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Current Month's News
Headlines of the current month's news items are listed immediately below. Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article. Last month's news can be viewed HERE. News articles are then saved by year and month under 'Archived News', which can be found HERE. You can also make use of our 'Site Search' search engine, located at the top of the blue column to the left, to assist in finding information. Support from our Human Rights Committee helps send First Nations students to United Nations on anniversary of key ruling Government given ample opportunity to act before Agriculture Union went public with inside information on inspection staffing shortfall Failure to meet staffing commitment pushing CFIA inspectors and Canada’s food safety system to the breaking point Our February ‘Rand’ sign-up contest winner… New chart outlines how delegates are selected to PSAC Equity conferences Act now, to protect your pension…and your retirement! Support from our Human Rights Committee helps send First Nations students to United Nations on anniversary of key ruling (Posted March 19, 2010) Thanks in part to financial support from the Agriculture Union Human Rights Committee, three First Nations students will be in New York later this month to witness deliberations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The three young people – Leticia Gladue, Daphne Ominayak and Dawn Seeseequon – are Lubicon Cree from Little Buffalo in northern Alberta. Winners of a human rights essay contest sponsored by Amnesty International, they are part of a larger Canadian human rights delegation that will be at the UN from March 22-26. Their trip coincides with the 20th anniversary of a landmark ruling on the rights of their people. In March 1990, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that Canada had failed to recognize and protect the rights of the Lubicon Cree in the face of intensive oil and gas development that devastated their fragile economy and way of life. Our Human Rights Committee decided to assist the three young Lubicon Cree after a presentation was made to the Agriculture Union Alberta Regional Seminar. The broader delegation is also sponsored Amnesty International, the Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers), KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives and the Alberta Federation of Labour.
Government given ample opportunity to act before Agriculture Union went public with inside information on inspection staffing shortfall (Posted March 18, 2010) It’s not like they didn’t have a chance to act! The Agriculture Union has repeatedly warned the federal government that by chronic understaffing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was posing an increasing danger to consumers. The letter reproduced below, sent to Finance Minister James Flaherty in mid-February, is a case in point. After a month of continued inaction, it was left to our union to show some responsibility to protect the public interest.
17 February 2010 The Honourable James Flaherty Re: US Department of Agriculture demands better Canadian meat inspection Dear Minister Flaherty, Sheila Weatherill, the Prime Minister’s investigator of the Maple Leaf listeriosis outbreak in the summer of 2008, raised serious questions about the adequacy of food inspection resources. Surprisingly, she was never able to determine the number of food inspectors who work at the CFIA. But, because of concerns about inadequate inspection resources at CFIA, she did recommend a “resource audit” to determine the current number of food inspectors and how many are actually needed to ensure food processors are complying with safety requirements. Sadly, more than six months after Ms. Weatherill’s recommendations, the audit she called for has not been done. Meanwhile, further cracks resulting from the inspection deficit have emerged. As you may know, the US Department of Agriculture has recently demanded that Canada step up its inspection rate of meat slaughter plants in order to meet US food safety requirements. As a result, the CFIA is diverting scarce resources to augment inspection of slaughtered meat products destined for export to the US. According to a memo to CFIA staff, “...the CFIA will be providing additional inspection coverage (at slaughter plants licenced to export to the US) starting in early November, initially on each 12 hour processing shift in certain establishments processing meat products. This will allow us to better meet the USDA’s technical requirements for products exported to the US.” The memo goes on to say that “the Agency will need to hire additional inspection staff”, but notes that “the CFIA continues to explore funding options as we refine how we deliver these food safety enhancements.” The Agriculture Union, representing food inspectors, regards this as the latest example of chronic and critical under resourcing of food safety and inspection in Canada. In addition to concerns about safety, the consequences of this issue extend to US market access for Canadian meat producers. Canada imports food from all around the world. In addition, hundreds of food factories and thousands of farms in Canada produce everything from cold cuts to salad, and dairy products to fish. With the inspection resources currently available these demands are far too overwhelming to ensure food is produced in compliance with safety requirements. It is imperative that your upcoming budget address the food inspection deficit. To protect Canadians from unsafe food, your upcoming budget should include provisions to: • Double the number of Canadian Food Inspection Agency food inspectors. control when it comes to food safety. public audit reports which were canceled under pressure from the meat industry and opening the food regulatory process to public scrutiny. I welcome your response and an opportunity to brief you on the food inspection deficit. Yours sincerely, Bob Kingston Copy: Honourable Gerry Ritz
Failure to meet staffing commitment pushing CFIA inspectors and Canada’s food safety system to the breaking point (Posted March 17, 2010) New food safety issues, pressure from south of the border and delayed staffing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are threatening to push this country’s already over-stretched food safety regime to the breaking point.
