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News - May 2009 Previous Month Following Month
The headlines for current month's news items are listed immediately below. Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article. Commons Subcommittee hears from Kingston on food safety issue Local 4 comes through - again - with Easter beef donation Canadians place food safety trust in government - Nanos poll Kingston set to testify before House of Commons Food Safety Subcommittee Full and productive Consultation meeting held with CSPS Commons Subcommittee hears from Kingston on food safety issue (Posted May 25, 2009)
Local 4 comes through – again – with Easter beef donation (Posted May 21, 2009) For the third consecutive year, Local 4 has set the scene – and the table – for a happier Easter for many of Prince Edward Island’s less fortunate families. As in past years, Local President Gary Paynter and other executive members went to the Easter Beef Show and Sale in Charlottetown looking for the best beef on the hoof. They successfully bid for a shorthorn steer that was reserve champion, close to best of show. The Local arranged for the beef to be dressed, packaged and delivered to the Charlottetown and Summerside Food Banks just in time for Easter dinners.
The photos above, from top to bottom, show: manager Mike MacDonald; Local member Gary Keough and farmer’s son Cory Ford. Funds for purchase of the beef were donated by Local 4, the Agriculture Union National Office and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Canadians place food safety trust in government - Nanos poll (Posted May 20, 2009) The vast majority of Canadians want government to step in and play a much more active role to ensure food safety because they don’t trust industry to do the job, according to a new Nanos survey commissioned by the Agriculture Union. The results of the national poll, released on May 20, were based on telephone interviews with 1,001 Canadians, 18 years-of-age and over, from April 25th to May 3rd. The margin of accuracy is plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Its key findings reveal that:
Click HERE to read the entire poll results and accompanying news release.
Kingston set to testify before House of Commons Food Safety Subcommittee (Posted May 13, 2009) National President Bob Kingston will be airing the Agriculture Union’s concerns over the effectiveness of Canada’s food inspection system before a high-profile inquiry into the safety of Canada’s food supply. Kingston has been asked to appear before the Food Safety Sub-committee of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. He is scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee at 4 p.m. on May 25. The Subcommittee, comprised of seven Members of Parliament representing all political parties, was recently established to review Canada's food safety system after persistent questions over last year’s listeriosis outbreak remain unanswered. The Harper government’s determination to undercut the role of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency by allowing the food industry more room to police itself is just one of the hot topics Kingston will be addressing. Our union has persistently and publicly condemned the chronic understaffing and the resulting misdirection of the CFIA’s inspection regime. Kingston’s testimony before the Commons Subcommittee follows close on the heels of a presentation he will make on May 14 to Sheila Weatherill, appointed by Harper last January to investigate “the August 2008 listeriosis outbreak related to certain processed meat products from Maple Leaf Foods”. Interestingly, the Commons Subcommittee was struck because members of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food were concerned that Weatherill’s investigative scope was too narrow and that she lacked the adequate powers to conduct an effective inquiry.
Full and productive Consultation meeting held with CSPS (Posted May 8, 2009) There was a full agenda on the table this week as the Agriculture Union sat down with Canada School of Public Service management at one of our regular National Labour Management Consultation Committee meetings. The NLMCC, held May 5, allowed for a cordial and constructive dialogue on a number of issues of concern to out CSPS members. The agenda items included: • an I-LMS update; More information will be made available when the meeting minutes are posted on our Web site after being received from the employer.
Procedure to safeguard union membership during extended leave without pay enshrined in the PSAC Constitution (Posted May 7, 2009) Necessary steps to safeguard your union membership when on an extended leave without pay are now clearly set out in the Constitution of our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Agriculture Union members can find themselves in situations that require an extended absence from the workplace. Examples of this include disability leave, maternity leave, parental leave, adoption leave or leave for care of family members. While the payment of dues is waived in such situations, allowing your union membership to lapse means losing all the rights and benefits that accompany that membership. The explicit wording now part of the PSAC Constitution requires a member in this situation to advise the PSAC National President in writing of both his or her desire to remain a member in good standing and the expected return-to-work date. As part of these changes adopted at last week’s PSAC National Convention, the union membership protection period has been extended from 24 to 30 months. While it will take time for the changes to be made to the printed and on-line versions of the newly-amended PSAC Constitution, members may wish to click HERE to bookmark the applicable Web page for future reference.
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