"I hope our members know that we are working to ensure their health and safety, protecting their rights and that we’re here to listen if they do have concerns.”

Simone Zobatar has devoted years of her volunteer time to our union. Like many of us, she began contributing as a union steward after being encouraged by a member of her group’s executive.

She was then quickly appointed to the group executive as a member at large. Over the years, her confidence, skill and experience grew as she took on roles as Treasurer, Vice-President and in April 2018 was elected AFS Penticton sub group President.

A path that many PIPSC members follow, there is a place for everyone in our union’s leadership. 

“Since becoming a steward, I have had the opportunity to learn from some of our great leaders, in our regional office, our AFS group President, our national President. Collectively, I know they work countless hours for our members across the country and it’s rewarding to be a part of that. It’s rewarding to help our members find solutions for issues that may come up for them.”

Simone knows that this hard work pays off, pointing to the work and life balance that our union work has ensured. She values being able to take leave if her children are sick or have an appointment or to care for an elderly parent. 

Beyond this, in the last round of bargaining PIPSC won a new leave for a “person who stands in place.” This means that members can now access leave to care for a close friend or family member who wouldn’t have previously met the definition of family. Simone knows so many people who don’t have access to these kinds of paid leave and can’t care for the ones who mean so much to them.

As a union leader, Simone has worked hard to build strong relationships with management. These relationships allow for productive collaboration that prevent many of the issues that could arise in her workplace. Even while working from home, she will continue to prioritize this strategic approach to labour relations. 

Simone is so proud to help local members find resolution to workplace issues. The most important thing for her is to make sure that members know that we are here for them.

A Chartered Professional Accountant, Simone, works for CRA as an auditor. Her workdays are spent auditing high net worth individuals and their related entities to make sure they pay their fair share of taxes. 

She says, “an incredible amount of money leaves this country because people are avoiding paying taxes.”

Simone follows the money to figure out tax avoidance schemes. The hundreds of millions of dollars that Simone and her colleagues retrieve are used to provide the infrastructure, health care and public services Canadians deserve. 

“When you see people working hard, making a decent salary, paying more taxes than these companies that make hundreds of millions of dollars, that’s the frustrating part. We bring in hundreds of millions of tax dollars when we uncover these tax schemes. And this has a substantial impact on all Canadians,” Simone explains.

Canadians benefit from the work of public servants, Simone reminds us.

“For example, the systems that our CS Group was able to implement in order to administer pandemic benefits on such a timely basis, is second to none. They were able to get money out to people that really needed it,” she shared proudly. 

Public servants have a great impact on our economy, our social programs, our health and well-being. And that impacts the lives of everyone in our country. 

Xiaolan Wang is a climate scientist for Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) who has worked all over the world in climatology. 

Xiaolan studied for her Hydrometeorology Bachelor and Master’s degrees in China before pursuing her PhD in climatology in Germany and Portugal. 

Her education and passion for meteorology led to her current job at ECCC as an expert in climate data sets. 

“The work I do matters to Canadians because it produces high-quality climate data sets and products and essential climate information — putting taxpayers’ money to use most efficiently,” Xiaolan says. 

Her primary goal is to understand past, present and future climate trends so we have the information we need to battle climate change. 

This research must be studied in the public sector because it is difficult for academia and private sector organizations to access the data, resources and funds necessary to conduct unbiased climate research. 

“Most of my work is hardly doable in academic and private sectors because it needs a broad range of data and expert knowledge about the history, current status and standards of climate monitoring in Canada,” she says.  

According to Xiaolan, the public sector ensures due process to guarantee the quality of research when determining a global action plan against climate change.

“The work needs to be done in a systematic and sustained manner, and it needs long-term commitment,” she says. 

Without a consistent data process conducted by skilled scientists, artificial data would slip through the cracks and drastically alter our knowledge about climate change. 

However, scientists like Xiaolan make sure errors like these don’t happen. 

Our scientists need sustainable working conditions and work-life balance. As a mother of two, Xiaolan appreciates the work flexibility that being a union member provides. 

“Having the opportunity to maintain work-life balance is very important for women in science,” she says. “I’m grateful that we have flexible work hours and telework arrangements in our collective agreements.” 

Most public scientists have heavy workloads, but according to Xiaolan, having union support means having access to helpful work and travel approvals, useful technology, and resources always at their fingertips. 

“It’s always good to know that there is union support for you and that there is someone you can talk to for help or advice when you need it,” she says. 

Canada must remain a leader in climate action — and it starts with our public scientists. 

Canada is lucky to have scientists like Xiaolan for the work they do to save our oceans and ecosystems.

