(Posted March 17, 2008)

All Agriculture Union Locals should circle Monday, April 14 on their calendars!

That’s the cut-off date for the National Office to have received resolutions for this August’s Triennial National Convention in Quebec City.

Locals can find both ‘traditional’ and ‘clear language’ resolution forms and a highly-useful guide to completing and submitting resolutions to the National Office on our recently-created 2008 Convention Web page.

You can access that page by clicking on our Convention logo on the main page, or by clicking HERE.

So, don’t forget the April 14 submission deadline!

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(Posted March 15, 2008)

Serious negotiations for a new contract for our members employed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will get underway at the end of this month.

Our bargaining team will be meeting at that time with their opposite numbers from the CFIA to go through the various issues on the table for this round of contract talks.

While the parties have met previously, these were administrative sessions, where the two sides dealt with the considerable amounts of paper that underlie all negotiations.

A series of dates for additional bargaining sessions are also being worked out between the employer and ourselves.

Hopefully, this round of bargaining will proceed smoothly and without undue delay.  That was certainly the case with the Essential Services Agreement signed-off with CFIA last summer.

For those that might be not entirely familiar with ESAs, they replaced and altered the old ‘designations’ process.  An ESA determines whether or not the incumbent of a position will be able to participate in any eventual job action, up to and including a full strike.

The Public Service Labour Relations Act now requires that the bargaining agent and the employer conclude an ESA once a union has served ‘notice to bargain’ a new collective agreement.

Our Essential Services Agreement process and outcome at CFIA was seen as so successful that it is being applied as a template to our current ESA negotiations at other departments.

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(Posted March 14, 2008)

The Agriculture Union holds its 14th Triennial National Convention in Quebec City from August 13-15, 2008.

It’s an important event. The Convention is our supreme governing body – an opportunity for democratically-elected delegates from Locals across the country to meet and chart the course of our Union over the next three years.

We believe that all Agriculture Union members have a stake in our Triennial National Convention. So, useful information on this event is now available for viewing on a special, newly-created Convention Web page.

You can access this page simply by clicking on our Convention logo, prominently located on our main Web site page.

You’ll already find a Convention calendar, both ‘traditional’ and ‘clear language’ resolution forms and a highly-useful guide to completing and submitting resolutions to the National Office.

And, we’ll be adding more information over the weeks and months as our August Convention grows ever nearer.

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(Posted March 14, 2008)

The Agriculture Union has asked the President of the Public Service Commission to censure partisan promotion of Bill C-39 by Elwin Hermanson, Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission.

Bob Kingston, First National Executive Vice-President, wrote Maria Barrados this week to lodge a formal complaint against Hermanson for his ‘inappropriate partisan political activity’.  The CGC head recently touted the supposed advantages of An Act to amend the Canada Grain Act.

Here is the text of Kingston’s letter:

                                                                                                                           March 12, 2008

Ms. Maria Barrados
President
Public Service Commission
300 Laurier Avenue West
L’Esplanade Laurier, West Tower
11th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0M7

Dear Ms. Barrados:

Re: Complaint against Elwin Hermanson
Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission

Please accept this letter as a formal request that the Public Service Commission exercise all available powers under the Public Service Employment Act, including recommending dismissal, to censure Mr. Elwin Hermanson, Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission for inappropriate partisan political activity.

As you are aware, Mr. Hermanson was appointed by the current government as someone who would support its ideological positions relating to agriculture in general and to the grain industry in particular. A Reform Party Member of Parliament for Kindersley-Lloydminster from 1993 to 1997, Mr. Hermanson went on to serve as Leader of the Saskatchewan Party from 1998 to 2004.

This complaint is being filed over Mr. Hermanson’s publicly-expressed support of proposed government legislation – An Act to amend the Canada Grain Act (Bill C-39). This Bill would radically alter the structure and role of the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC), and is opposed by the majority of producers and CGC employees.

My concern is specifically focused on an article, published under Mr. Hermanson’s name, appearing in the February 7, 2008 edition of The Western Producer (please see attached). This newspaper is a farm publication widely-read by Western Canadian grain producers. In his article, one that could well have been penned by a government Minister or backbencher, the Chief Commissioner explicitly states:

          “Let there be no doubt, Bill C-39 will provide producers with a more cost-effective grain quality

          assurance system.”

          “As chief commissioner of the CGC, I strongly support this legislation and reiterate this organization’s

          commitment to providing producers with value.”

I would emphasize that, as of this date, Bill C-39 is going to second reading in the House of Commons. It is far from a legislative fait accompli. As such, Mr. Hermanson’s actions and comments are not a benign case of a deputy head explaining the facts of enacted legislation to his ‘constituency’. Rather, Mr. Hermanson is using the profile and weight of his office to campaign actively for a partisan Bill. This is a reckless and irresponsible assault on the concept of public service political neutrality. Indeed, I have been told that Mr. Hermanson’s actions have caused considerable consternation at the highest levels of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Mr. Hermanson’s comments also serve the partisan interests of the current government in casting a ‘chill’ over those producers who are or would actively and publicly exercise their democratic right to oppose proposed legislation that runs counter to their interests. The use of the Chief Commissioner’s office as a ‘bully pulpit’ must not be left unchallenged by the Public Service Commission.

