Negotiations resume for Parks Canada members

Today, PSAC’s Parks bargaining team will be returning to Ottawa to negotiate with Parks Canada representatives. Meetings will take place over three days from May 28 to 30.

Last time, PSAC’s Parks negotiating team saw some movement at the bargaining table, but in small increments. Although the employer did come to the table with more language, they still showed reluctance to move on major items.

WATCH: What’s at stake for Parks Canada workers

Members of the Parks negotiating team discuss the important issues on the bargaining table this round and share what members can do to support the bargaining process.

2019/05/06

Parks Canada: Negotiations progress gradually

This week, negotiations continued towards securing a new collective agreement for over 4,000 Parks Canada members. Bargaining teams from both sides met in Ottawa from April 30 to May 2.

PSAC’s Parks negotiating team saw some movement at the bargaining table, but in small increments. Although the employer did come to the table with more language in this round, they still showed reluctance to move on major items. Most of the negotiations this week focused on non-monetary articles.

Securing Phoenix protections

This week, our negotiating team tabled our Phoenix pay administration proposal, which includes language to secure interest on monies owed if the employer fails to pay employees on time. This provision also includes reimbursements for members who have to seek accounting and financial management services to remedy inaccurate income reporting. Also included are other provisions to protect employees such as deduction rules for overpayment and emergency salary advances. The employer has yet to respond to this proposal.

The importance of domestic violence leave

The highlight of the week was our presentation to the employer on the value of domestic violence leave. PSAC presented overwhelming research on what’s at stake for those experiencing domestic violence and how this impacts the workplace. Our team emphasized the importance of accommodations and the cost of doing nothing. The employer seemed receptive to this proposal, which resulted in a productive discussion.

No progress on key items

Discussions continued on other bargaining demands such as vacation leave, whistleblowing, the Joint Learning Program, designated paid holidays, vacation leave, injury on duty leave, and joining the National Joint Council. During this time our bargaining team secured minor improvements to harassment language and in the articles relating to the definition of family.

Bargaining team rejects clawbacks

Unfortunately, the employer continues to ask for concessions concerning seasonal employees. The employer wants to prorate the number of family-related days for seasonal employees which would ultimately reduce the amount of leave members would have access to. Our negotiation team firmly conveyed to the employer that we will not accept concessions.

Parks Canada negotiations are set to continue May 28 to 30.

Source: PSAC

2019/05/01

An Open Letter to Our Development Members at Global Affairs Canada Regarding the Foreign Services – International Assistance Initiative

The Union of National Employees (UNE) has received an update from Global Affairs Canada (GAC) regarding their intended implementation of the Foreign Services – International Assistance Initiative (FS-IA).

The staffing initiative is primarily directed to PM employees, with developmental assignments abroad “at post”; an internal staffing process at Global Affairs Canada involving Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) members with UNE, along with some EC members of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), and additional members of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC).

Global Affairs Canada intends to staff all positions at post at the FS classification, which is stated to be as many as about 150 people, with an additional 150 positions tethered at GAC headquarters locations. The Employer has launched its new assignment cycle and shared its Broadcast Message and Q&A with the Bargaining Agents. It is also available for employees on the GAC Intranet.

The FS classification would mean:

Employees willing to change their term and conditions of employment to reflect “rotationality” a term describing the necessity to be transplanted from post to post depending on the operational necessities of the employer;
“Rotationality” would last for the remainder of the employee’s career, an assignment to post, followed by a brief repatriation to Canada, and then awaiting assignment to other posts, or a direct transfer from post to post, depending on specific operational circumstances. These employees would also have post priority as “Group 1 employees” that can bid on post at the 177 missions abroad, during a Post selection period;
Employees would be compelled to complete a linguistic profile of CCC within 2 years of rotational assignment, as a term and condition of employment;
Employees would be subject to a the Treasury Board rules regarding promotion-transfer, should they be found qualified based on the premise of a “best fit” to serve in a rotational pool of FS members at Global Affairs Canada;
Any current employees changing classifications to “FS” would also be subject to a change of bargaining agents; namely, the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO).

