For the Profile 1 assignment, you are tasked with providing an overview of one of the trade unions that operates in the federal public service. I wanted to provide some further guidance as you work on this assignment, due October 1, 2021 by end of day. Here are the steps you should follow as you complete this assignment: 1. Choose a trade union that operates in the federal public service: 1)The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPS), 2) The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), or 3)The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE). Under the following headings, and within the page limits in the assignment description in the syllabys, summarize the following: - Provide a brief history of the union - Provide an overview of the structure of the union: - Describe how the union is governed. For this you will need to look under their Regulations on their website. How are they made up. What does their organizational chart look like? How are the roles and responsibilities divided? - Describe what sectors of the public service are organized by this union. Who is their membership composed of? - Describe the current (in the last four years) challenges that this union faces. One of these will clearly be the challenges around COVID, but please explore other issue the union has faced (the Phoenix pay scandal, job security, collective bargaining, pension protection, and many others.....the topics really abound). For this assignment, you will need to consult two primary sources from the union. These could be webpage posts, publications or pamphlets the union puts out, transcriptions of speeches from union leaders, etc. You will also need to consult two academic, peer-reviewed sources (books or journal articles) for this assignment. This will likely come into play in the challenges section. I want to hear what academics or experts in the field are writing about challenges faced by the public sector unions. Please note that failure to use the minimum number of sources can result in a failing grade for the assignment. All the basic rules of academic writing apply. Please provide an introduction and conclusion. The use of headings in your writing is encouraged. All rules of academic honest apply. When in doubt, always cite!
 

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)

Union representation is very important in any professional setting. According to Lemieux et al. (2020), close to 30% of all workers in Canada belong to a particular union. Some of the professionals that have unions include nurses, doctors, teachers, and journalists. Unions in Canada are under the regulation of federal and provincial legislation and have their own constitutions and laws to be followed by union members. Unions are developed based on the understanding that they are useful in helping the specific professionals being represented address their issues in the best way possible (McDonald, 2018). For example, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is a union under the federal legislation of Canada. PSAC is important because it represents laborers in Canada in every territory and province affiliated with the Canadian government. It is one of the largest unions in Canada, representing thousands of workers in different professions across Canada who work in the public sector. The Union also has an abroad representation with professionals who are ambassadors and consulates of other countries in Canada.

A Brief History of the Public Service Alliance of Canada

The Railway Mail Clerks' Association of Canada held its inaugural conference in 1889, which gave birth to the organization. Subsequently, the Railway Mail Clerks' Association became a member of the Canadian Civil Service Federation. The Public Service Alliance of Canada was formed in 1966 when the Civil Service Federation of Canada and the Civil Service Association of Canada combined. The formation of the new amalgamated Union occurred after collective bargaining legislation was enacted in Canadian law. This meant that the Union could now negotiate agreements with the government over the interests and desires of the workers they represented.

 The PSAC was the first Union to be part of the efforts to counteract the threats to collective bargaining rights (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2021). As a result, the Union saw a breakthrough in laws relating to maternity leave, health, and safety in workplaces in 1978, despite the challenges such unions were experiencing in Canada. The national strike of 1991 organized by the PSAC was the most instrumental in shaping the improved states of job security in Canada as they are known today. It also informed the reserved right to engage in political activity for PSAC members that were previously revoked. Since its establishment, the Union continues to change and adopt new ways of fighting for workers' rights and changing the status quo regarding laborer representation in Canada.

The structure of the Union

The foundation of the Union is the local members. They are the ones that inform the help they need, which dictates the roles of the Union. The local level is where discussions on the workplace concerns of employees, elution of leaders and representatives, and contract development and settlements take place. Thus, the members are divided into two local levels: the locals and the directly chartered locals.

The locals are categorized into components. Components are groupings of people who work for the same government department, agency, or territorial administration. Locals who are not part of any component due to jurisdiction become part of the directly chartered locals. The locals also become part of PSAC regional councils, which becomes part of various committees, including women's rights' and human rights committees. Regional councils can also form area councils, which are organized across regional lines. Some of the regions include Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic, National Capital Region, the North, Prairies, and British Columbia.

