Political Action

Food Safety Staffing Could Drop to Pre-Maple Leaf Foods Listeriosis Crisis LevelVANCOUVER, - The union representing federal food safety inspectors is warning consumers that significant cuts to the public service expected in next month's budget may reduce the inspection of imported foods to less than two per cent of all products examined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

WHITEHORSE – Recent cuts to federal environmental monitoring programs will have a long term negative impact on Canada’s environmental sustainability and its economic prosperity, said the Public Service Alliance of Canada. The Conservative austerity budget in March will only exacerbate the problem and make it difficult for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada to fulfill their mandates.

The B.C. Council of Seniors today welcomed Premier Christy Clark’s promise to improve services for seniors, but cautioned that actions speak louder than words.“For the last decade, this government has implemented a ‘seniors’ agenda’ that has created misery for thousands of elderly citizens in our province,” said Art Kube, President of the 80,000 member Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of B.C. (COSCO).“As a senior minister and deputy to Gordon Campbell, Premier Clark had a direct role in undermining the services that helped seniors to live with dignity and independence in their own homes. The harmful effects of ten years of mean-spirited actions can’t be undone with warm and fuzzy platitudes.”

As part of the fight-back activities that we all committed to at the President’s Conference in 2011 we are asking PSAC members in BC to in a National Day of Action Thursday, March 1st at lunchtime. 

In the evening of January 20, 2012 a massive explosion and fire destroyed the Babine Forest Products sawmill in Burns Lake, a remote community of about 3,600 people in northern BC.The fire, the worst industrial accident in BC in a generation, killed two workers and injured another nineteen. The destruction of the mill also put 250 members of the United Steelworkers out of work and will have a devastating effect on the entire town’s economy, thanks to the many spin-off jobs created by the local forestry industry.On January 27th the United Steelworkers announced the launch of a fundraising appeal and the creation of a trust account to provide support to the workers of Babine Forest Products and their families. The labour movement in quickly responded and USW was inundated with offers of support and assistance from other unions and union members across the country.

Federal cutbacks announced in the 2010 and 2011 budgets will result in more than 60,000 job losses, says a study released today by the CCPA.

PSAC launches second video highlighting absurdity of cutsThe giant squirrel strikes again! Last night, the Public Service Alliance of Canada launched another video as part of its Third Choice campaign. In this one, a giant squirrel disrupts a meat inspector and secretly plants non-inspected meat in a young mother’s grocery cart.

Here are the Regional Council Members reports presented at the October 2011 RC meeting and the minutes of the April 2011 meeting.

Treasury Board president Tony Clement must let Canadians see the advice he’s getting on public service cuts and let them have their say.The Public Service Alliance of Canada says transparency is critical given the government’s goal to cut public services by up to 10 per cent across the board.