UNE has several concerns that remain outstanding following the latest update:

Career progression for employees that prefer mobility to post on a “single assignment” basis and being able to choose; based on personal preference and family status during a post selection period, as compared to a permanent commitment to working abroad for the remainder of their public service career;
The UNE is still waiting for the employer to share its findings of the gender- based demographics associated with the developmental community;
A potential career-limiting path within the Public Service, should developmental employees choose not to become rotational, or worse, not be qualified for a rotational posting, yet still wish to be considered for a limited number of posts after all FS employees have picked over the preferential postings;
Employees that are not able to meet the linguistic profile or the Security Clearance of the FS positions, should be permitted to return to their existing operational cadres, without halt or detriment to their career progression, and to their respective bargaining agents;
The Union of National Employees remains committed to our members and will engage as-necessary through fulsome consultations on the Foreign Service International Assistance file;
UNE continues to request that a sub-committee study the impact of its implementation, on all FS employees in rotation, versus those employees filling gaps in rotationality by their continued commitment to serve abroad for the benefit of the international community and the Government of Canada.

Respectfully submitted,

Kevin King
National President,
Union of National Employees

*Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=678814

2019/04/25

Atlantic Regional Seminar

The Atlantic Regional Team invites you to participate in the Regional Seminar scheduled to take place at the Delta Hotel St. John’s, in St. John’s, NL on June 21 – 23, 2019.

Click here to register online.

This event will offer presentations and workshop training that will give you the knowledge and confidence to help your members. It’s also a great place to meet active members just like you and forge long-lasting friendships.

For a sneak-peek at what else we have in store for you, check out the seminar agenda.

The Union of National Employees will fund the following delegates per local:

A Local President or designate should be one of the delegates;
A member who has not previously attended a seminar should be given priority;
Locals will elect a youth delegate to attend the regional seminar (age 35 or younger as of December 31, 2020).

Locals are required to encourage the participation of equity members. Locals may send additional members at their own expense.

For information on travel, accommodation, accessibility and assistance for persons with disabilities, please consult the cheat sheet.

You must register by Friday, May 24, 2019. Unfortunately, we will not consider late registrations.

Should you have any questions about the Seminar please contact suzanne.boucher@une-sen.org.

Delegates to the Regional Seminar should arrive for Registration at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening, June 21, 2019. Accommodations will be arranged for delegates to spend two nights at the Delta St. John’s 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, June 23 at 1:00p.m.

In solidarity,

Your Regional Team:

Angela Decker, Regional Vice-President, Atlantic
Brian Morrissey, Assistant Regional Vice-President, Atlantic (N.B. and P.E.I.)
Bill Bennett, Assistant Regional Vice-President, Atlantic (N.L./Lab.)
Helen Zebedee, Regional Representative for Human Rights, Atlantic

2019/04/252019/05/30

One is too many: No one should die on the job

Who’s counting?

April 28 is the National Day of Mourning when we remember those who have lost their lives or suffered injury and illness because of their work.

Every day there are opportunities to prevent workplace injury and death, but we can’t do it without the data we need to drive our decision-making.

In Canada, we collect statistics on many things including the weather, but we fail to accurately record the number of individuals who have died as a result of their work. Because of this, we do not learn the lessons that would allow us to prevent future tragedies.

Apart from data compiled by Workers’ Compensation on workplace injuries and fatalities, no Canadian department or agency is actually counting occupational fatalities and injuries. The widely quoted 951 fatalities in the 2017 statistics (the most recent year available) from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Board of Canada (AWCBC) should not be used as the sole benchmark for work-related fatalities or injuries. The AWCBC figures only account for approved compensation claims, not the actual total of injuries and fatalities that occurred in any given year. Recent Canadian research demonstrates that work-related fatalities could be as much as 10 to 13 times higher than official data indicates.

This lack of reporting means thousands of injuries and deaths are missing from occupational health and safety statistics. These include workers exempt from coverage like the self-employed, banking employees, domestic workers, many farmers and agricultural workers, commuting fatalities, stress-induced suicides, unapproved occupational diseases, employees of private clubs, and temporary or undocumented workers.