The components and the regional councils combine at conventions: triennial component conventions, PSAC Triennial Convention, and Triennial Regional Conventions. The conventions are the foundation of PSAC governance. The PSAC is linked to the Canadian labor movement due to its affiliation with the Canadian Labor Congress. Additionally, the Union is linked to the provincial, territorial federations by their local affiliations through regional conventions. Representatives from the conventions form one major Alliance Executive Committee that forms the National Board of Directors of the PSAC. PSAC is part of the Public Services International, and through this capacity, the Union serves as a linkage for its members to other unions like it across the world.

The Governance of the PSAC

The National Triennial Convention is the PSAC's highest governing body. Delegates to the national triennial convention are chosen by area councils and Directly Chartered Locals in individual component conventions (PSAC, 2021). To elect delegates to the national triennial convention, these electing groups must have a minimum of one hundred members. Members vote at the convention to adopt new policies that have a direct impact on how union funds are spent. They also decide on which union activities should be prioritized until the next convention. Furthermore, at the National Triennial Convention, the president and vice president of the Union at the national level, and the alternate national vice president are all elected.

The regional conventions are held by each of the seven regions of the PSAC. These regional conventions elect their regional vice president and alternate vice president. They may also develop resolutions for ideas that are discussed and referred to the National Triennial Convention for consideration. The National Board of Directors also steers the governance of the Union. They are the stewards of the union PSAC when the conventions are not being held. The board of directors is made up of the Alliance Executive Committee and the components presidents. There are three national board of directors' meetings annually, where major programs and policies decisions for the Union are made.

The PSAC's governance structures include the Alliance Executive Committee. The president of the National Union, the National Executive Vice President, and the Regional Executive Vice Presidents from each of the seven regions make up this group. They are in charge of the Union's financial standing, campaign oversight, member mobilization, advocacy, and advancing the Union's position in fighting for members' workplace rights on a daily basis. The committee convenes on a monthly basis or as needed.

Employment Sectors Represented by the PSAC

The PSAC does not limit its membership to civil workers in Canada only. The Union represents over 215,000 workers within every Canadian territory and province and other locations worldwide. The membership of the Union comprises workers in government agencies and departments, universities, airports, Crown Corporations, Security, and Aboriginal Communities, among others (PSAC, 2021). The Union has a total of twenty-three offices across Canada.

Current Challenges Facing the PSAC

The major challenge facing PSAC, just like for other unions, is the shift in the workplace dynamic. With the occurrence of the Covid-19 pandemic, remote working became a norm for most public offices. According to Lemieux et al. (2020), it is unlikely that the workplace will return to how it was before the occurrence of widened remote working. This means that labor unions are now dealing with new dynamics of representing their members and speaking on workplace environments. In addition, changes have occurred in the attitudes, structural and technological approaches to work, and employment. More people that were previously in civil service are opting to quit and start personal businesses, which means that PSAC has faced numerous membership withdrawals in the past two years. All of these changes relating to the modern workplace have introduced new challenges for the management, governance, and priorities of the PSAC.

There is a challenge in the changing demographic of the members of labor unions, including the PSAC (Riccucci, 2021). For instance, most of the PSAC union members are baby boomers, who have started retiring in the past three years. Millennials are coming into the Union with new ideas, expectations, and radical change needs (Kumar & Schenk, 2019). This has necessitated a change in the trajectory of the activities of the labor union. As a result, PSAC has had to change the packages they offer different members, and new areas of rights representation have come up. For example, it is now necessary to include the rights of their LGBTQ members in the union activities, which was previously not a major concern for the Union. Additionally, such worker rights as compensation paid paternity leave, and remote working compensations are new things that PSAC has to focus on from now on.

Conclusion

Overall, there has been a sharp decline in the number of workers who are part of unions in Canada. This has impacted the activities, governance, and strategic planning of the PSAC. In addition, the Union has to tailor its activities to the new needs of younger members and adjust to the technological and structural changes occurring in the civil service and other workplaces. In conclusion, the Public Service Alliance of Canada has been a significant player in unionization in Canada and is therefore tasked with an even significant role going forward in shaping the dynamics of unions in Canada's Public service in the future.

1. Paper trade unions that operates in the federal public service specifically the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
2. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is a union under the federal legislation of Canada. PSAC is important because it represents laborers in Canada in every territory and province affiliated with the Canadian government.
3. Provides a brief history of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
4. Provides an overview of the structure of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
5. Describe how the union is governed by examining its regulations how are they made up and what the organizational chart look like.
6. Explains how roles and responsibilities are divided.
7. Describes what sectors of the public service are organized by the union and who their membership is composed of.
8. Describes the current (in the last four years) challenges that the union faces