News - April 2010                      Previous Month         Following Month

Headlines of the current month's news items are listed immediately below. Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article.

Our CFIA National Occupational Safety and Health Committee members pause

to mark today's Annual Day of Mourning for Canadian Workers

Update on the progress of Indian school project

supported by our Social Justice Fund

Two new projects to fight hunger approved by our Social Justice Fund

Welcome Jan Pennington, our new Alternate Regional Vice-President

for the Eastern Atlantic region

April 28 – Annual Day of Mourning for Canadian Workers

Meet our March 'Rand Contest' winner...

AAFC – Policy grievance re distribution of overtime

Easter holiday a happier celebration for many PEI families

thanks to Local 4’s generosity

Our CFIA National Occupational Safety and Health Committee members pause to mark today's Annual Day of Mourning for Canadian Workers

(Posted April 28, 2010)

Members of the CFIA National Occupational Safety and Health Committee took time today from their meetings to mark the April 28 Annual Day of Mourning for Canadian Workers.

The above photo shows the union members of the joint committee at the Toronto memorial honouring those who died on the job or passed away due to workplace disease or injury.

The four Agriculture Union NOSH members are: National President Bob Kingston (first from left); Third National Executive Vice-President Howard Willems (second from left); Second National Executive Vice-President Denis Sicard (second from right); and Bob Jackson, Regional Vice-President for Western British Columbia (first from right).

Update on the progress of Indian school project supported by our Social Justice Fund

(Posted April 23, 2010)

Agriculture Union member Harmesh Sidher has kindly sent us a recent update on the ongoing progress of the rural development project – partially supported by our Social Justice Fund in the remote Indian village of Musepur.

From top to bottom, the following photos show:

          • Workers building the roof on the new schoolhouse;
          • Excited children in their new classroom;
          • Harmesh showing villagers the benefits of newly-installed solar-power for lighting and computers; and
          • A purpose-built village building to raise chickens for market.

More information on the Musepur project is available HERE in the Social Justice Fund section of our Web site.

Two new projects to fight hunger approved by our Social Justice Fund

(Posted April 20, 2010)

The Committee vetting all funding applications for the Agriculture Union’s Social Justice Fund has approved two new projects – one in Canada and one overseas.

Climate and corruption have combined to create serious food shortages for the great majority of the people of Zimbabwe. This southern African nation, once self-sufficient in foodstuffs, is currently facing a severe drought whose hardship is compounded by persistent economic mismanagement by the national government.

That’s why our Social Justice Fund had no difficulty in supporting a project by the Saskatchewan Zimbabwe Committee (SZC) to ship a forty-foot container of vegetable seeds directly to the organization representing farmer co-ops in Zimbabwe.

The Organization of Collective Coops of Zimbabwe – a well-organized rural co-operative with over 25,000 members – will receive, distribute and plant the precious seeds. (Two other organizations, Food for the Hungry International and Burpee Seeds, donated one million dollars worth of seed packets.)

The Agriculture Union’s support for this project will provide important food resources and food security to a great many Zimbabweans in an increasingly desperate situation.

Our Social Justice Fund Committee has also approved a community-based project to plant and grow fresh produce for the food banks located in Lethbridge, Alberta.

While Canadians normally associate the word ‘Alberta’ with ‘prosperity’, this project shows that the province’s

wealth is far from equitably distributed. At just one Lethbridge food bank, the numbers of people served almost doubled in the twelve months ending March 2009. Almost half were children.

The ‘Lethbridge Food Banks’ Garden’ project will educate food bank staff and community volunteers as to proper planting, growing and harvesting techniques while producing a bumper crop of valuable perishables for the most deserving of the community’s families.

Two projects. Half a world apart. Yet both motivated by the desire to fight hunger.

Welcome Jan Pennington, our new Alternate Regional Vice-President for the Eastern Atlantic region

(Posted April 18, 2010)

Jan Pennington is the Agriculture Union’s new Alternate Regional Vice-President for the Eastern Atlantic region.