In addition, in the federal sector, when a person dies due to a particular hazard, the compensation board does not provide the root cause analysis to employers. The Coroner does not give employers a notice of death, nor is the root cause of the injury or fatality necessarily considered in the required hazard prevention program – as though every fatality is “an accident.”

Let’s push to make 2019 the year that the government of Canada begins to accurately document and use evidence-based recording to prevent workplace injuries and save lives. One is too many – no one should die on the job.

Source: PSAC

2019/04/022019/04/08

2019 Federal Budget

Complementary to the PSAC analysis, UNE went through the 2019 federal budget. Here is a summary of the measures that matter to you as a UNE member.

Phoenix and NextGen

“To continue progress on stabilizing the current pay system, Budget 2019 provides an additional $21.7 million in 2018–19 to address urgent pay administration pressures (partially sourced from existing departmental funds), and proposes to invest an additional $523.3 million over five years, starting in 2019–20, to ensure that adequate resources are dedicated to addressing payroll errors.”

PSAC and UNE welcome these additional funding measures to address the Phoenix fiasco, but as pointed out by PSAC, “they fall significantly short of what is required to end the pay nightmares of Canada’s federal public service workers.”

We are happy that the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) will be receiving an additional $9.2 million in 2019–2020 for any telephone enquiries.

As for NextGen, there is not much detail in this budget plan other than public sector unions will be consulted during the review process.

Gender Equality

The gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) is work in progress and Budget 2019 allocates $1.5 million to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) over five years. TBS will work with other departments in the collection of GBA+ data.
The new Department for Women and Gender Equality will receive $160 million over a five-year period. This important investment will allow strengthen its mandate.

Extra Funding for the LGBTQ2+ Secretariat

$3.6 million is being allocated to the LGBTQ2+ Secretariat over three years. The Secretariat collaborates with stakeholders to inform the “Government’s activities on issues related to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.”

Support for Racialized Workers

PSAC and UNE “welcome the investment of $45 million over three years to support a new Anti-Racism Strategy along with an Anti-Racism Secretariat. We hope the government will integrate PSAC’s recommendations in making a stronger commitment to employment equity, accessible and transparent staffing processes and reconciliation with the Indigenous community. The $25 million over five years for projects and capital assistance to celebrate, share knowledge, and build capacity in Black Canadian communities is long awaited funding.”

Parks Canada

We can read at page 300 that $19 million will be allocated to fund capital projects in national parks, national marine conservation areas and national historic sites. That does not address major concerns raised in a report commissioned by Parks Canada. The agency has “deferred up to $9.5 billion in badly needed work – and ought to spend up to $3.3 billion on top of that to cope with the threat of climate change.” “When reviewed, 24 per cent of the asset[s] were assessed as being in good condition, 36 per cent in fair condition, and 40 per cent in poor or very poor condition,” says the report. In other words, this budget does not address a systemic situation that Parks Canada has been facing for years.

Lack of Measures Precarious Workers

This budget lacks measures to address the issue of using temporary agencies and casual contracts, and to protect the most vulnerable workers through a federal workers’ compensation plan.

Social Security Tribunal

Following the recommendations of a 2017 independent review of the Social Security Tribunal of Canada and comments expressed by Canadians trough consultations, the government is trying to fix a situation created by the Harper Government. “To make the recourse process for EI, CPP, and OAS easier to navigate and more responsive to the needs of Canadians, Budget 2019 proposes to invest $253.8 million over five years, starting in 2019–20, with $56.7 million per year ongoing.”

Social Development Minister Duclos has recently declared that “the government will bring back the three-person hearings for the first layer of benefit appeals — in a body separate from the tribunal — and retain the tribunal’s single arbitrator for the second, and final, layer.” UNE welcomes this funding.

Federal Public Service Dental Plan Coverage

These improvements for the dental coverage follow an important PSAC victory. After lengthy negotiations and an arbitration process, PSAC won the arbitral decision for the Public Service Dental Care Plan late last year.

Making Workplaces more inclusive

The government has pledged $12 million over three years to support employment for persons with intellectual disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

As for federal workplaces, “[t]he [g]overnment has committed to hiring at least 5,000 people with disabilities over the next five years.” In order to reach that goal, it will spend $13.7 million over that period of time.

