It is with sadness we announce the passing of Nancy Barr on September 3, 2022.  Nancy died as she lived, with grace and courage. She enjoyed a happy childhood in East Providence, Rhode Island, biking and playing tennis, when she didn't have her head in a book. She credits her mother for a lifelong love of style, colour and beauty.

Nancy moved to Montreal in 1973 for a one-year job and ended up spending the rest of her life in the city she embraced, immersing herself in Québécois culture. 

From 2005 to 2009, Nancy served as the National Film Board Group President. During this time, she fiercely represented PIPSC members.

The year 2021 was ushered in with cancer, which Nancy faced with dignity, stoic humour and a chic wig.

The family appreciates the support of the palliative healthcare team at CLSC Métro and Nova as well as Hospice St. Raphael.

PIPSC extends its condolences to Nancy’s family and to the many friends who were privileged to know her.

Condolences and memories can be expressed online.

A celebration of Nancy's life will be held at a later date.

Our lawsuit against the Ford government’s Bill 124 has officially begun, with court hearings starting on September 12, 2022.

Bill 124 is a direct attack on the rights of workers in Ontario. It allows the provincial government to impose salary caps of 1% per year on public sector workers, disrespecting them and the work that they do every day to keep this province running. 

For the past 3 years, as workers in health care and education burned out on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bill 124 froze their wages, and interfered with their Charter-protected rights to collectively bargain them. Now, as inflation skyrockets, workers are essentially experiencing a massive pay cut.

With court hearings finally underway, we want to maximize pressure on the government to repeal Bill 124 by flooding their inboxes with messages from workers across the province.

Our friends at the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) created a simple tool for you to use to send your message. If you believe in fair collective bargaining, decent work, and quality public services – will you take a moment to send a message now?

SEND YOUR MESSAGE

In 2019, the OFL along with a coalition of unions including PIPSC, filed lawsuits against the Ford government’s Bill 124 – because no government should be able to pass legislation that restricts workers’ rights to free and fair collective bargaining. 

If this bill is allowed to go ahead, it sets a dangerous precedent for all of us.

The 1% cap on wages affects women-dominated sectors including health care and education, while excluding others, like the police.

It also disproportionately impacts racialized women who are among the lowest paid and most precariously employed – and is one of the biggest drivers of the deepening staffing crisis that’s threatening to cripple Ontario’s health care system.

So much is on the line, but together we can win this fight. 

Send your message now.

The Treasury Board is seeking special permission to divide the Core Public Administration (CPA) into several pay equity plans, which may undermine the ability to achieve pay equity.

Despite written submissions opposing the move from unions representing the majority of workers in the CPA, the Treasury Board is seeking the permission of the Pay Equity Commissioner to divide workers among multiple pay equity plans.

In preliminary discussions with the Treasury Board, we explained our strong desire to move forward with a single plan. While multiple plans are allowed under the Pay Equity Act, guidance is clear that this is not the preferred or default approach. Indeed, multiple plans divide workers, making it very hard or impossible to achieve pay equity within the CPA.  

Unions, including PIPSC, have expressed serious concerns that such an approach will fail to identify and address gender-based systemic discrimination in compensation. Unlike a single, CPA-wide plan that will require the Pay Equity Committee to compare all job classes (group plus level), multiple plans means that job classes will only be compared to other job classes within the plan.

For example, the Treasury Board may wish to create a plan for white-collar workers, another for blue-collar, and another for everyone else. This approach may be administratively easier and allow for a more targeted job evaluation tool (the system to determine the value of a job). Unfortunately, because job classes are only compared to job classes within each plan, it also means pay equity is only achieved within the given plan.

Leaving out critical comparators makes achieving real pay equity nearly impossible, and may be seen as a cost-savings measure for the employer.

PIPSC and many of our colleagues from other unions representing workers within the CPA are collaborating on a joint submission to the Pay Equity Commissioner to express our concerns with this approach and our support for a single plan.  We look forward to sharing further information as it becomes available.

The federal Pay Equity Act went into effect in the autumn of 2021. It requires the creation of a Pay Equity Committee to design and implement a Pay Equity Plan to compare jobs at a given employer. Given the complexity of creating such a plan for the CPA, the Treasury Board has not yet established the committee; however preliminary work has begun.

Pay equity experts from the PIPSC classification team continue to work in collaboration with members and elected representatives to advocate for our members at these preliminary stages. We will sit on the committee once formed.

Labour Day, the first Monday in September, has been an official holiday in Canada since 1894. The origin of Labour Day came 20 years before that, when unions started holding parades and rallies in Toronto and Ottawa to celebrate the 1872 Toronto printers’ strike – the original “fight for fairness” that won major changes including the decriminalization of unions in Canada.

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Striking for a 9-hour workday

The Toronto Typographical Union (TTU) demanded a 9-hour workday from the city's publishers instead of the 12-hour, 6-day week. When employers refused, the printers walked out on March 25, 1872. On April 15, 1872, 10,000 supporters showed up for a rally at Queen's Park when the population of Toronto was only 50,000!  

Globe publisher George Brown launched immediate legal action that resulted in the arrest of the strike committee for criminal conspiracy. Union activity was still illegal under Canadian law. 

The people-powered domino effect

The Toronto parade inspired leaders in Ottawa to stage a similar event. A few months later, on September 3, 1872, 7 unions in Ottawa organized a parade more than a mile long, headed by an artillery band and flanked by city firefighters. 

