Grievance Handling Course graduates

Congratulations to our latest graduates from the Grievance Handling course held October 27 & 28.
Stephanie Erb
Sherry Hunt
Shannan Little
Lyn Paterson
If you need advice on grievances, please talk to one of our graduates, a member of the local Executive or one of our Shop Stewards.

Remember, grievances enforce the power of our collective agreement. It's your right to grieve and PSAC's duty to police our collective agreement.

Area Council - Election of Officers

This Wednesday (Oct 24), please plan on attending the Lethbridge Area Council meeting for the election of officers. The Area Council meets one time per month and is composed of Lethbridge and Area PSAC members from all locals, including members from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and CFIA, Revenue Canada, Service Canada, Border Services, etc.

Time: 6-8pm

Place: Lethbridge Police Station Community Room

Please let Dave Pearson know that you plan on attending at peardd@telusplanet.net.

A Woman's Place is in her Union - Workshop Nov. 24 - Calgary

The PSAC Prairie Region is pleased to offer a new union education event:

A Woman's Place is in her Union

During this one-day workshop participants will:

♀  discuss the history of women’s work and the labour movement

♀  celebrate the gains made in our journey towards equality

♀  develop strategies for the work still to be done

♀  make friends, create allies and build solidarity!

The workshop is open to PSAC women in the Prairie region. 

Space is limited so register early!  Preference will be given to 2012 Women at Work course applicants who were not able to participate in the course, and to women active in their Local Women’s committee, Component Women’s Committee, or a PSAC Regional Women’s Committee.

PSAC Calgary RO       

Telephone: (403) 270-6555          Toll-free: 1-800-461-8914

Reminder - Grievance Handling Course - Oct 27-28- Lethbridge

Wednesday, October 17 is the deadline to sign up for the Grievance Handling Course to be held Oct 27-28 in Lethbridge. 

RO Contact: Raj Hari - harir@psac.com 

This course will develop your knowledge and confidence in effectively solving problems at the workplace. You will learn how to systematically approach workplace issues and build your grievance handling skills, such as identifying problems, investigating concerns, and writing and presenting grievances. 

Register online: http://prairies.psac.com/education/events/grievance-handling-lethbridge

We are ALL affected - Community Spending Project Fact Sheet

This fact sheet has been sent to our local MLAs, MPs and City Council. It has also been sent to the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Lethbridge BRZ and Economic Development Lethbridge. Feel free to print this off and distribute it to businesses, etc.

No assurance of food safety and security without adequate resources, Kingston tells Senate Committee

National President Bob Kingston has told a Senate Committee studying proposed legislation that there can be no assurance of food safety and security without the human and financial resources needed to protect consumers.

Kingston testified October 2 before the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. The Committee is examining Bill S-11, the so-called Safe Food for Canadians Act. The proposed legislation was quietly introduced in the Senate by the Harper government just as Parliament adjourned for the summer break.

Once enacted, Bill S-11 would create a broad-based law covering all ‘food’, replacing the current Fish Inspection Act, Meat Inspection Act and Canada Agricultural Products Act. The government is touting a provision that would see an assessment of the resources allocated to food safety once every five years. It also claims imported food will become safer because importers will be required to obtain a license from the CFIA.

Unfortunately, Kingston noted, Bill S-11 continues the wrongheaded reliance on industry self-policing without providing CFIA with the resources to ensure compliance.

Kingston’s appearance before the Committee coincided with the rapidly-spreading XL Foods E.coli crisis. He drew parallels to the tragic 2008 Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis outbreak that claimed the lives of 23 Canadians.

 “Without a commitment on the part of the government to ensure adequate resources are available Canadians cannot expect improvements in food safety outcomes from this Bill alone,” he told the Senators.

“Too often budget has been the main determining factor in the design and/or delivery of CFIA’s inspection and food safety program, exposing Canadians to higher risk than should be the case.

“If we are not careful, the successful enactment of Bill S-11, as well as CFIA’s new Inspection Modernization initiative could fall victim to these pressures as did the Compliance Verification System, or CVS, before them.”

Budgetary restraints and a lack of inspectors to backfill positions mean few have received CVS training more than four years after its introduction, Kingston said. He noted that only a small portion of inspectors at the XL Foods plant were fully trained in CVS.

The government’s point-man on Bill S-11, Senator Don Plett, is on the record as saying the CFIA now has enough inspectors to meet its mandate. Yet, as Kingston pointed out, the Conservatives have yet to back up that assertion with hard facts.

In her report following the Maple Leaf outbreak, Sheila Weatherill urged an independent audit of inspection resources. However, the CFIA itself chose to examine only processed meat inspection, ignoring such crucial areas as fish, produce and beef inspection. Yet even that limited review saw the Agency move to hire 170 new inspectors.

“I hazard to guess that if the CFIA did a similar review of its other inspections programs like fish and meat hygiene slaughter, they would find that a similar upward adjustment is required to adequately deliver those programs,” Kingston said. “I urge the committee to amend this bill to make such a review mandatory.

“I also note that an amendment has been put forward by the government, but it does not require a resource audit of CFIA until five years after this bill becomes law.  That’s like crossing your fingers and hoping nothing bad happens for five years.  We already know CFIA has a problem.  Don’t wait for another outbreak before addressing it.” 

Webinar-Speaking out on Cuts to Federal Public Services

Tuesday, October 9, 2012
6-7pm

PSAC members in the federal public service continue to deal with affected notices and the follow-out from ongoing cuts. Stewards play a crucial role in advising members of their rights regarding speaking out against the cuts to services and their jobs.

Link to it here-
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=781863db81c974cf297a8fa95&id=c1ab371369&e=a4032aa883