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PSAC Education Schedule Updated
Please have a look and sign up for one of the courses being offered.
For more information, see Rhonda Doyle LeBlanc.
Labour Day 2007 - September 3, 2007
Join fellow PSAC members and other unionists
as we celebrate the labour movement and enjoy time with familiy and friends. Come out to the annual Labour Day March &
Picnic Monday, September 3, 2007. See poster attached for more information:
Natal Day 2007 - August 6, 2007
Join the PSAC again this year as we decorate a 1942 American LaFrance
fire truck with our Defending Quality Public Services message and help us pass out pinwheels and fans to the viewing public.
Show that you are proud to be a public sector worker and help us in our fight
to Defend Quality Public Services.
Meet on Novalea drive in Halifax by 9:00 Monday August 6th. Parade finishes
by 11:30 in Dartmouth. (we will provide transportation back) Look for the PSAC pennants, flags and the antique fire truck)
Bring you family, children, co-workers & help us celebrate Natal Day.
Defending
Quality Public Services - August 2007
The Atlantic region presents its 2007 Brief
on Defending Quality Public Services. In this brief, PSAC outlines some concerns and the long-term impact of the
new model of service delivery at Service Canada.
The Atlantic region presents its 2007 Brief
on Defending Quality Public Services. In this brief, PSAC outlines some concerns and the long-term impact of the
new model of service delivery at Service Canada.
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Read the entire Brief
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Read the Executive Summary
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Operation Christmas Child
Halifax Regional Women’s Committee is
in its second year of an Operation Christmas Child project. Operations Christmas Child is a way to show caring to children
around the world whether they are refugees of civil war, survivors of a natural disaster, or victims of extreme poverty.
This project begins in September with the gathering of small gifts that will be placed in shoe boxes and sent to boys and
girls around the world in mid-November.
Talk with Rhonda Doyle LeBlanc to find out
more about this project or if you would like to get involved.
PSAC Maritimes Regional Health, Safety & Environment Conference - October 19 - 21, 2007
The
Public Service Alliance
of Canada Regional Health, Safety and Environment Conference for the Maritimes
is scheduled to be held on October 19 –
21, 2007 at the Dartmouth Holiday Inn, Dartmouth,
Nova Scotia.
This conference is open to PSAC Health & Safety Local Committee members and/or Health & Safety Workplace Representatives.
For more information, visit: http://www.psac.com/atlantic/what/healthsafety/healthsafety-e.shtml
Atlantic
Regional Convention 2008
The next Atlantic Regional Convention will be held June 20th - 22, 2008 at the Hotel Delta Beauséjour in Moncton, New Brunswick.
Visit the PSAC Atlantic Convention page
for updates.
The Women are Angry - February 2, 2007
The Women are angry. Visit the Women's page and the Women are Angry web site for more information.
Union
Development Program (UDP) - January 30, 2007
The Atlantic Region has postponed the UDP to the fall. The new dates are: (Details)
Eastern Regional Bargaining Conference
Faced with new challenges, about 200 PSAC members
working for Treasury Board and Parks Canada geared up for the upcoming round of negotiations at the Eastern Regional Bargaining
Conference in Montreal. (DETAILS)
The PSAC 2007 Atlantic School - December
13, 2006
The 2007 Atlantic School will be held at the St. Francis
Xavier University
in Antigonish, Nova Scotia from Wednesday, June 13 to Saturday, June 16, 2007. The June 17, 2007 Education Seminar is
optional.
Joint Learning Program (JLP) - November, 2006
We are pleased to announce that the Joint Learning Program (JLP)
is now accepting workshop requests online. Visit the Education page for more information.
Labour Day March & Picnic - September 4, 2006
Bring your families, friends and co-workers
to the 2006 Labour Day March & Picnic. This is a very popular summer family event in Halifax
where labour can get together to celebrate, renew friendships and solidarity and enjoy free food, games, prizes and great
entertainment.
View the Labour Day March & Picnic Poster for more information and plan to attend.
July 17, 2006
Facilitating Skills Courses
The Atlantic Region is pleased
to be offering a series of provincial Alliance Facilitator Training Programs (AFTPs). For more information, visit the
Education page.