Whether analysts at the Transportation Safety Board are investigating a downed aircraft in the ocean, a train in the Prairies or a pipeline through the mountains, the specialists who analyze data recorders find the answers.

Sometimes, like nobody else in the world.

Branden Murdoch grew up on a farm in British Columbia before discovering his love for aerospace engineering at Carleton University.

Today, he’s a PIPSC member and one of those world-class analysts.

In a day’s work, Branden analyzes information recovered from “black boxes” — flight-data and cockpit voice recorders. He and his team review information from crashes to help determine what happened and how to prevent accidents in the future.

Branden is proud that what he does makes an impact on people’s lives.

“Every day I know exactly what it is I’m going to work to accomplish … and that’s to improve transportation safety. Not only for Canadians but because our mandate is international … I know that I’m improving aviation and transportation safety worldwide,” Branden says. 

Over the last few years, Branden and his colleagues have gained credibility in both the public and private sectors around the world. Crash data was often neglected by industry, and voicing key issues found in black boxes and other devices was an uphill battle. Given the team’s depth of commitment and practical abilities, they now know that when they speak, regulators listen.

Maintaining this impartiality from regulators is an integral part of why Branden’s work is done in the public sector rather than the private sector.

“Everybody likes to go home and visit their folks at Christmas, everybody wants their sunshine vacation … and no one wants their loved ones dying at sea on a fishing vessel,” he says. “So I think everybody can relate to these real tangible, heart-wrenching consequences when safety falls to the wayside and something slips through the cracks.”

What Branden is most proud of, though, has nothing to do with his work.

Like many of us, what gives him the most joy is having the work-life balance to go home feeling accomplished at the end of the day, and spending time with his family.

Working at the Transportation Safety Board and being a union member enables him to maintain that crucial balance, while also ensuring his team has the resources they need to do their best at their jobs.

“I know that Canadians can see that the work we do has real results in improving transportation safety and saving lives. It gives everybody peace of mind, knowing that they have some really bright minds here making sure that they’re safe whenever they hop on that airplane, train or vessel.”

Philippe always wanted to be a chemist when he was a kid. Changing particles and experimenting with solutions always sparked his interest. 

Little did he know, he would become an engineer for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), which would lead to exciting space innovations. Although he doesn’t work with chemistry every day, he loves his job. 

“My main role is to look at special projects at the CSA to ensure all of the project parameters are being respected,” he says. “This allows me to assure Canadians that all the projects are responding to their needs.” 

Philippe often works on space projects launching and monitoring satellites that provide us with important navigation data. These satellites enable increasingly accurate GPS and other radar systems whether you’re hiking, biking or commuting. 

He enjoys working with his team to ensure public science is improving the quality of space technology.

Philippe is also a PIPSC steward. He helps his colleagues understand their collective agreements, and is there to support his coworkers when they are having issues at work. 

He says one of the great privileges of being a union member is having access to the technology and resources he needs to do his best. 

“At the space agency, we are privileged to have access to special programs and resources that we need,” he says. 

When it comes to work-life balance, Philippe also appreciates the security that being a union member provides. 

“Being part of an institution like PIPSC allows us to have proper representation for good working conditions,” he says. “In the last round of bargaining, the union was able to secure a wellness package that addresses workplace violence, which is security we wouldn’t have without PIPSC.” 

Working in a healthy and safe environment ensures Philippe and his team can confidently do the work that’s important to Canadians. 

He recognizes that research is important for our leadership in space technology. Specifically, the RADARSAT Constellation project at the CSA works to improve ship navigation and detection for the national defence of Canada. 

“What I’m most proud of in my career is being placed at the centre of satellite operations at the space agency,” he says. “It’s a project that’s taken many years. We have undertaken many operations and launched satellites that have collectively improved our work on RADARSAT Constellation.” 

Every day, Philippe and his team work in the public interest to ensure the progress of space innovation — leading the way to a brighter future and greater access to reliable technology for all Canadians.

After finding his calling as a nuclear engineer, Jeff became charmed by the small town of Pinawa, Manitoba and the interesting career opportunity it offered. 

Pinawa is home to Whiteshell Laboratories, a complex for nuclear research established by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) during the early 1960s. The complex is a legacy of nuclear research in Canada and is currently being decommissioned by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) Ltd.  

Ever since Jeff was young, he loved playing with lego blocks and finding solutions to difficult problems. 

Today, he’s a project engineer for CNL, and he faces every new challenge with enthusiasm. 

“One of the biggest challenges is communicating with the public, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders as to what we do and how we do it, so they have a better understanding of how we are moving forward safely and effectively,” Jeff says. 

Jeff studies and models the contaminant transport of radionuclides through groundwater and their impacts on the biosphere. This information is essential to ensuring the safety of communities and the environment when disposing of the WR-1 reactor at Whiteshell. 

