By Jeremy Appel Black labour leader and activist Nicholas Thompson hosted a Facebook livestream Thursday night responding to the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s (PSAC) decision to disinvite journalist and activist Nora Loreto from an upcoming anti-racism workshop. PSAC is the country’s largest federal sector union, representing 200,000 members. Thompson invited fellow PSAC leader and Continue readingBlack PSAC union leader & activists call for PSAC National to re-invite Nora Loreto to anti-racism workshop
PSAC
An in-depth essay on the union response to Phoenix payroll crisis, and the challenges facing federal public service unions and their members.
By Robert Devet Last summer Shirley Peck, a cleaner at CFB Greenwood, a military base in rural Nova Scotia, was told that she was to be laid off, and that her well paying job would be contracted out. She was devastated. The contractor offered Peck and her colleagues, all women, a job paying about $11 Continue readingThe union local that fought privatization and won
By Crystal Warner, As one of the largest components of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), with over 88% of our members directly affected by the beguiled Phoenix pay system, members of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU) in Vancouver had been quietly making plans to occupy a federal government building for several Continue readingPhoenix finally nixed?
By Daniel Tseghay On October 18th, federal government workers held rallies across British Columbia because many of them are not being paid for their labour. They demonstrated in Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, Chilliwack, Summerland, and Prince Rupert to raise attention to the Phoenix pay system, in place since February of 2016. The computerized system was initially Continue readingBC workers rally against Phoenix pay system mess
Striking workers at Winnipeg airport press on into second month by James Wilt Almost a month has passed since 150 workers at the Winnipeg International Airport started striking for increased job security. The members of Public Service Alliance of Canada/Union of Canadian Transportation Employees Local 50600 — which includes electricians, maintenance staff, IT personnel, administrators Continue readingScabs on a plane! The Winnipeg airport strike
By Gerard Di Trolio Workers at the Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward, Ontario, went on strike this past Monday. The Blue Water Bridge is the fourth busiest border crossing by total vehicles between Canada and the United States in Ontario. It is also an essential economic route, as it the second busiest border crossing Continue readingFirst ever strike at Blue Water Bridge
By Crystal Warner Deputy Trustee BC/YT, Canada Employment and Immigration Union Initiated in 2009 by the Conservative government in an effort to modernize pay, Public Services and Procurement Canada unveiled a plan to centralize compensation for federal workers in Miramichi, New Brunswick. In February of 2016, on the watch of the Liberals, the IBM-created Phoenix Continue readingAll work and no pay: The Phoenix debacle
By Robert DeVet Lynn Jones has been fighting injustice in Nova Scotia for a long time. As an African Nova Scotian living in Nova Scotia, a province with its share of racism, and with fearless civil rights activist Burnley ‘Rocky’ Jones’ as an older brother and role model, it is hard to see how it Continue readingI can’t see this injustice continue: An interview with Lynn Jones
By Christo Aivalis The Harper era was one of antagonism towards the federal public service, especially once he formed a majority in 2011. There were deep cuts to budgets and staffing, along with a growing distrust between public servants and the government, which led to censorship of the former, even in cases where experts simply wished Continue readingCloudy Days: Trudeau and federal public sector bargaining
By Dan Janssen, Vice President IAMAW Local 2323 With the Federal election just around the corner, it is a very exciting time to be part of the labour movement in Canada. As a passionate and active union representative, a member of the Toronto Airport Workers Council, and a worker at Canada’s largest airport, I feel Continue readingPearson workers at the vanguard of labour struggles this election
By Doug Nesbitt It was an unfamiliar site at a Canadian Forces Base, but a dozen Commissionaires staged an info picket at the entrance to CFB Kingston and the Royal Military College on early Monday morning, August 31. The Commissionaires, with support of a couple PSAC Local 901 members and the local Kingston and Islands Continue readingCommissionaires picket CFB Kingston for sick leave