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News - February 2006 Previous Month Following Month
The headlines for current month's news items are listed immediately below. Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article. Amended bargaining team selection process to enhance CFIA negotiations ‘Human Rights Stories’ – a tale not to be missed Term employment opportunity – National Office Have your say on the new NJC Travel Directive All but one CFIA EG Work Descriptions sent for classification evaluation Positive amendment to Shift and Weekend Premium article (Posted February 23, 2006) 2006 is an extra special year for all of us in the Agriculture Union. It's our fortieth anniversary. The Agriculture Union came into being as a component union of the newly-formed Public Service Alliance of Canada in 1966. That was at the time federal public service workers first gained collective bargaining rights (as limited as they continue to be to this day). To mark the occasion, we've adopted a unique union logo to identify the event. You'll be seeing it on our letterhead and elsewhere throughout the year:
This special anniversary will be marked in various ways in the upcoming year. So, please check our Web site for updates. So, happy anniversary to us, from us!
Amended bargaining team selection process to enhance CFIA negotiations (Posted February 22, 2006) Changes to the Agriculture Union’s process for selecting bargaining team members will bring about major advances in upcoming preparation process for negotiations with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The improvements were enacted at February’s National Council meeting, following recommendations from the Collective Bargaining and Occupational Safety Committee. As delegates to regional and national bargaining conferences will be selected at this year’s Agriculture Union Regional Seminars, it was important to approve the by-law changes before the seminar cycle begins in March. The former process was out of sync with the regulation of our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), governing the collective bargaining process (Regulation 15). The new process results in a number of improvements that bring our CFIA members into line with other PSAC bargaining units: • The PSAC will organize and fund a National CFIA Bargaining Conference. • A PSAC negotiator assigned to CFIA bargaining will be available at that conference to explain and advise on contract demands brought forward from the membership. • Two delegates per region will be sent to this conference with the possibility of additional representatives if needed for equity
‘Human Rights Stories’ – a tale not to be missed (Posted February 16, 2006) The history of Canada’s labour movement reflects a ceaseless battle for the dignity and wellbeing of all working people. Respect for and promotion of human rights are an integral part of this struggle. Now, from the west coast, comes a moving reminder of why unions need to continue education on basic human rights – a DVD entitled ‘Human Rights Stories’. The video is centred around a remarkable December 15, 2005 community event that featured a panel of distinguished veterans of the fight for social justice in British Columbia. This professionally produced and packaged video bears the strong imprint of the Agriculture Union. Two of our Equal Opportunity Committee members were indispensable to its creation. Jennie Chu, EO regional representative for BC, was the video’s Producer. Her alternate, Terri Lee, was a co-moderator of the panel, whose members held an audience in thrall to their stories of the fight against war, the Chinese head tax, despoiling of the environment and opposition to aboriginal treaty rights. Copies of this highly-recommended DVD are available from EO Committee regional representatives across the country. Click HERE to find the EO representative in your region. Term employment opportunity – National Office (Posted February 14, 2006) TERM POSITION – April 2006 to October 2006 EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Term POSITION SUMMARY: KNOWLEDGE: Government Employees Compensation Act; relocation, crown housing and Occupational Safety and Health; The work requires continuing study of a variety of Labour Relations texts, journals and periodicals in order to maintain a working knowledge of changing trends and developments. The work also requires the study of adjudication and appeals procedures and the application of legislation, regulations and directives of the Treasury Board, the Public Service Commission and the Public Service Staff Relations Board in order to effectively represent employees at Appeal Board hearing, Grievances and formal Adjudication Hearings before the Public Service Staff Relations Board. The ability to communicate in English and French, both orally and in writing is essential. IMPORTANT: In this respect, a résumé of past work history should include clear and concise statements of present and past duties and should include information with regard to achievements to indicate the candidate has the required knowledge and skills for the position. Those best meeting the requirements as set out above will be contacted for an interview. HOW TO APPLY: Send application to:
Have your say on the new NJC Travel Directive (Posted February 6, 2006) The National Joint Council is currently conducting its periodic review of the federal public service Travel Directive. Issues of concern to the Agriculture Union and its members on this and other NJC policies and directives are brought forward by our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance. The PSAC is looking for input on the new NJC Travel Directive. Interested members should send their suggestions for proposed changes, with supporting rationale, to the Agriculture Union National Office no later than Friday, February 24. The current Travel Directive can be found HERE on the NJC Web site. The NJC is a joint union-management body that establishes common federal public service employment practices, working conditions and benefits not covered by collective bargaining. Some NJC policies are ultimately included in our members’ collective agreements.
All but one CFIA EG Work Descriptions sent for classification evaluation (Posted February 3, 2006) We are pleased to report that the next step in the long process to resolve the grievances resulting from the reclassification of PI’s to EG’s has begun. The following 19 work descriptions, which were agreed to between the parties at mediation, have been forwarded to the CFIA Classification Section for evaluation: • Multi-Program Inspector • Meat Inspector • Agriculture Inputs Inspector • Meat Hygiene Inspector • MPIP Inspector • Shell Egg Inspector • Animal Programs Inspector • Developmental Inspector • Point of Entry Import Inspector (Cargo & Traveller Stream) • Fresh Programs Supervisor • Fresh Products Program Inspector • Food Processing Specialist Inspector • Plant Programs Specialist Inspector • Inspection Supervisor • Multi-Program Specialist Inspector • Food Processing Supervisor • Multi-Program Supervisor • Meat Hygiene Supervisor • Commodities Technical Specialist A final decision on the one outstanding work description – Plant Programs Inspector (EG-3) – has yet to be made. No timeframes have been provided as to when the agreed upon work descriptions, point rating by factor and classification group and level will be delivered to the incumbents. As soon as this information is available, we will provide an update. As previously reported, the parties are in the process of establishing a mutually-agreeable date to mediate the EG-3 Fair Labelling Inspector positions. We will report once a date has been established. Positive amendment to Shift and Weekend Premium article of 'Table 2' agreement (Posted February 1, 2006) There’s some good news for Agriculture Union members who work regularly-scheduled hours on weekends but did not meet the new definition of ‘shift worker’ under the latest Operational Services Collective Agreement negotiated by our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance. The PSAC has subsequently announced that Treasury Board had agreed to amend the Shift and Weekend Premium article of the ‘Table 2’ agreement. Article 27.02, which explains weekend premiums, will now stand-alone. Previous to this announcement, 27.02 was linked to the restrictive definition of shift worker referenced in Article 27.01. |
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