work force adjustment

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.

2011/12/02

An absurd choice

Dec 2, 2011 – The PSAC says no giant squirrels were harmed in the making their new social media campaign, but the same cannot be said about public services.

“Right now, the Conservative government is forcing Canadians to choose between a strong economy (no deficit) and strong public services,” wrote PSAC National President John Gordon in an email to union members on Friday. “The goal of the Third Choice campaign is to highlight the absurdity of this forced choice and encourage Canadians to ask for something better.”

The Third Strike campaign kicked off with a quirky video already circulating widely on Facebook and Twitter. It highlights the absurdity of forcing Canadians to choose between no deficit and strong public services.

Visit www.thirdchoice.ca to see the video for yourself! Don’t forget to share the video on Facebook and Twitter and encourage your friends to do the same.

2011/10/05

A message for Tony Clement

Public servants working in Ottawa’s east got to enjoy some delicious food on Wednesday at a Barbeque organized by the PSAC NCR regional office. But burgers weren’t the only thing drawing these federal employees to the event.

“We’re trying to send a message to Tony Clement: enough is enough” said a local PSAC activist.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement is on a mission to cut $4 billion from public services.

What Tony Clement does not understand is that when you cut and destroy public services, you are destroying Canada,” said Larry Rousseau, Regional Executive Vice-President of the National Capital Region. “The PSAC is adamantly opposed to cutting public services to balance the books. The economic crisis was caused by the banking industry – not public service employees,” he added.

In June, Clement said that more public sector layoffs would come. Despite the still fragile state of the economy, the Conservative government seems to think that sending more people to the unemployment line is the way to foster economic growth.

In his June 8 speech, Clement said: “We’ll all need to ask fundamental questions about the programs and services we provide…. Should we still be doing this — and doing it in this way? Does this have to be delivered by this organization? Why does it cost as much as it does? Can we find savings?”

A few months later, the Canadian Press revealed that the Harper government hired Deloitte, an American-based professional organization, to help find $4 billion in cuts. Taxpayers are paying Deloitte $90,000 per day for this service.

And Tony Clement says he wants to find savings….

Please sign PSAC’s the petition to Tony Clement. Let him know that public services matter!