Jan is currently President of Local 2, representing our Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada members in Halifax. He takes over his new duties as Alternate RVP immediately

Jan can be reached at 902-426-1661, or by e-mailing him at jhpennington@ns.sympatico.ca.

Welcome aboard, Jan!

April 28 – Annual Day of Mourning for Canadian Workers

(Posted April 17, 2010)

Each April 28, the Canadian labour movement pauses to acknowledge and honour those brothers and sisters who died on the job or passed away due to workplace disease or injury.

This day of remembrance was initiated by the Canadian Labour Congress, to which the Agriculture Union and the PSAC are affiliated.

You may be fortunate in not having had any serious injuries or deaths in your workplace. However, in 2008, the last year for which we have statistics, 1,036 Canadians died due to workplace injuries and thousands more were injured.

In many larger communities, Federations of Labour or District Labour Councils organize solemn observance ceremonies marking the Day of Mourning. The theme for 2010 is: “Is today the day you die at work?”

These memorial events provide an opportunity to remember these fellow union members and remind the general community of the valuable and often-dangerous work our own members perform on a daily basis.

We urge all Agriculture Union Locals to get involved this April 28 Day of Mourning.

Meet our March 'Rand Contest' winner...

(Posted April 15, 2010)

We’re pleased to announce our latest monthly winner of the Agriculture Union’s ‘Great 2010 Rand Sign-Up Contest'.

Alison Ball is now a signed-up member of Local 75, which represents our Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada members in Ottawa.

Alison receives an Agriculture Union T-shirt and a warm welcome to our union!

AAFC – Policy grievance re distribution of overtime

(Posted April 14, 2010)

A Policy Grievance was filed in May 2009 on behalf of our members in the Assessment Service Division within the Regina Office of AgriStability with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. This was done due to the employer’s change in criteria used to determine overtime distribution for employees covered by the Program and Administration Services collective agreement.

The employer’s policy stated that overtime distribution would be based on the work production of employees and that an employee would only be approved for overtime if the employee had no sick days within the week.

The Agriculture Union grieved the employer’s contravention of the provisions on overtime in the collective agreement, which specifically require the employer to offer overtime work on an equitable basis among readily, available and qualified employees. These are the only criteria that can be considered.

Clearly, using the criteria of production and/or absence due to legitimate sick leave is in violation of the collective agreement. The employer’s overtime policy denied employees the right to equitable distribution of overtime as contained under Article 28 of the Program and Administrative Services Collective Agreement.

AAFC Management and our Union have reached an agreement concerning the Assessment Services Division Draft Overtime Guidelines. It has been determined that there is no need for guidelines, as each individual situation should be reviewed on a case by case basis. Therefore, overtime will be offered to all readily available qualified employees, and the previous restrictions in the draft guidelines will not apply.

Easter holiday a happier celebration for many PEI families thanks to Local 4’s generosity

(Posted April 7, 2010)

They’ve done it again. And many less-fortunate families in Prince Edward Island are glad they did.

Continuing a four-year tradition, Agriculture Union Local 4 donated some 350 kilograms of dressed beef to Charlottetown and Summerside food banks just in time for the Easter holiday. The valuable gift was made possible by the Local’s $4,300 purchase of a prize steer at this year’s Easter Beef Show in Charlottetown.

The photo below shows Summerside Salvation Army Community and Family Services co-ordinator Marj Montgomery accepting the donation from Local 4 President Gary Paynter and member Mary Lee.

The above photo shows Paynter, Local 4 Secretary-Treasurer Lloyd Kerry, Charlottetown Food Bank board member Lorraine MacAulay and board chair George Likely.

“Our donation assists the beef industry during difficult economic times,” Paynter said. “At the same time, we get the satisfaction of helping some of the least fortunate of our neighbours while raising the Agriculture Union’s profile throughout the Island.”

Funding for the generous gift came from Local 4, the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Agriculture Union Social Justice Fund.