of the word “faggot”, 80,131 instances of “so gay”, and 31,478 instances of “dyke”.

And although the site doesn’t track French homophobic language, our very unscientific research shows roughly one occurrence of the word “tapette” (the French equivalent to “faggot”) per minute.

“What we’re trying to do is focus attention like a laser beam and quantifies how common this experience is in our society,” said Dr. Kristopher Wells, a researcher at the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, in a video explaining the project.

Wells says the point is to ask people to break the silence – help them stop spreading the language of prejudice.

Have you ever encountered casual homophobic language in the workplace or among friends? What did you do? Share your story in the comments below!

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Our veterans deserve better

Yesterday, National Executive Vice-President Eddie Kennedy joined more than 150 protesters in Sydney, Nova Scotia, where the government wants to close a Veterans Affairs district office.

District offices are sprinkled around the country to help veterans who have questions about their benefits. The Sydney office is one of three district offices set to close in the Atlantic region.

Veterans in Sydney will now have to go to one of five Service Canada offices on the island. But the level of service there will be completely different.

“They’ll be directed to a computer or a toll-free number. They won’t have the same front-line support that they have at the Veterans Affairs office,” said Kennedy, who lives in Cape Breton.

If they require the kind of support that only a district office can offer, veterans will have no choice but to go to Halifax.

“And that’s a five-hour drive, one way,” added Kennedy.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has been grappling with cuts since 2011, when their budget was cut by $226 million. The department also plans to reduce its workforce by 500 over five years; over 1000 affected noticed have already been given out to VAC employees.

There are 145 veterans on Cape Breton Island.

The other district offices slated to close include Charlottetown, P.E.I; Corner Brook, N.L.; Windsor, Ont.; Thunder Bay, Ont.; Kelowna, B.C.; Saskatoon, Sask.; Brandon, Manitoba.

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Government abolishes Passport Canada

Last week, the government announced that Passport Canada would be dissolved and split between Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Service Canada. The announcement was unexpected – and the decision is striking many as rather strange.

“Not only did they fail to give the union any notice, they totally bungled the announcement,” said National President Doug Marshall.

The department chose to announce the change to its staff by way of a mass email that was sent at 4:23 Eastern Time, when most employees from Ontario eastward were either on their way home or already there.

Some employees report that they only found out about the email that night thanks to friends on the West coast who alerted them of the announcement. The email concludes with, “for more information on the transition, please visit your Intranet site later today and speak to your manager.”

Later that evening, a series of questions and answers were added to the Passport Canada intranet site. However, since employees cannot access the intranet from home, many were left with unanswered questions until morning.

“Obviously many members were concerned – and they had no way of getting answers to their questions. The way they carried this out shows that employees were the last of their considerations,” said Marshall.

But it gets better

Among the questions and answered prepared by Passport Canada was, “have the unions been informed?”

“Yes,” wrote Passport Canada. Uhh… not so! The Union of National Employees learned Passport Canada’s plans after its employees did. It’s thanks to concerned members who forwarded the announcement that we even learned of the transfer.

Passport Canada has since agreed to make a correction to the Q&A.

We still know very little

Upon learning of the transfer, Marshall contacted Passport Canada’s CEO. A meeting was scheduled for the next day; it included representatives from Passport Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

“During that meeting, we learned very little that wasn’t already public knowledge,” said Marshall.

In fact, the only new information to surface was that that no planning had been done; the employer will start working on plans this week.

The transfer affects all Passport Canada employees; 850 will move to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 1900 will move to Service Canada. The change takes effect July 2.

Service Canada has yet to respond to our meeting request.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

Over the past decade, Passport Canada has more than doubled the number of passports issued annually. Today, 67 per cent of Canadians hold a passport.

According to Passport Canada’s own CEO, more than 4.8 million passports were issued to Canadians last year – and 99 per cent of clients received their passports on time or earlier.

According to Passport Canada’s own 2008 National Client Satisfaction Survey, “there has been a notable increase in satisfaction along with ease of application submission (41% very satisfied, up 15 points) and with the time and effort required to obtain a passport (34% very satisfied, up 17).”

“I just don’t see why this government wants to abolish an agency that is clearly working well for Canadians,” concluded Marshall.

Media contact: Ben René 613-769-6905

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Cuts at the Museum of Civilizations

More cuts were announced earlier this week. The Museum of Civilization announced that it was eliminating 23 positions; 17 members are affected, of which 14 have been laid off.

