Updates

PSAC was born when the Civil Service Association and the Civil Service Federation merged in 1966.

PSAC’s history is immensely rich and interwoven with important achievements, including bargaining good collective agreements, protecting and defending members against unfair treatment, keeping workers safe and healthy, fighting for equality, making positive legislative and social change, organizing the unorganized, fighting for members with disabilities, and strengthening locals through education.   We will be celebrating all this work and the important milestones of our union in the following ways:  

Establishment of Asian Heritage Month

Asian Heritage Month was first officially recognized in December 2001 when the Canadian Senate adopted the month of May as Asian Heritage Month.  This is an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the long and diverse history of Asian Canadians and their contributions to Canada, as well as the many struggles they face.

History of racial discrimination

Since the arrival of the first immigrant of Asian descent in the 1800’s, they faced racism and racial discrimination in forms of immigration laws, the denial of the right to vote, segregation and other basic human rights abuses.

Some of these overt racist laws, policies and practices were eliminated gradually when human rights legislation was enacted.  However, subtle forms of racism and racial discrimination against people of Asian descent continues to persist. 

On the National Day of Mourning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada pays homage to all workers injured on the job and who have lost their lives due to unsafe and dangerous working conditions.

We honour workers like brother Peter Kennedy, who died soon after the 2009 boiler explosion at a Public Works heating plant, and brother Howard Willems, who passed away in 2012 through exposure to asbestos on the job. Brother Willems successfully lobbied for the introduction of legislation requiring all buildings in Saskatchewan containing asbestos to be reported in a public registry.

This Earth Day, PSAC is calling on all governments to act on climate change.

The fight against climate change will require a public service direction and response equal to that of the Second. World War. PSAC members work at Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Parks Canada and all of the other federal departments that need to be involved in a successful campaign. They are experts in a broad range of climate change issues.

Robyn Benson, PSAC National President is urging the Liberal government to make proactive pay equity legislation a reality without further delay.

“Over 10 years ago, a federal pay equity task force produced a concrete set of recommendations to implement a proactive law,” said Benson. “The time to put these recommendations into law is long overdue.”

Speaking to the House of Commons Special Committee on Pay Equity, Benson pointed out the problems women in the federal sector face trying to achieve pay equity.