Staffing at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

We welcome investments in staffing at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Indigenous Communities across Canada

Budget 2019 includes 24 measures for Indigenous peoples, totaling approximately $4.7 billion. Federal measures towards Indigenous Peoples include:

$127 million to create the National Council for Reconciliation
$1.2 billion over three years for Jordan’s Principle
$739 million over five years for water
$333.7 million over five years + $115.7 million ongoing to implement the Indigenous Languages Act
$327.7 million over five years for post-secondary education
Loan forgiveness and reimbursement for comprehensive claims and research for specific claims

As pointed out in the PSAC article, there is “no dedicated funding for Indigenous women’s organizations, to support and carry out the necessary work that will come out of the recommendations of the [National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls]. This is a glaring gap.”

Canada’s North

Budget 2019 focuses on four areas:

People: options for post-secondary education are expanded; Northern Isolated Community Initiatives Fund established over five years; measures to improve people’s health and well-being
Economic Development: measures in resource development, innovation and business growth
Infrastructure: one major announcement is restoring rail service to Churchill, MB; more funding for more infrastructure, cleaner energy and high-speed Internet access
Science and Environment: more support provided towards science and research, and conserving the Arctic environment

2019/04/022019/05/30

Ontario Health Care

Rally organized by the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC)

For more information: https://www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca/index.php/safeguard-health/

What is “Ford Nation” doing to the Public Health Care Services?

A massive bill, Bill 74, was recently tabled by the Ford Government to reorganize health care services in Ontario:

Not a Single New Service or Improvement to Care
We have excellent health care in that province. We just don’t have enough of it. Yet Doug Ford’s new health care omnibus bill does not open a single new health care service. Not a single surgery to help tackle wait lists. Not one new nursing home space. No more health professionals, vital support staff, nurses or doctors.

Ontario funds health care at the lowest rate in Canada. We have a long way to go even just to reach the average of the rest of the country. We are asking the Doug Ford government to refocus attention on actually expanding and improving access to care. No to privatization and mega-mergers.

New Powers to Force Mergers and Privatization

The new approach of this Conservative Government is to centralize 20 existing agencies into one big one called the “Super Agency”. It will create many problems because of the disparate mandates, histories, levels of effectiveness, and cultures of the existing ones that are well implemented in their communities.

Restructuring powers are defined in the legislation as not only service coordination but also mergers, amalgamations, transfers of all or part of a service, closures of a service, and entire closures of local health services. In other words, this bill is a gift to giant CEOs and large chain corporations to take over health services in Ontario.

New Bureaucracy but No Public Oversight

At the end of the years of mergers and takeovers and partnerships and so on, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care envisions 30 – 50 giant health care conglomerates running virtually all services for up to 15 million Ontarians. Each conglomerate will need a new tier of administration to run the relationship between its various parts of the new health care structure. With this new governance approach, it will mean that overtime public oversight will disappear, and any decision made will be business driven, NOT made in the interest of the public.

No Public Consultation: Virtually All Community Control Taken Away

Virtually all the democratic protections that were won in previous legislations have been stripped in this bill. There are NO open board meetings. NO public right to access restructuring documents. NO appeals.

Upheaval for Care Workers

Another half decade or more of upheaval and takeovers will be devastating to a workforce that has stretched itself for decades to do ever more.
We urge the Ford government to hit “pause”, to engage in proper public consultation and to make a new priority of actually improving access to public health care services for Ontarians.

Source: https://www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca/index.php/briefing-note-doug-fords-omnibus-health-bill-bill-74/

2019/03/272019/03/27

Regional Seminar – Saskatchewan and Manitoba

The Manitoba and Saskatchewan Regional Teams invite you to participate in the Regional Seminar scheduled to take place at the Delta Regina Hotel on May 3 – 5, 2019.

For a sneak-peek at what else we have in store for you, check out the seminar agenda.

The Union of National Employees will fund the following delegates per local:

A Local President or designate should be one of the delegates;
A member who has not previously attended a seminar should be given priority;
Locals will elect a youth delegate to attend the regional seminar (age 35 or younger as of December 31, 2020).

Locals are required to encourage the participation of equity members. Locals may send additional members at their own expense.