Through this research, Jeff and his team have found the best way to decommission the project: disposing of the reactor where it stands.

“We have a plan before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission – an environmental assessment – to get regulatory permission to dispose of this reactor right where it is,” he says. 

Jeff is proud of the work he does to protect our environment, he’s proud of his research into solutions for the ever-growing climate crisis, and he’s proud of his union. 

“PIPSC has been instrumental in helping us obtain fair collective agreements that recognize that we are all working ourselves out of a job, and we all have to look forward to a new career opportunity in the very near future.” 

Jeff’s bargaining group executive works hard to ensure he and his colleagues not only have the professional development resources they need but also the flexibility to maintain a healthy work-life balance. 

Outside of work, Jeff loves spending time with his children, playing hockey, coaching the local Timbits soccer team, and engaging with his community. Being a PIPSC member means he can do the things he loves while working towards the goals he cares about the most. 

We need people like Jeff, who are passionate about protecting Canadian communities, to find solutions to safely dispose of nuclear waste. 

“My work here at Whiteshell is an example of how nuclear waste can be safely and effectively cleaned up and managed,” he says. “We can do it safely and we can do it cost-effectively. That’s good for the workers here, it’s good for the people who live in the area, it’s good for the environment, and it’s good for the Canadian taxpayer.” 

Before starting her day ensuring the welfare of New Brunswick livestock, Dr. Nicole Wanamaker wakes up bright and early to care for her children and tend to her dairy farm. 

Nicole is the Chief Veterinary Officer for the province of New Brunswick’s vet service. She works to protect Canadians by ensuring the health and welfare of our animals.   

“As the manager of the provincial veterinary service, I want to ensure that New Brunswick animals entering the food chain are safe for human consumption,” Nicole says. 

From cows to chickens, her team of 20 field veterinarians test and treat animals in every corner of the province. According to Nicole, having a provincially funded veterinary service is integral to rural farmers who otherwise may not be able to afford care for their animals. 

She and her team make sure help is there when farmers need it and at a rate they can afford. 

“As a provincial vet service, all of our fees are standard, be it driving five minutes from the clinic or two hours from the clinic, it’s still the same visit fee and hourly professional fee.” 

On a daily basis, mobile veterinarians who treat large livestock experience an array of challenges. 

“Some of the hazards that large-animal veterinarians face are things like getting kicked or bitten or shoved or pushed into things, as well as sharp injuries,” she says.  

Nicole does her best to ensure her team has the resources they need to succeed, but being a woman in science and having a rigorous line of work can make it hard to build a healthy work-life balance. 

PIPSC helps retain veterinarians in rigorous environments by bargaining for better salaries and more flexible work time to support members. According to Nicole, there is a shortage of Canadian veterinarians interested in working with large livestock. For this reason, it’s important that people in the field receive proper compensation, training and protection for their jobs. 

“PIPSC has stepped in to make sure we have personal protective equipment, such as steel toe boots, coveralls, and has made us more aware, as veterinarians, about some of the hazards and working conditions,” she says.  

Nicole is proud to be a PIPSC member and is proud of the great work she does bringing veterinarians from across New Brunswick together.

“What I’m most proud of in my career is the fact that, as I am now manager of the provincial vet service, I can connect veterinarians across the province and provide a service to livestock owners that is necessary and universal,” she says.  

It's PIPSC members like Nicole who protect our public health and safety every day.

After studying computer science at UQAC and UQAM, Jean-Philippe did his internships at the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC). “My internship assignments were interesting to me. But it's not meteorology that interests me as much as visualizing future scenarios,” says Jean-Philippe. The transfer of his knowledge and training in a feld with direct application for society attracted Jean-Philippe, who quickly found a job at the CMC after his internships in 1998.

With the CMC’s Environmental Emergency Response Section, Jean-Philippe helps develop sophisticated models that simulate the spread of hazardous materials on a given scale and location – in a city, a region or even across the planet. "Using supercomputers, we can access a large volume of data. This is extremely  exciting,” says Jean-Philippe. "The Canadian Meteorological Centre is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We gather data in real time from around the world – and even from space."
 

"Every day, I take the science developed by research and translate it into something useful for first responders," says the programmer analyst. Forest fires, chemical fires, toxic leaks, nuclear incidents, volcanic ash. Jean-Philippe helps scientists predict how hazardous materials can spread under various atmospheric and geographical conditions. For example, wind can play an important role in moving materials through the atmosphere and determining what areas will be affected.

