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Call for Nominations – Alberta, NWT and Nunavut Position of Assistant Vice-President

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are requesting nominations to fill the vacant position of Second Assistant VicePresident –Alberta, NWT and Nunavut which will become vacant next month. Please share this message among members of your Local.

Any member in good standing in the Alberta, NWT and Nunavut region can put his or her name forward for consideration.

In order to nominate a candidate or second a nomination, you must have been an accredited delegate from the AB, NWT and Nunavut Region at our last convention and continue to be a member in good standing. The same applies to voting privileges.

A list of accredited delegates and nomination form is attached for your information.

Delegates’ contact information will be provided to candidates upon request.

The form can be returned by mail, fax or email to the attention of Ateau Zola no later than 4 p.m. eastern daylight time on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

900-150 Isabella Street
Ottawa, ON K1S 1V7
Fax: 613-560-4208
Email: ateau.zola@une-sen.org
Subject line: Nomination for Second Assistant Vice-President – AB, NWT and Nunavut.

Those who submit their names for nomination can send us a short biography (one page or less). This will be shared with voting delegates.

In Solidarity,
Doug Marshall,
National President

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Call for Nominations – Outside Canada Position of Second Assistant Vice-President

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are requesting nominations to fill the vacant position of Assistant Vice-President – Outside Canada. Please share this message among members of your Local.

Any member in good standing in the Outside Canada region can put his or her name forward for consideration.

In order to nominate a candidate or second a nomination, you must have been an accredited delegate from the Outside Canada Region at our last convention and continue to be a member in good standing. The same applies to voting privileges.

Please click here for the list of accredited delegates and nomination form.

Delegates’ contact information will be provided to candidates upon request.

The form can be returned by mail, fax or email to the attention of Ateau Zola no later than 4 p.m. eastern daylight time on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

900-150 Isabella Street
Ottawa, ON K1S 1V7
Fax: 613-560-4208
Email: ateau.zola@une-sen.org
Subject line: Nomination for Second Assistant Vice-President – Outside Canada region.

Those who submit their names for nomination can send us a short biography (one page or less). This will be shared with voting delegates.

In Solidarity,

Doug Marshall,
National President

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National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

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PSAC works to end violence against women

On this National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, PSAC renews our commitment to eliminate all forms of violence against women.

December 6 marks the anniversary of the Montréal Massacre, where 14 young women were killed at École Polytechnique on December 6, 1989.

PSAC is calling on the Government of Canada to establish a national action plan to end violence against women. Our union is also developing a domestic violence education training program, after members voted to make this happen at the 2015 Triennial National Convention.

Workplace accommodation needed

In December 2015, PSAC brought women together at a forum on domestic violence and the workplace where participants discussed:

•    Workplace accommodations and collective agreement language to help women experiencing domestic violence.
•    The potential for legal action and law reform.
•    The need to develop policies and programs to help end violence against women.

PSAC is also working to ensure that the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls remains a priority on the federal government agenda.

“The safety and dignity of all women and girls is a priority for our union,” said Robyn Benson, PSAC National President. “We are committed to ending violence against women. And until we get there, we will continue our work for increased support for survivors and better understanding of the impact of domestic violence on work and the workplace.”

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Online action calls on Minister Morneau to abandon Bill C-27

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Bill C-27, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards Act, is an attack on the retirement security of Canadians.

This bill will allow employers in the federal private sector and Crown Corporations to shift from good, defined benefit plans that provide secure and predictable pension benefits, into the much less secure form of target benefits. If passed, this bill would open the door to a disturbing trend of shifting all the risk of pension plans onto workers and retirees.

In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that defined benefit pension plans that workers and retirees have already paid into should not be retroactively changed into target benefit plans. Yet, this is exactly what Bill C-27 will do.

Send a letter to Minister

PSAC has always stood for retirement security and opposed any move to eliminate defined benefit (DB) pension plans. We urge our members to send a letter to Finance Minister Bill Morneau to tell him and the Liberal government to abandon Bill C-27.

Source: www.psacunion.com

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Update on Treasury Board bargaining: Dates with mediator

 tbbargupdate

The Common Issues committee and PA bargaining team will resume negotiations with Treasury Board, with the assistance of a mediator, the week of December 12.

PSAC and the Employer returned to extended negotiations from November 1-9, after the Liberal government promised to bring a new mandate to the table.

At the end of that bargaining session, PSAC proposed continuing discussions with the assistance of a mediator. The government has since agreed to this.

More information will be provided once it becomes available.

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PSAC Scholarships advance education opportunities

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Each year, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Union of National Employees (UNE) award various scholarships. Below is a list of this year’s PSAC winners. The UNE wishes to convey its congratulations to all winners for your accomplishments, and good luck with your studies. For more information on UNE scholarships and bursaries, please visit http://en.une-sen.org/what_we_do/hea.php.

PSAC 2016 Scholarship Winners:

National Awards

Charles-Antoine Barbeau-Meunier – $4,000 AGR-PSAC

Charles-Antoine resides in Sherbrooke, Quebec and is the son of Gisèle Barbeau from Union of National Employees, Local 10021.

Maxime Robinson – $4,000 Coughlin-PSAC

Maxime is from Gatineau, Quebec and his father, Paul Robinson, is a member of the Union of National Employees, Local 70130.

Julia Gaspar – $3,000 AGR-PSAC

Julia is from Dartmouth, Nova-Scotia and her mother, Helen Gaspar, is a member of the Union of National Employees, Local 80178.

