Report of the Equal Opportunity Representative
National Board of Directors Meeting
April 2011
NATIONAL WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
The PSAC National Women’s Conference was held in Ottawa from October 22-24, 2010. There were 260 Women Activists in attendance including Eight Sister Delegates from CIU-SDI. The theme of the Conference was “Fighting Back-Moving Forward”. Workshops mobilized Sisters in taking action on pensions, childcare and pay equity. These issues have been the cornerstone of the Women’s Movement for over forty years and have come under attack by the Harper Government. Harper has cancelled universal childcare agreements, dismantled the Court Challenges Program, and closed Status of Women Canada Offices. The Conference ended with Delegates passing resolutions in support of pay equity, child care, protective re-assignment for pregnant Women, and Aboriginal Women’s Rights. Thank you to Brother Ron Moran for his support and for attending and taking the Sisters of CIU-SDI to lunch.
LABOUR RELATIONS SYMPOSIUM
At the request of CBSA, I attended this Symposium at Rigaud College on November 18, 2010. I sat on a panel along with the Director Employment Policies TBS, Labour Relations, Customs Division, Human Rights Director and a Moderator. The audience was comprised of CBSA’s Regional and HQ Labour Relations Specialists as well as HR Directors. The mandate was the obligation to accommodate based on the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and multi-party process and the duty to accommodate in general. The panel was told that we were not to discuss the Johnstone decision since it is under judicial review, but most of the questions I received were in regards to family status accommodations. With only an hour and fifteen minutes allotted for discussion, it was basically an overview on accommodation obligations.
BFOR
On November 10, 2010, CBSA called a meeting to rollout their final determination on the BFOR for CDT and Arming. In attendance for CIU was 1st V.P. JP Fortin, Sister Laurel Randle, Sister Lisa Addario and myself. Challenges were put forward by CIU, but on November 12, CBSA sent a communication to Members informing them of the final determination of CBSA. On November 17th, CIU sent a letter to Camille Therriault-Power charging CBSA of being in violation of both the collective agreement and of the minutes of the Coupal complaint and to rescind the communication to Members. On November 23rd, the BFOR Sub-Committee along with Sisters Randle and Addario and Brother Morgan Gay met to go over the Grounds Report and to discuss the challenges. On December 6th, the Committee met again to complete our task.
EMPLOYMENT SYSTEM REVIEW
On November 17th, CBSA sent a draft report on Recruitment, Promotion, and Retention Sections of their Employment System Review. CIU was to provide comments before November 26. The document was 88 pages long and after our request for more time to provide comments we were given an extension of on or before December 1. On November 22, Sister Randle and I met with Sister Pilon to go over this document and to provide our comments. On November 23rd, we received the Training and Development Section of the Employment System Review and again a short deadline to reply (Nov.30). This document was 16 pages long.
After sending CBSA our comments and concerns with regards to these documents, on December 6th, I also forwarded the documents to the CHRC Auditor to assist him in his audit of CBSA. December 9th CIU received yet another Employment System review document. This one was the Accommodation Section with a request to review and comment by December 17th. The document was 19 pages long. The document was reviewed and comments provided. I sent this document also to Mr. De Césaré the CHRC Auditor and received a favourable response.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY COMMITTEE (EOC) MEETING
This meeting was held November 30-December 2/10.
On the agenda were legislative issues surrounding Bill C-471 Public Service Equitable Compensation Act (PSECA). This Bill calls for the Implementation of the Pay Equity Task Force recommendations. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) put forward a brief in support of this Bill.
Bill C-389 is to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to include gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination. It would amend the criminal code to include gender identity and gender expression as distinguishing characteristics protected under section 18, and as aggravating factors to be taken into consideration under 718.2 at the time of sentencing. The second changes to the criminal code deal with hate crime and hate speech. On February 9, Bill C-389 was adopted by the House of Commons. The next step is to pass through the Senate. The EOC had the pleasure of meeting the Author of this Bill, MP Bill Siksay who spoke to us on the importance of this Bill passing.
Bill -11 is an Act introduced by the Harper Government that will remove the responsibility of the State to provide clean drinking water to First Nations communities and instead place the burden on Aboriginal Leaders with no additional resources to assist them. PSAC provided Circle Members with background information and research on the subject so that they could challenge the government on this issue.
Bill C-49 Preventing Human Smugglers from abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act. This Act violates the rights of Refugees and Migrants. The Bill creates two classes of refugees. Restrictions include harsh powers of mandatory detention of those designated persons, including children, for one year without independent review; denial of the right to appeal a negative decision to the Refugee Board; prohibition to apply for permanent residence status for five years; and serious limitations on freedom of movement and Family unity.
If Bill C-49 becomes law, Canada would be violating its legal obligation under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Refugee Convention, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of Children. The Legislation also gives the Government the power to arrest and detain any non-citizen, including a permanent resident, based on mere suspicion of criminality. It would apply to all non-citizens not just refugee claimants.
Brother John Gordon attended the EOC Meeting and spoke to us about the EOC review. We were able to voice our concerns on the structural changes of this Committee. Brother Gordon was asked to present the review report in full, but declined. There will be a vote taken at the next AEC Meeting to accept or decline the recommendations of the review.