The Museum claims the layoffs are the result of a “significant” budget shortfall.

That said, according to the Museum’s own 2012 annual report, the museum has been performing well. The corporation met its onsite attendance objectives: 1.2 million visitors attended the museum last year. Paid attendance at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum was within 2.6% of the corporation’s target.

In fact, 2012 financial statements claim that “overall revenues from operations were slightly higher than [the] prior year at 10.8 million.” The museum is nonetheless grappling with last year’s deficit of $658,000.

But while the museum claims not to have the money to keep staff employed, they’ll soon be swimming in money courtesy of the Harper Government, who, let’s face it, has a penchant for renaming stuff.

Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Museums Act in order to establish the Canadian Museum of History… err… I mean: An Act to Destroy The Canadian Museum of Civilization, is currently awaiting a second reading in the House of Commons. The Bill aims to do away with the Museum of Civilization in order to create the Canadian Museum of History.
We’re not just talking about fancy new letterhead and a new plaque outside the building; the museum’s focus will be considerably narrowed and its mandate will radically change. Oh, and it’ll cost taxpayers $25 million (so says the Harper Gov – though the change is expected to cost much more!).

In an editorial published in late 2012, Canadian Association of University Teachers Executive Director James L. Turk wrote that the change will rob Canadians of the country’s most popular museum.

Turk is also concerned that the change is largely motivated on ideology.
“From the federal government’s first announcement of the proposed new Canadian Museum of History, some have expressed fear that the new museum would be a parochial institution designed to reflect the Harper government’s ideological version of our history.”

Turk contends that the change fits into a pattern of politically-motivated heritage policy that includes $28 million dog and pony show over the war of 1812, among other examples.
Thomas Peace, a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow in Native American Studies at Dartmouth College, recently remarked that historians weren’t criticizing the commemoration of the war of 1812 – but rather, the extreme irony before them.

“Historians are upset because the government is paying for these commemorative projects while shutting down the research institutions that allow us to do our work and silencing some of our country’s brightest minds working within them.”

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Passport Canada isn't broken

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We found out late this afternoon that the government plans to split Passport Canada between Service Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know about the announcement until some of our Passport members forwarded the email they received from the employer. It is unacceptable that the employer failed to give us any advance notice – and I am appalled that they chose to make the announcement via email mere minutes after most of our members were already on your way home.

I will be meeting with the employer tomorrow to find out more about their plans. Rest assured that I share your concerns. Canadians have the highest regard for Passport Canada; they value the exceptional service they receive from our members.

This government needs to understand: Passport Canada isn’t broken and it doesn’t need fixing!

I promise to keep you apprised of any news we receive surrounding this change.

In solidarity,

Doug Marshall
National President
Union of National Employees

Media contact: Ben René 613-769-6905

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May is Asian Heritage Month

The month of May, in Canada, celebrates the achievements and heritage of Asian Canadians. In many ways, Asian Canadians faced an uphill battle from the moment they arrived in a younger Canada. So fervent was racism directed at immigrants from China, that even the labour movement fell prey to the vitriol.

Confederation was built on the back of railroads. It’s an idea first floated by Thomas Keefer, an engineer, author and businessman who called trains “the iron civilizer”.

“The young men and maidens, the old men and the matrons, daily collect around the cars: they wonder where so many well-dressed and rich-looking people come from and are going to, etc. – what queer machines those are which they see passing backwards and forwards.”1

The railroad and those “queer machines” created a stronger economy. Suddenly, there were stronger ties between very different people from very different geographical areas who found themselves a part of a greater “Canadian” society.

But all that came at a cost. More than 600 Chinese labourers lost their lives while working on the B.C. stretch of the Canadian Pacific Railway.2 It’s a sad part of our history that many Canadians only learned about thanks to CBC’s heritage project.

But the untold story was the fervent prejudice that Chinese immigrants had to deal with, at the hands of the public, the government and even one major labour union.

By 1911, close to ten percent of British Columbians were Chinese.3 The Chinese population was faced with countless stereotypes; the men were associated with opium, gambling and uncleanliness – women were regarded as prostitutes. Even if whites lived side by side with Asian immigrants, they really didn’t have a deep knowledge of their new neighbours; “they screened out many of the immigrants’ characteristics and magnified a few others,” contends Historian Peter Ward, at the University of British Columbia.4

But, overall, the Chinese were unpopular because they were seen as unfair competition for low-paying jobs.