For information on travel, accommodation, accessibility and assistance for persons with disabilities, please consult the cheat sheet.

You must register by Friday, April 19, 2019. Unfortunately, we will not consider late registrations.

Should you have any questions about the Seminar please contact suzanne.boucher@une-sen.org.

Delegates to the Regional Seminar should arrive for Registration at 7:00p.m. Friday evening, May 3, 2019. Accommodations will be arranged for delegates to spend two nights at the Delta Regina 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, May 5 at 1:00p.m.

Click here to register online.

2019/03/262019/03/26

Local Presidents’ Conference – That’s a Wrap

The UNE would like to thank all 180 members who came out for this years’ UNE Local Presidents’ Conference.

Over the weekend, participants heard from an impressive lineup of guest speakers, engaged in panel discussions and gathered together in employer and regional caucuses.

On Friday, Maple Creek Saskatchewan’s Omar Murray gave a powerful review of the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. CLC’s Larry Rousseau then fired the group up even more before they headed out in bus loads to the Prime Minister’s Office with messages of support for our bargaining teams, dismay at the Phoenix debacle and solidarity with Indigenous Canadians cheering on Bill C-262.

Upon return from the rally, the crowd heard from NDP Member of Parliament, Ms. Ruth Ellen Brosseau who spoke of her rise in politics and how she challenges the current Liberal government. Then it was off to workshops within employer groups before ending a busy first full day.

Saturday kicked off with regional caucuses and then a presentation by Mr. Alexandre St-Jean from the Office of the Ombudsman, Ethics and Conflict Resolution at Treasury Board. A panel discussion on Duty to Accommodate with UNE National Labour Relations Officers then capped off the morning.

In the afternoon, participants worked in smaller groups to learn about challenges, experiences and tools available to them as Local Presidents.

Sunday morning, attendees heard from the five National Equity Representatives for Human Rights on their personal experiences and the importance of inclusion at the local, regional and national levels.

UNE National President Kevin King closed out the conference.

Resources from the Conference are available on the UNE website at www.une-sen.org/events/conferences.

The component now turns its event focus to a series of Regional Seminars and the upcoming Women’s Conference scheduled for September 10-12, 2019.

Resources:

Winnipeg General Strike CBC Documentary (English only)
https://youtu.be/V1_oKcXn8vs

E-Petition for Parks Canada Historical Artifacts – https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-2048

Ms. Ruth Ellen Brosseau, MP for Berthier-Maskinongé (Quebec)
https://www.ourcommons.ca/Parliamentarians/en/members/Ruth-Ellen-Brosseau(71357)

Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President, CLC
http://canadianlabour.ca/about-clc/our-officers/larry-rousseau-executive-vice-president

Photos from the Conference are available on the UNE Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Union.NE.Syndicat.EN/

And Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/une.sen/

2019/03/202019/05/30

E-Petition to the Federal Government – Parks Canada and Historical and Cultural Artifacts

E-2048 (Canadian Heritage)

The Petition is open for signature until June 25, 2019, at 4:56 p.m. (EDT)

Whereas:

Parks Canada holds in stewardship a large collection of historical and cultural artifacts created by diverse communities across Canada;
Understanding these traditions is a key part of celebrating and continuing unique cultural, regional and ethnic identities, such as the Metis;
These collections have been maintained in regional centers (e.g. Winnipeg) so that they can be accessed by researchers, members of their originating communities, and local historic sites;
Plans to centralize all Parks Canada collections in Gatineau will prevent local scholars and community members from accessing, studying, or understanding their own past;
The removal of local history will irrevocably damage the diverse regional and cultural traditions that have created a multicultural Canada; and
The forcible removal of cultural property from the reach of Indigenous communities is an act of colonization which is wholly incompatible with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada and Kildonan-St Paul, call upon the Government of Canada to (a) commit to keeping all historical objects in their context so that they may be readily available to scholars, scientists, and the members of their originating communities; (b) cancel plans to centralize the historical artifacts and resources held by Parks Canada in one facility in Gatineau; and (c) commit to maintaining regional facilities for artifact storage and curation in Manitoba.

SIGN THE PETITION