Members in Whitehorse send Treasury Board President a message

Toews told only a fair contract will do

With PSAC members demonstrating their support outside a Tory fundraiser, CEIU member Mike Nugent and Area Council President Julie Docherty went inside to speak directly with Treasury Board President Vic Toews. The employer has been dragging its feet at the bargaining table and pushing for concessions in important areas like hours of work. Members are increasingly irritated as a result, and Toews heard about it first-hand in Whitehorse.

Nugent, President of CEIU local 20956 and a Director with the PSAC North Region Executive Committee, is no stranger to speaking directly to those in power. Four years ago, he presented a brief to the Minister of Finance that dealt, in part, with contract negotiations. In 2005 he spoke to a conference held by the National Joint Council on the Living Cost Differential (LCD), a program aimed at compensating staff in the north for their high cost of living. The government had attacked the LCD and members, led by Nugent, fought back. “Local members can speak up effectively and they shouldn’t be afraid to try,” he said, “and here in the north there are great PSAC members who work together on actions like this.”

In their discussion with the Toews, Nugent and Docherty focused on three issues. The first was the delay at the bargaining table. “The union started the bargaining process at the earliest possible date so that members would have a new contract soon after the old one expired. We did our part, but the employer won’t do theirs.”

The second issue concerned hours of work. The employer wants to change the contract so that they can more easily turn day workers into shift workers. Nugent told Toews that this proposal was a major stumbling block to an agreement. “Members are worried they could end up working shifts—later hours on weekdays and weekend work—and they see this as a real threat to the quality of their family life.”

The third point concerned Isolated Post Allowances (IPA). Nugent stressed the importance of a fair IPA benefit package both for the living standards of current staff and for the sake of competing with other employers in the north for qualified staff. He also emphasized that the value of the IPA benefits must be included in the wage package of any Employee Transfer Agreement resulting from the devolution of employment programs to the Territorial Government. “On all three issues, Toews gave no firm commitments, but politicians rarely do. What’s important is to send our message, over and over again, so that the politicians recognize they have to deal with us. If we’re out of sight, we’re out of mind.”

National President Jeannette Meunier-McKay congratulated Nugent, Docherty and all the activists involved. “When members speak up, politicians sit up and take notice. We’re fed up with the employer in the current round of bargaining and I know that all of us thank the members in Whitehorse for speaking directly to the President of the Treasury Board.”