Enter the Knights of Labor; a progressive labour reform organization that believed in organizing all workers, regardless of “skill, sex or race”.5 When an economic depression hit in the mid 1880s, the Knights began to argue against Chinese immigration. During an 1885 Royal Commission, the Knights of Labor officially objected to Chinese labour, arguing that they were poised to become “dangerous competitors in the labour market.”6

The government reacted by attempting to restrict immigration by imposing a head tax on all Chinese immigrants. It started out, in 1885, at $50, but quickly rose to $500 by 1903.7

“The head tax succeeded in reducing overall Chinese immigration, particularly female immigrants, since many married men could not afford to bring their wives, and few single men could pay the tax for single women who might become their wives.”8

While the Japanese escaped the head tax (because Japan was one of Britain’s military allies), Canada nonetheless restricted the number of Japanese immigrants to 400 a year.9

There was a clear difference between Chinese and Japanese immigrants at the time; the Chinese were resented by unskilled labourers because they were in direct competition for low-paying jobs. On the other hand, the Japanese, who were typically educated and rich, were resented by the elites, with whom they competed.

In 1923, the government enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned most Chinese immigrants. And while Canada’s postwar immigration policy finally did away with the Act, severe restrictions on Asian immigration continued to exist.10

In 2006, the Government of Canada officially apologized for the Chinese Head Tax. As part of the apology, surviving head-tax payers or their surviving spouses were to receive a $20,000 payment.11

The Head Tax Families Society of Canada contends that Stephen Harper’s government has excluded thousands of head tax families seeking reparations, since only one percent of head tax families qualify for the payment.12

They continue to seek a fair settlement.

[1] Keefer, Thomas, C. (1853) Philosophy of Railroads. Montreal.

[2] Chan, Anthony B. Chinese, The Canadian Encyclopedia.

[3] Francis, R. D., Jones, R., & Smith, D. (2008). Destinies: Canadian history since confederation. (6 ed.). University of Calgary: Nelson Education Ltd.

[4] Ward, Peter. (2002) White Canada Forever: Popular Attitudes and Public Policy Towards Orientals. Quebec: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

[5] Kealy, G.S., Knights of Labour, Canadian Encyclopedia.

[6] Creese, Gillian (1988) Workers, Capital and the State in British Columbia: Selected Papers. Warburton, R. and Coburn, D. (ed.) British Columbia: University of British Columbia Press.

[7] Francis, R. D., Jones, R., & Smith, D. (2008). Destinies: Canadian history since confederation. (6 ed.). University of Calgary: Nelson Education Ltd.

[8] Idem

[9] Idem

[10] Idem

[11] Munrow, Susan. (2006) Canada Gives Formal Apology for Chinese Head Tax

[12] Head Tax Families Society of Canada

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The Twelve Days of Cuts

Today marks one year since the Harper government launched an all-out attack on public services. And yet, it seems like the general public isn’t fully aware of the true impact of these cuts. Some of these cuts are downright ridiculous – especially when you look at the government’s other priorities: pandas, shameless self-promotion, war of 1812 phone apps, etc….

So let’s put it out there. Let’s show how these cuts have impacted Canadians.

Over the next twelve days, we’ll be releasing an image each day on Facebook and Twitter. We’re counting on you to share these with your friends – and encourage them to do the same!

For those of you who aren’t on these social media platforms, you can still check back here each day to see what image we’re sharing!

Day 1 – If only Harper loved our national parks and historic sites as much as he lurrrrves PANDAS!

Day 2 – Fiscal conservative? The money spent on the war of 1812 could have supported over 800 local archives for the next 16 years.

Day 3 – Harper and Stats? LOL!

Day 4 – Harper and First Nations…err… Be right back!

Day 5 – Watch out for that wave, dude!

Day 6 – Arts only matter when they’re linked to a tax cut (or your approval rating!)

Day 7 – Uh oh! It’s a fire!

Day 8 – OMG! Like, Harper totally loves giving things a MAKEOVER!!!

Day 9 – You say Parks Canada, I say SPA CANADA!

Day 10 – I put the ‘reduction’ in poverty reduction!

Day 11 – I just LOVE ribbon-cuttings!

Day 12 – Let’s party like it’s 1984!