The parade passed the home of Sir John A. MacDonald, then prime minister of Canada. He promised to sweep away “such barbarous laws” as those invoked to imprison the TTU workers in Toronto.

Historic legislation

While the strike did not win the 9-hour day, just months ahead of a federal election, under mounting pressure from unions, MacDonald led the passage of the the Trade Union Act, which legalized and protected union activity in Canada.  

The parades continued in support of the Nine Hour Movement and became annual events in such cities as Toronto and Ottawa.

American labour leader inspired by Canadian union parades

In 1882, an American labour leader, Peter McGuire, founder of the carpenters’ union and the American Federation of Labor, was invited to speak at a parade in Toronto. When he returned to the U.S., he organized a similar parade in New York City on September 5, 1882. 

The popularity of the event spread rapidly. The first labour day events were held in Toronto (1882); Hamilton and Oshawa (1883); Montreal (1886); St Catharines (1887); Halifax (1888); Ottawa and Vancouver (1890); and London (1892). 

Becoming an official holiday

U.S. President Grover Cleveland declared the first Monday of September as an official federal “labor” day holiday in 1894. Canada soon followed. Cleveland wanted to avoid May 1, which had been proclaimed the International Workers’ Day in Europe by unions and socialist parties, becoming the workers’ day also in the USA. May Day also commemorates the Haymarket riot in Chicago (1886).

It is with a profound sense of sorrow and regret that the Institute informs you of the untimely passing of our friend and colleague Kal Sahota, BC/Yukon Regional Director. Kal’s commitment to PIPSC members was deep and unwavering. We will miss him very much. 

Kal served Institute members with distinction in a number of capacities for two decades, notably as a union steward in Vancouver.  In 2014, he was awarded BC/Yukon Steward of the Year.

For years, Kal served as a member of the AFS Executive and Bargaining Team, as well on the PIPSC Finance Committee and AFS Employment Equity Committee.

Kal was also President of the Vancouver CRA Branch.  In November 2021, he was elected to serve on the PIPSC Board of Directors as BC/Yukon Regional Director, beginning January 1, 2022.   

PIPSC extends its condolences to Kal’s family and to the many friends who were privileged to know him.

Funeral: Thursday, August 25, 2022 at 1:00pm at Riverside Funeral Home in 7410 Hopcott Road, Delta, British Columbia.  

Members have created a ‘living legacy’ by planting hundreds of trees across Canada to celebrate PIPSC’s 100^th anniversary.

The trees represent PIPSC members’ ongoing contributions and commitment to assure a strong and healthy future for Canadians.

PIPSC members are proud to promote environmental stewardship, which is more important than ever as we attempt to address the climate crisis by reducing our carbon footprint.

Like PIPSC members who serve Canadians in many ways, trees offer immense value to help Canadians enjoy a better and sustainable future.

PIPSC partnered with Tree Canada, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to planting and nurturing trees. For 25 years, they’ve engaged communities, governments, corporations and individuals in the pursuit of a greener and healthier living environment for Canadians.

Since 1920, PIPSC members have held important roles in collecting data that has confirmed we’re facing a climate crisis. Whether it’s surveying the health of our forests, mapping the stars or protecting the vitality of our marine ecosystems, the services provided by PIPSC members are services that all Canadians rely on.

It is with great sadness that the Institute learned that Judith King passed away on December 4, 2021.

Born in Ottawa to proud members of the federal public service, Judith served Institute members with distinction as an Employment Relations Officer from 1980 to 2005.  

With great composure, Judith was meticulous, methodical and fierce in her advocacy for what was just.

Her sharp intellect, critical thinking, tireless work ethic, and innate human benevolence earned not only the respect of her colleagues, but resoundingly impacted the outcome of favourable resolution throughout her career, improving the lives of many.

Institute members and staff extend their heartfelt condolences to Maureen’s family and friends, and especially Judith’s sister, Maureen, who was also a long-serving member of the PIPSC staff.

On June 2, 2022, Ontario voters re-elected the Ford Conservatives. While this is not the result we were hoping for, it is the reality we face together. We must continue our fight for fair wage increases for our members.

June 2022 marks the 3rd anniversary of Ford’s Bill 124. Bill 124 limits collective bargaining wage increases to 1% per year for 3 years for all Ontario public servants. This includes essential hospital workers.

We refuse to accept Bill 124. 

“My top priority is restoring the right to bargain a fair collective agreement.” said President Jennifer Carr, “Our members have worked tirelessly to provide care and treatment for vulnerable patients throughout the pandemic – Bill 124 completely ignores their hard work.” 

We are working with the Ontario Federations of Labour, other unions to challenge this bill. We have also supported the Ontario Health Coaltion’s efforts to raise awareness healthcare privatization throughout the election campaign. Together we are fighting to restore collective bargaining rights through a constitutional challenge to Bill 124.

It must be repealed.

Our members have provided essential services to Ontarians. We will not stop fighting for you until you get the respect, and wages, you deserve.

PIPSC has partnered with the Future Skills Centre on a new project, Navigar, to help members understand, prepare for, and make the most of opportunities to advance their careers. 

With this new PIPSC initiative, members will have access to evidence-based research and insight into how their careers are changing. It will recommend relevant and accessible training opportunities to keep members ahead of changes in their jobs.

As a thank you, each member who answers will be entered into a draw to win 1 of 40 $25 Tim Hortons gift cards.

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