Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit VICTORY FOR GAY WORKERS IN CANADA By Kristianna Tho'Mas The lesbian and gay community in Canada has won a victory in the struggle for civil rights. The Toronto Globe and Mail reported Oct. 2 that a government arbitrator ruled that David Lorenzen, an administrator with Environment Canada in Vancouver, is entitled to the same family leave as his heterosexual co-workers. The ruling is expected to have an extensive impact on the federal public service. In a 1992 ruling of the Ontario Court of Appeal, known as the Haig and Birch decision, the court had assumed the power to add sexual orientation to the prohibited grounds for discrimination listed in the Canadian Human Rights Code. In the Lorenzen case, the arbitrator for the Public Service Staff Relations Board, Marguerite-Marie Galipeau, held that Environment Canada was in violation of Canada's Human Rights Act because it refused to grant Lorenzen family care and bereavement leave. It also violated the workers' collective bargaining agreement, she said. The agreement covers more than 220,000 workers on the government payroll. It recognizes the right of lesbian and gay workers to certain family leaves. Daryl Bean, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Lorenzen's union, says he believes the new ruling will advance the struggle for broader work-related rights, such as health coverage and dental benefits, for lesbian and gay couples. The union had held back launching about 15 grievances related to same-sex benefits pending the outcome of the Lorenzen arbitration. -30- (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 West 17 St., New York, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@blythe.org.) + NEW NUMBERS! NY Transfer News Collective SAME ADDRESS + + Guests: Members Only: Internet: + + 212-675-9690 212-675-9663 nyt@blythe.org +