July 2006
Nova Scotia Education Schedule
The Public Service Alliance of Canada offers a variety of interesting courses.
You'll find everything from learning about the union to the Public Service Modernization Act to Advanced Facilitator training.
Please check out the latest education program schedule (PDF) for Nova Scotia. If there is anything you are interested in attending,
please let me (Rhonda) know and I'll sign you up.
June 6, 2006
PSAC budget 2007-2009, dues increase and special strike fund dues
The PSAC Triennial Convention, as the union’s supreme governing body,
has established clear priorities for the union for the next three years. In order to meet these priorities, the Convention
adopted a progressive budget and resolutions with dues increase that will allow the PSAC to better represent the interests
of members, as well as all Canadians, at work and in their communities.
This means there will be an average dues increase of 29 cents per
member per month. The actual dues percentage will rise to 0.8963% from the current 0.8889%. This increase will take
effect on January 1, 2007.
The Strike Fund
Delegates at the 2003 PSAC Convention increased strike pay from $35 to $50
per day, without an increase in the current Strike Fund dues of 35 cents per member per month. The National Board of Directors
also approved to pay the necessary premiums to ensure that the health and dental benefits of our members continue during a
strike.
The PSAC has the best general strike benefits of any union in Canada, which
puts our members in a position of strength at the negotiating table. In order to continue to pay for these benefits,
delegates at the 2006 Convention gave direction to rebuild our Strike Fund through a special strike dues of $5.00 per per
member per month between July 2006 and December 2006, and $2.75 per member per month from January 2007 until the the
Strike Fund has a positive balance of $25 million and then the regular strike fund dues will increase from the current
35 cents to $1.00 per member per month. Members who earn less than $30,000 will pay a reduced amount to help rebuild the strike
fund. They will pay $2 per member per month from July 2006 until the strike fund has a positive balance of $25 million.
Please check this site often for recent additions.
Support the BHP Ekati strikers
Step up the pressure on BHP and send an e-mail to the Labour Minister of Canada and to the company,
to ask that the workers of the Ekati diamond mine be treated fairly.
Visit the LabourStart website to participate in this international campaign. For more information, please visit the Ekati page on the National website.
Messages of support for PSAC members who have been on strike for more than 3 months at the Ekati
diamond mine in the North West Territories can be sent to a dedicated email address psacnorth@psac.com. Messages will be posted on their webpage.
Appealing tax assessments on pay equity interest
Recently, many of our members have received tax assessments which indicate that the interest which they received pursuant
to the 1999 pay equity settlement will now be subject to taxation. Included with this information is a form stating
that the member may appeal if they so choose.
The taxability of these interest payments was the subject of the Burrows case, a recent PSAC appeal to the Tax Court.
The decision in this matter was received in late 2005, and is the subject of the PSAC bulletin below:
http://www.psac-afpc.org/what/payequity/bulletins/bull-63-e.shtml
Unfortunately, the Tax Court did not accept our arguments, and a Supreme Court of Canada case decided after our arguments
were submitted precluded the possibility of a further appeal.
We cannot make a general recommendation that our members file appeals. It is always possible for an individual to
file his or her own appeal with respect to personal tax circumstances, at his or her own cost. Because
the law has now been decided by the Tax Court, we can offer little hope of success for an appeal which simply attempts to
re-litigate the Burrows issues. The PSAC does not accept that the taxation of interest on pay equity awards is either
just or fair, but, sadly, the law does not reflect this view.
PRESS RELEASE - May 2, 2006
Federal budget
spells bad news for federal public services
TORONTO - The Harper governments first federal budget provides
more questions than answers about its impact on services to Canadians, according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
In
its pre-budget submission, PSAC had argued that demands for public services are growing as the population ages and as more
and more people locate to larger cities and communities. The union urged the government to reconsider premature tax cuts.
In
addition to tax cuts, particularly the many corporate tax cuts contained in the budget, the Conservatives are slowing government
spending at a time when the economy is growing, says PSAC National President Nycole Turmel. Theyre also instituting another
round of expenditure review, cutting $1-billion in each of the next two fiscal years.