Also reported at the EOC by the Human Rights Officer, was that the Treasury Board had finalized their Disability Handbook for Managers. The PSAC was listed as a contributor to the handbook. PSAC and other Unions were consulted, but did not endorse the handbook since there were significant issues that were raised but had not been dealt with. The EOC will be sent a final copy once it’s translated.
PSAC is currently developing a Duty to Accommodate workshop. It will be an advanced course for Union reps that already have some experience and understanding of Union representation.
CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS (CLC) HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE
December 9-11 in Ottawa. The theme was “Rise Up for Your Rights”. This activist conference was aimed at giving workers from each equity group the space to discuss challenges put forward by the Harper Government. It was a national gathering to develop strategic responses to attacks on grassroots democracy, advocacy issues, and human rights. It brought together activists who recognize and are determined to change what this Government’s policies mean for equity communities including Persons with Disabilities, Aboriginal, Racialized, Women, and LGBT communities. There were approximately 80 PSAC Members at this Conference, including National EOC Equity Reps, National Aboriginal Peoples Circle Reps, and PSAC Regional Council Reps.
NATIONAL BARGAINING CONFERENCE
I attended the National Bargaining Conference from January 20-22. This Conference brought together delegates to review the number of demands submitted by Members and to prioritize them.
February 16-17, I attended the Bargaining Team Meetings to review the list of demands and to discuss details of the demands.
On February 21st, PSAC served notice to bargain to the Treasury Board. On March 8-9 the Bargaining Team will meet with TB to exchange demands and to commence bargaining
NATIONAL UNION MANAGEMENT DISABILITY AND ACCOMMODATION CASE COMMITTEE (NUMDACC) MEETING
This meeting was scheduled on February 25, 2011. CIU put forth agenda items to discuss including National Employment Placement Process (NEPP), Accommodations for disabilities due to alcohol, gambling, chemical and mental issues, protective vests, and maternity related reassignment. The NEPP is on hold at this time. CBSA’s response to accommodations for the above disabilities was to refer to the EAP Program for assistance. They also indicated that there were instances where they could assist in fast tracking Members into rehabilitation centres. They will look into other departments for their policies on assisting Members in matters such as paid leave and fully funded rehabilitation. CBSA acknowledged that there were still problems with the vests, more specifically in one region. They will send a person to this region to take measurements and will continue to try to resolve the issue. CBSA’s response to maternity related reassignment is that it is accommodating these requests by bundling duties, telework if need be, and by transporting members to different areas to work. They even suggested that they could assign members to other departments.
One last item for discussion was the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). CIU requested the failure rate of this test, and if it was broken down to age, gender, length of service and culture. More specifically, we asked if this test was vetted for equity groups. CBSA does have stats, but wasn’t sure if they had been broken down and will get back to CIU.
NATIONAL UNION MANAGEMENT EMPLOYMENT EQUITY COMMITTEE (NUMEEC)
As you are aware, after numerous requests for a meeting, CBSA replied on January 24/11 that this Committee has been discontinued and without consultation from the stakeholders on the NUMEEC. A letter was drafted to Camille Therriault-Power on January 28 indicating that these actions were contrary to the Employment Equity Act. Please refer to the February 1st email sent to the Board of Directors. I also contacted Brother Gary Corbett, President of the PIPSC Union and stakeholder at the NUMEEC and he sent a letter to Luc Portelance requesting the reinstatement of the NUMEEC and that future changes be made in consultation with the Employee Representative. Camille responded indicating that the NUMEEC lacked member participation and its ability to address issues, and said that the requirement to consult could be through participation at the NLMCC. A second letter to Camille was sent reiterating our position. Camille has not responded as of the writing of this report.
NOTE: At the UMDACC Meeting February 25, Scott Taymun, Director General, HR Programs, acknowledged CIU’s letter to Camille and the one sent to Luc Portelance. He asked that CIU and PIPSC consider using the UMDACC to table employment equity issues.
RACIALLY VISIBLE CONFERENCE
I will be attending this Conference at the end of March. The theme is “United, Empowered, Fearless, Ready for action”. The objective of this Conference is to educate, politicize and mobilize racialized members by making links between themselves, the union, the workplace, community and equality rights. To provide tools and leadership skills to advocate for racialized workers rights.
TELECONFERENCE CALLS
Brother Carmen Filice arranged for a teleconference call on December 21, 2010 for the Interim Support Staff Sub-Committee to discuss the progress made at the NLMCC regarding completion of current job descriptions for the CR and AS groups.
Brother Moran arranged for a teleconference to discuss the roll-out of the JLP anti-harassment workshop. Brother Pecek from the PSAC explained the role of the Union in this initiative.
In closing, I would like to thank Brother Moran, and the National Executive, Board of Directors, and staff at the CIU National Office for their continued support. Thank you to Sister Laurel for her guidance and advice, and also thank you to Sister Addario for her legal expertise and support and Sister Pilon for her advice. A final thank you to Brother Morgan Gay.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Church
CIU Equal Opportunity Representative