And, on a human level, the resultant stress is starting to take its toll on Agriculture Union members on the front-line of an increasingly troubled system.
A media feeding-frenzy erupted this week after the our union released internal CFIA correspondence around last October’s demand by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for stepped-up inspections at the approximately 80 Canadian facilities that export into the United States. While this was ‘old news’ to those of us who work inside CFIA, it was a revelation to both media and the general public.
After an audit conducted last year by the USDA, the Americans insisted that on-site product inspections be carried out every 12 hours that an exporting plant was in operation, up from the previous every 24 hours. For plants producing uniquely for the domestic market, inspection is only required once per week.
To immediately meet this huge new staffing requirement, CFIA put out a call for volunteer overtime. The Agriculture Union accepted this as a short-term measure while the employer made good on its promise to expedite the hiring of 50 new inspectors.
However, to date, newly-hired and -trained inspectors have barely managed to keep up with the rate of staff attrition. Ironically, as the demand for more overtime continues, the attrition rate is likely to increase as inspectors face burn-out. We are also aware that our over-stretched members are increasingly taking their workplace stress home, worrying that they might have missed catching a product problem.
It was this dangerous situation that led the Agriculture Union to issue a news release on this latest example of CFIA’s chronic understaffing. The news release may be read HERE.
As well, of course, we are still waiting for signs that CFIA and the government are taking seriously the urgent warnings and recommendations contained in last year's 'Weatherill report' into the causes of August 2008 listeriosis outbreak originating at Maple Leaf Foods.
Action on CFIA’s chronic staffing shortfall can no longer be delayed. Like the proverbial rubber band, Canada’s food safety system and the dedicated men and women who make it function effectively can only be stretched so far.
Our February ‘Rand’ sign-up contest winner… (Posted March 10, 2010) Congratulations to Hélène Mayer! Helene is the latest monthly winner in our 2010 contest to sign up ‘Rands’, dues-paying co-workers who, for one reason or another, have yet to sign a union card. Hélène is a newly-signed-up member of Local 75, which represents our Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada members in National Capital Region. Welcome to your union, Hélène!
New chart outlines how delegates are selected to PSAC Equity conferences (Posted March 2, 2010) Have you ever considered applying to be a delegate to one of the PSAC Equity conferences?
Act now, to protect your pension…and your retirement! (Posted March 1, 2010) If you’re working, you’re paying for it with nearly 10 per cent of your wages. If you’re about to retire, you’re depending on it for a secure living into your old age. But that could change for the worse if we all don’t act now! Thanks to the economic meltdown that began in 2008, the Harper government is staring into the fiscal abyss of a record deficit. And, with a budget to be handed down on March 4, many of the Conservatives’ ideological supporters on the right are looking to federal public service pensions to help fill the hole. The Ottawa rumour mill is working overtime these days. And many pundits are suggesting that Agriculture Union members may see contribution rates rise. Or benefits clawed back. Or both. Our pensions don't come cheap; they cost us dearly. This year, federal public service workers will contribute 10.45 per cent of every dollar they make under $47,200 and 8.4 per cent of every dollar above $47,200 towards their pension, which is a combination of CPP and the federal public service pension plan. That's why we say that our pensions are in fact deferred wages. And that’s why Agriculture Union strongly supports the recently-launched campaign by our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, to protect the integrity of the current pension plan. The PSAC campaign includes leaflets, rallies regional tours and an on-line petition. We urge every one of our members to sign this petition by clicking on the following logo (which is also prominently displayed on the main page of our Web site).
The PSAC has also produced a highly informative information sheet that debunks many of the persistent myths about federal public service pensions. It is available for viewing and downloading HERE.
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