And, in recent years, Jean-Philippe and his colleagues have been developing aquatic modeling capabilities, for events such as oil spills in water. "This knowledge is essential," says Jean-Philippe: “It is important for the protection of people and the environment. These various simulations provide advice to emergency response services so they can make the right decisions to deal with a variety of dangerous situations." Air currents, ocean currents, buildings and topography – Jean-Philippe must consider each of these elements in the scenarios he simulates. "We have modeled almost anything that can disperse in the air, even  butterflies!" laughs Jean-Philippe.

The ultimate goal is to acquire as much information as possible to improve the quality of forecasts and make the simulations as accurate as possible. “I am especially proud of my work because I am making a real hands-on contribution to the protection of the environment and to the safety of Canadians.

After six years of attempted wage freezes from the Ontario provincial government, Carrie Gerdes had enough. She led the charge to have the radiation department at the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton certified with PIPSC in 2012. 

“From that moment, I’ve become more involved in labour activism and being involved in the union as a whole,” she says. “I’m proud to be a labour activist. Being part of a union means we have the power of a group to address the concerns of our profession.”
 

Things have been a lot better since they joined PIPSC, but she still finds her work challenging. Like many health care workers, her department is stretched, and is relying too heavily on temporary workers for her comfort.

“We have a large number of precarious workers in our department,” Carrie explains. “I bring a spotlight to what it does to a profession when people are living pay cheque to pay cheque and are uncertain about their future.”

What that means is that younger people entering the field aren’t able to qualify for mortgages or qualify for maternity leave. This uncertainty also impacts patients.

As a radiation therapist, Carrie’s work is largely about building strong relationships with patients undergoing treatment for cancer. She says it’s the best – and the hardest — part of her job.

“We’re here to provide emotional support for them as well as provide quality, compassionate care,” Carrie explains.  “Radiation is a scary word for everyone. One of the greatest satisfactions we have is talking patients though exactly what we’re doing – from the CT scan to the daily treatment – alleviating all the fears that they have and continuing to build that relationship day after day.”

Most of the patients who come through the cancer centre are being treated for prostate and breast cancer, which often have good outcomes, but they also do pediatric care and treat brain tumours. On any given day, she’s doing CT scans, tattooing patients, educating them on their treatment plan and helping them deal with the often painful side effects of radiation.  “Consider it the worst sunburn you’ve ever had,” she says.

Carrie is especially proud of the advances her team has been able to make in radiation treatment with the newest technology, “The cyber-knife machine has made it possible to avoid whole brain treatment.”

Radiation treatment is always an emotional journey for the patients, but also for those who are providing their care.

“One of the hardest parts is developing emotional connections without taking on the emotional consequences ourselves.”

But the hardest part is also the most rewarding part for Carrie. Unlike many other health care providers who see patients occasionally, Carrie sees the same people daily – often over holidays – which makes for strong bonds.

“We get to spend day after day with the same patients and counsel them through everything in the acute phase of their treatment. We become family."

She grew up in the big city of Vancouver, but today Dr. Lina Johannson finds herself in coveralls inspecting cattle in Regina. And she loves it.

It was during her studies at the University of Saskatchewan that Lina fell in love with the province and the people and decided to stay. Around the same time, she also had her first experience at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency where she really got to like the idea of working on the ‘national herd level’, protecting all of the livestock in the country.

Her work involves working closely with livestock producers and testing their animals as they’re coming into and leaving Canada.

“Most livestock ends up in food supply at some point, so the work we do contributes to the safe food supply,” says Lina.

Her work also protects the Canadian economy, since agriculture plays such an enormous role.

“Some of the things we’re looking for include diseases like foot and mouth. Certainly if Canada got foot and mouth, the borders would be shut down and we wouldn’t be able to trade in a large number of animals and their products,” Lina says.

She loves her work, even on the hard days when she has to give bad news to the people who raise livestock, especially when it comes to imposing quarantines or livestock euthanasia. It's tough calls like those that make it so important that Lina’s work is done in the public sector and not the private sector.

“As a regulatory party, we have to be very impartial and unbiased when we make decisions,” she says. “If this work was done in the private sector then Canadians would not be guaranteed that the decision would be made properly.” There’s one thing that makes every day on the job easier, and that’s knowing her union has her back.

And as a PIPSC steward, Lina also supports her fellow members. 

“I have come to very much appreciate having a union to be part of just because of the way they support our work as members in what we do every day,” she says. “I know my rights as an employee and I’m able to exercise those rights with support.”

Although the one thing her union can’t always protect her from is that awkward moment when she has to explain what’s in the white coolers that sometimes show up at her office (hint: it’s boar semen to be inspected).

“The front desk staff, if they’re new, ask ‘What’s that?’ and we’re like – ‘I don’t think you want to know,” she says, laughing.