If the government is planning
to institute these cuts in addition to Liberals five-year expenditure reduction plan, there will be a serious impact on the
provision of federal public services in more areas, says Turmel.
Instead of taking advantage of the growing economy
to spend tax dollars investing in public infrastructure, child care and other programs Canadians say they want, the Conservatives
are unnecessarily speeding up the federal debt reduction plan.
Working parents who had hoped that the Conservatives
would reconsider their position on the creation of new child care spaces will find little relief in this budget. The government
is offering only $250 million to create new spaces, fully $4.75 billion less than the previous government had negotiated with
the provinces, says Turmel.
If there is any good news for PSAC members in the budget, it is that the government is
planning on spending $101 million over the next two years to eliminate work-alone posts and begin arming border officers.
According to Turmel, these are health and safety issues that the union has been pursuing through successive governments.
Our
pre-budget submission also urged the government to ensure adequate staffing. Any cuts will have the opposite effect, increasing
workloads and negatively affecting the delivery of services and our members health and safety.
Turmel is putting the
government on notice that the union expects to meet with the President of the Treasury Board as soon as possible to find out
more about which programs will be affected by government cuts and what impact these cuts will have on service to Canadians.
For information:Denis Boivin, PSAC Communications
(613) 324-0522 (cell)
Make Poverty History Campaign
Make Poverty History is the largest popular movement seeking to abolish world poverty. It’s time for real action! You can join in by organizing
a lunch time union education session. Click here for your workshop notes and handouts!
New Public Service Labour Relations Act
The new Public Service Labour Relations Act comes into effect at 12:01 on
April 1st, 2005. New forms for referral and complaints can be downloaded from the PSSRB website. These new grievance form
should also be available on the PSSRB web site.
Union Update - Volume 17 is included here for you to view
recent updates of the PSAC.
Click here to open the Union Update.
PSAC Access Conference
The PSAC Access Conference was held on January 21 to 23, 2005.
Sister Christine Henry, Regional E.O. Representative, Quebec Region, attended this Conference and has provided the national
office with a synopsis of the discussions which occurred. Please visit the Report on the Access 2005 to view the report.
New Vacation Leave Credit
A one-time vacation leave credit was negotiated in the four (4) Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) collective
agreements.
On the date of signing, all employees subject to these collective agreements, with over two years of service will be
granted thirty-seven decimal five (37.5), forty (40) or forty-two (42) hours of vacation leave. All other employees will be granted these additional credits following their second anniversary
of service.
PSAC signs new agreements with Treasury Board; Treasury Board responsible for delay in Table 2 signing
On March 15, PSAC signed the new collective agreements with Treasury Board for Table 1 (Program and Administrative Services),
Table 3 (Technical Services) and Table 5 (Education and Library Science). All changes to the collective agreements take
effect on date of signing, unless otherwise specified.
The government has 150 days from the date of signing, i.e. until August 12, to implement the retroactivity. However,
Treasury Board has indicated they intend to move quickly to implement the new rates of pay and any retroactive pay that that
does not have to be calculated manually.
The union does not control when the new rates of pay will be implemented or when the retroactive cheques will be issued.
Please contact your Human Resources advisor for information as to when this is expected to take place.
Treasury Board has failed to move the Table 2 (Operational Services) work ahead at the same pace due to the unavailability
of their negotiator. The work has lagged behind that of the other table by days. The PSAC considers their delays unacceptable.
We are nevertheless working hard to prepare the Table 2 agreement for signature, and we expect to be able to sign within the
next few days. The date of signing will be posted on the PSAC web site.
Scholarships
In addition to the local scholarships that are offered by us, the PSAC National Office has a Scholarship Program
that is offering 12 scholarships to PSAC members and their children for 2005. Visit the PSAC 2005 Scholarship Program for the details. The deadline to apply is August 15.
Environment Convention 2005
The eleventh Triennial National Convention of the Environment Component, PSAC will
be held at the Fort Garry in Winnipeg, Manitoba from August 14 to 16, 2005. For more information, visit the Environment Convention Website.
Our delegate will need to be selected and forms sent off before April 14, 2005. Resolutions to Convention should
be forwarded to the National Office on or before April 30, 2005.
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