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News - February 2007
The headlines for news items published during this month are listed below.
Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article.
• Decision on SDA II Grievances expected by end of March
• Contract talks – you’re just a click away!
• Health and PHAC members come through in book drive
for aboriginal children in northern communities
• NHWU proposes Essential Services draft framework
to Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada
• Chatham’s Jan Liberty recognized for health and safety work
• Meet your delegates to the PSAC National Bargaining Conference
• Grievance-filing by Health Canada clerks in Thunder Bay
and Sioux Lookout results in higher classification
Decision on SDA II Grievances expected by end of March
Posted February 26, 2007
A long-awaited decision on our SDA II grievances should be handed down no later then the end of the current fiscal year, Friday, March 30.
Our information comes directly from the senior manager who will make the decision – Phil Jensen, ADM of the Peoples and Culture Branch at Service Canada.
The unfolding of this issue has been rife with rumours, many circulated by local or regional management who are ‘out of the loop’. So, our members are advised to hold tight and wait a few more weeks for Jensen to deliver on his commitment.
In the interim, the NHWU will continue to make every effort to bring this file to a successful conclusion on or before the end of March.
Contract talks – you’re just a click away!
Posted February 24, 2007
NHWU members are now just a click away from the latest news on negotiations with Treasury Board for their new collective agreement.
Clicking on the following icon on our main Web page will take you to the negotiations information page of our bargaining agent – the Public Service Alliance:
This logo will remain on our Web site throughout the PSAC-Treasury Board negotiations process. So, keep checking to stay up-to-date!
Health and PHAC members come through in book drive for aboriginal children in northern communities
Posted February 23, 2007
Our Health Canada and Public Health Agency of Canada members in the National Capital Region, Ontario Region and Nunavut come through in a big way in an annual book drive for aboriginal children in northern communities.
The members contributed nearly two thousand books to the 2007 ‘Lieutenant Governor‘s Book Program’, one of four innovative programs sponsored by Ontario Lieutenant Governor James Bartleman to promote literacy among aboriginal youth.
Bartleman is a distinguished former Canadian diplomat and member of the Mnjikaning First Nation in the Muskoka Region of Ontario. The 1,885 books contributed by our members and their co-workers will be distributed to a number of deserving First Nations schools in Northern Ontario and the three Territories. Many of these are located in isolated ‘fly-in’ settlements with few resources to purchase books to nurture young minds.
A vote of thanks and hearty congratulations from all of us to these generous members!
NHWU proposes Essential Services draft framework to Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada
Posted February 15, 2007
The NHWU has asked Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada for early meetings to review our proposed framework for negotiating Essential Services Agreements.
ESAs are the method under the newly-amended Public Service Labour Relations Act designed to replace the old ‘designations’ process.
Such Agreements must be negotiated for all bargaining units where the chosen dispute resolution route is conciliation with the right to strike. For our purposes, this means the Program and Administrative Services (PA) and the Operational Services (SV) Groups.
The NHWU began discussions on ESAs with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada last autumn. We took the initiative of proposing our own draft framework documents that will be used in the negotiation of ESAs in order to expedite the process.
The clock on this round federal public service negotiations is ticking, and it is critical that the employer obtain the required information from the regions so that we can propose essential services as defined in the Act. Failure to negotiate ESAs for Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada will result in delays in the bargaining process.
Once NHWU-Health Canada and NHWU-Public Health Agency of Canada agreements are signed off, they will be sent to the respective union and employer bargaining agents – the Public Service Alliance and Treasury Board for final approval.
Treasury Board’s guidelines currently state that “services should be identified as essential where there are reasonable grounds for accepting the probability, or even the possibility, that human life or public safety would suffer if a work stoppage interrupted the duties of these employees”.
Chatham’s Jan Liberty recognized for health and safety work
Posted February 6, 2007
Jan Liberty is a familiar name to any NHWU member involved in health and safety issues over the past several decades.
The Local 00037 activist from Chatham, Ontario has been a tireless crusader for a healthy working environment – both for her NHWU colleagues fighting ‘sick building syndrome’, and for workers in the broader labour community.
So it was both appropriate and welcome that Jan was this month awarded the 2006 Health and Safety Activist Award by the Chatham-Kent Labour Council and the Workers’ Health and Safety Centre.
As the Chatham Daily News noted: “During her years of union work, Liberty has succeeded in winning many significant WSIB cases on behalf of her members related to environmental hypersensitivity.” Indeed, the fact that the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board now recognizes environmental illness as a legitimate occupational disease in Ontario is in no small part due to the Jan’s efforts.
Jan first gained widespread public and media attention in the early 1990s, with a spirited – and successful – fight against indoor air pollution at her own building. The employer ended up relocating the Income Security Program members to a new work location for 18 months while the Judy Lamarsh Building had its air circulation system rebuilt.
Typically, Jan’s reaction to this important community honour was low-key and self-effacing.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without the consistent support of the NHWU President and National Executive. They have always put members first, made Health and Safety a priority and -- most important of all -- stood behind their commitments. Their support for my efforts to find some sort of resolution for our members was given without restriction, and always backed with kind words of encouragement.
“I truly believe that more members should realize all of the support that is there for them within the NHWU. Our union was there when our need was immediate, when our members’ health was in danger. This award is as much for the NHWU as it is for me.”
We think you’re being too modest about your own contribution, Jan. Way too modest!
So, congratulations from all of us!
Meet your delegates to the PSAC National Bargaining Conference
Posted February 2, 2007
The photo below shows our four NHWU delegates to the PSAC National Bargaining Conference, now taking place in Ottawa.
This picture was taken during a break in the proceedings. From left to right:
• Del Duffield, Local 50012, Prairies Region
Operational Services (SV) Group;
• Sharon Desousa, Local 00009, Ontario Region
Program and Administrative Services (PA);
• Niru Channan, Local 30015, Prairies Region
Program and Administrative Services (PA) Group; and
• Claude Ouellette, Local 50012, Prairies Region
Technical Services (TC) Group.
Grievance-filing by Health Canada clerks in Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout results in higher classification
Posted February 1, 2007
It pays to flex your union muscle. Just ask our members working as Health Canada Non-Insured clerks in Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout, Ontario.
Those members contacted their NHWU Regional Vice-President last autumn after substantial extra duties had been added to their CR-04 positions. With the help of RVP Lise Lapierre, job content grievances were prepared. Health Canada Human Resources caught wind of the planned grievances, and asked the NHWU to hold off while management attempted to expedite a job classification review committee.
A review committee for the positions in both northwestern Ontario offices was in fact put into place within a few weeks. When it reported back on January 8, the Non-Insured clerks in Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout had all been reclassified as CR-05s.
There was even more icing on the cake as our members signed off on their new job descriptions –
18-months’ retroactive pay at the higher classification level!
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