I would also like to note that Mr. Hermanson has also put himself in the position of violating his own ‘gag order’ imposed on all Canadian Grain Commission employees! As you will see in the attached December 21, 2007 memo, CGC’s Director of Human Resources threatened employees with possible disciplinary action if they criticize the government over Bill C-39. The memo, in part, reads:

          “For example, if you identify yourself as a CGC employee in a letter to the editor that criticizes

          government policy relating to the CGC, you could create a perception that your views of government

          policy are not impartial and that you may not be able to follow or apply government policy in an

          impartial manner.”

          “We would like to remind you that inappropriate behaviour by employees on web sites, blogs, and

          public fora (newspapers and meetings etc.) could result in administrative and/or disciplinary action.”

If it is a disciplinary offence to pen a letter-to-the-editor, should it be acceptable that Mr. Hermanson be allowed to express his partisan views on a yet-to-be-enacted Bill through major newspaper articles? I would trust you might agree that the answer should be a resounding ‘no’!

Normally, senior public servants implement legislation or policy rather than telling Parliament what the law should be. Given the blatant, highly-public nature of Mr. Hermanson’s political intervention into the debate and discussion around Bill C-39, I would urge you to come to a speedy decision on this matter.

I appreciate your attention to this complaint. If you want more information, I may be contacted at (613) 560-4306 or at kingstb@psac-afpc.com. I am available at any mutually-convenient time to elaborate on this important matter.

                                                                                  Yours sincerely,

                                                                                   Bob Kingston,
                                                                                   1st National Executive Vice-President
                                                                                    Agriculture Union

c.c. Honorable Gerry Ritz (by courier)

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(Posted March 13, 2008)

Members of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee meet today to decide whether to confirm the Harper government’s appointment of political crony Elwin Hermanson as Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission.

And our Union is urging them to reject this patronage move by the Conservatives on the basis of Hermanson’s cheerleading for Bill C-39, which will dramatically cut both staff and the effectiveness of the Commission.

The full text of our news release follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              13 MARCH 2008

Reject Hermanson’s appointment to Grain Commission

Ottawa – The Commons Agriculture Committee should reject Elwin Hermanson’s appointment as Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission because he is unfit for the job, according to the Agriculture Union – PSAC.  The appointment will be considered by the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food this morning.

Mr. Hermanson has already come out strongly in favour of proposed legislation – Bill C-39 – that would gut the services and regulatory oversight activities of the Grain Commission, even before the bill has been debated in Parliament.

In an opinion article published February 7th in The Western Producer, Mr. Harmanson declares: “As chief commissioner of the CGC, I strongly support this legislation...”

“Normally, senior public servants implement legislation or policy rather than telling Parliament what the law should be,” said Bob Kingston, Executive Vice-President of the Agriculture Union – PSAC, which represents most people who work at the Commission. 

The Agriculture Union has filed a formal complaint calling on the Public Service Commission to use its authority under the Public Service Employment Act to sanction Hermanson for inappropriate partisan behaviour, including recommending his dismissal.

Mr. Hermanson’s opinion article was published weeks after Grain Commission employees were threatened by their employer with disciplinary action if they spoke out against Bill C-39.

On December 21st, the Canadian Grain Commission issued a memo to employees forbidding them to publicly criticize Bill C-39, which read, in part:

“For example, if you identify yourself as a CGC employee in a letter to the editor that criticizes government policy relating to the CGC, you could create a perception that your views of government policy are not impartial and that you may not be able to follow or apply government policy in an impartial manner...We would like to remind you that inappropriate behaviour by employees on web sites, blogs, and public fora (newspapers and meetings etc.) could result in administrative and/or disciplinary action.”

“Mr. Hermanson has set a new low for double standards that clearly shows he has a personal agenda and that he can’t be trusted to follow direction from Parliament – the body to which the Commission is supposed to report.  Members of the Agriculture Committee should deny their blessing of Mr. Hermanson’s appointment,” Kingston said.

Once an employee of Mr. Hermanson’s, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz appointed the former Reform Party MP as Chief Commissioner effective January 21, 2008.

“Appointment to the public service should be made on merit, not political cronyism,” said Patty Ducharme, National Vice-President of the PSAC.

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(Posted March 10, 2008)

Without question, the Agriculture Union 'KeyInfo' workplace information kit is one of the most popular National Office services available to our Local leadership and activists.

The kit’s indexed topics provide a guide and ‘how to’ explanation of a wide variety of workplace-centred issues in clear language.  KeyInfo is provided to our Locals in a hard-copy binder format, and is available on our Web site.

Now, to provide quicker and more convenient access to the kit, we’ve created a direct link on the right-hand side of each Web page on our site. Just click on the following logo, and you’re there:

This is but one of a number of enhancements to our Web site that we are publicizing over the next several weeks.  So, keep checking in!

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AAFC GL Review: Agriculture Union to strike committee to analyse GL Review job description

(Posted March 3, 2008)

Continuing a yearly tradition, Agriculture Union Local 4 will be donating dressed beef to food banks across Prince Edward Island in time to benefit less fortunate families this Easter holiday.

The Local successfully bid on a prize beef at the February 29 Easter Beef Show and Sale in Charlottetown.

Funds for purchase of the beef were donated by Local 4, the Agriculture Union National Office and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Local President Gary Paynter noted that the donation not only demonstrates the union’s commitment to social justice, but also serves as a goodwill gesture towards the beef industry and underscores the important role played by the CFIA and its Agriculture Union members.