United We Stand

The 1954 split between the Civil Service Association of Ottawa (CSAO) and the Civil Service Federation (CSF) left the government labour movement in a fractured state. Could the pair really live apart? Apparently not! The pendulum, however, would swing back and forth many times before their actual reunion.

The following year, a Joint Unity Committee was struck to study unification of the CSF with the CSAO and the Amalgamated Civil Servants. Unfortunately, the ideological gap between the departmental based federation of the CSF and the centralized control of the others was too large to overcome.

In 1958, the Amalgamated merged with the CSAO to form the Civil Service Association of Canada (CSAC). Next year, a series of Presidents' Conferences on Unity started exploring a general merger. Things did not go well: the gulf between the principal players never lessened, the Professional Institute withdrew and the Canadian Postal Employees seceded from the CSF.

The 1963 announcement of impending collective bargaining prompted the Staff Side Conference for Collective Bargaining in the Public Service of Canada to adopt a common view in February 1964. The Presidents' Conference drew up a constitution for the impending union of the CSF and CSAC. In 1966, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) was born with a component structure that favoured the views of the CSF. Nonetheless, there are some that say the centralist ghosts of the CSAC still lurk in the halls of PSAC to this very day.

Throughout it all, Jim Wyllie and Ken Green fought for departmental rights. Did they win? Overall yes. The Union of National Defence Employees (UNDE) continues to maintain a strong component voice in the Alliance on behalf of Defence employees. There have been ups and downs between UNDE and PSAC, but 38 years of cooperative work on behalf of Canadian Public Servants is a record of which to be proud.