Samantha Breckenridge – $3,000 Coughlin-PSAC

Samantha resides in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and her mother, Michelle Gola, is a member of Union of National Employees, Local 40195.

Members’ Awards

Patrick Thomson – $2,000 PSAC Members’

Patrick lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Union of National Employees, Local 40107.

Maude Éloïse Saulnier – $1,000 National Capital Region

Maude Éloïse is from Gatineau, Québec. She is the daughter of David Cardinal, member of the Union of National Employees, Local 70027.

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Invisible Disabilities

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By June Dale

“What’s it like to live with invisible disabilities?”
“You look tired, didn’t you get enough sleep last night?”
“Haven’t you finished reading that yet? Come on, keep up! I haven’t got all day.”
“You can’t open the jar, here, give it to me.”

Some days are better than others. I can move about freely and with a minimum amount of pain, while others face anxiety or depression.

Standing for what I would consider a long period of time causes my leg to become numb, then painful, then the swelling begins. How I would love to go to an outdoor concert and stand with the crowd to enjoy the music. Spending time in big crowds causes some individuals an increase in anxiety. They would love to go to that party on Saturday night. Instead they will spend another Saturday night at home. People look at me as though everything is fine, when in fact I am in physical pain.

Then, of course, there is the medication. Too many for my liking, but that is what I need sometimes to get through the day. If I forget to take them at the right time, the repercussions are interesting. My face starts to hurt. My vision becomes blurry. My thought processes become foggy. I always have a dosage ready, stored in my bag or my desk drawer.

Some people “look” like the rest of the population. No one would ever know that the individual has a disability because it it’s invisible. The individual may have a hard time reading or performing simple calculations and tasks for daily living. Tasks such as typing or writing a document could be a painful and exhausting experience. It may be that the individual is straining to hear the conversation around them, or the voices are so loud it hurts to listen to others.

In this day and age of adaptive technology, many can function in a world where the majority can do daily tasks. However, some places do not have this technology and those who experience invisible disabilities struggle in their own way, day-to-day.

I once read a story about spoons. It is called the Spoon Theory. It resonated with me.
Today is a good day for me. My wish is that you have a good day as well.

June Dale is the Union of National Employees Human Rights Representative for the National Capital Region – Treasury Board.

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Alert: Collection agency calls on Phoenix payments not legitimate

phoenixcollection

PSAC members have told us that they are getting phone calls from third parties identifying themselves as collection agencies. The caller says they are collecting Phoenix payments on behalf of the government. These calls are not legitimate.

Government not using collection agencies

The government has confirmed they are not using collection agencies to collect payments related to Phoenix.

Contact your department

If you receive a call about monies owing due to Phoenix from a collection agency, contact your department or agency immediately. Do not make any arrangements to pay money to a third party.

Report it

Make sure to also report the call to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

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Parks bargaining team tables wage proposal with Agency

parksbargainupdate

Our bargaining team met with the Agency November 16 – 17.

We tabled a wage proposal that calls for annual increases of 3% in each year of a three-year agreement.

Other proposals tabled

  • Proposal to return Parks Canada to the National Joint Council
  • New language to enshrine Leave with Income Averaging, Self-Funded Leave, and Pre-Retirement Leave into the collective agreement.
  • New language regarding the Joint Learning Program.

Short term disability

Back in June, the Agency tabled a revised Short-Term Disability proposal to replace our current sick leave provisions. We rejected this proposal in June and it was not discussed during this round.

Upcoming bargaining dates

Negotiations are tentatively set to resume on January 30, 2017.

Our bargaining team thanks you for your ongoing patience and support.

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PSAC continues to hold the government accountable on Phoenix

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On November 16, the government provided an update on the Phoenix pay system. We learned that there are still a lot of problems to deal with.

“Our priority remains getting public service workers paid correctly and on-time. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of work to be done,” said Chris Aylward, PSAC National Executive Vice-President. “The government should have listened to us from the beginning. We told them not to go ahead with the new pay system, but now, it’s time to move forward. We want to help the government fix Phoenix so that our members can be made whole.”

Public service workers waiting for changes

The government confirmed that it is two months – or 200,000 cases – behind in processing “pay transactions” under the new Phoenix pay system.

This means difficult financial consequences for some PSAC members.

“Pay transactions” refer to changes in an employee’s pay. This includes initiating pay for new hires, changing pay for promotions or leaves of absence, and final payments for employees leaving the public service.

No date for Phoenix fix

Lemay gave no date for when the system will be fixed, but said that “over the next several months, we will return to normal processing times.”

“PSAC is working with the government in every way we can to help fix Phoenix,” said Aylward.

Phoenix generated membership cards with incorrect surname

It has come to our attention that some of our members may have received a new membership card with an incorrect surname.

Typically, a new card is generated automatically when we receive an update to a member’s surname from the employer.

Updates produced by the new Phoenix system are received monthly along with union dues remittance information.

How to resolve issue

  • Review your last online Phoenix pay stub to ensure that the surname entered by your employer is correct.
  • If the surname appearing on your pay stub is incorrect, submit a Phoenix feedback form or call the call centre at 1-855-686-4729 to report the issue and to ensure a correction is made.
  • Once your employer makes the correction in the Phoenix pay system – and PSAC receives this new information – a new card with your correct surname will be generated and sent to you.

If you have questions, please contact PSAC Membership Administration Officer, Amélie Laviolette 613-560-2612 or Laviola@psac-afpc.com.

We apologize for this inconvenience.