OTTAWA — The sidelined president of one of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)’s component unions is suing PSAC, claiming the umbrella union took away her powers just days before she was set to expose “significant financial irregularities” and other problems throughout the union.
According to court documents made public on Wednesday, Alisha Kang, who was president of the Union of National Employees (UNE) until being effectively stripped of her role less than two months ago, had conducted a review of her union’s financial operations and policies. In late October, Kang was to present with financial auditors the audited financial statements for 2023 to the union’s board.
The presentation, according to documents filed in Ontario Superior Court, would have blown the whistle on “irregularities (that) affected all of PSAC’s activities and its components and, if revealed to the entire membership, could have had a devastating effect” on the careers of PSAC President Sharon DeSousa and other PSAC leaders.
Documents filed in court by Kang state that the financial irregularities included a scheme involving the Alliance Employees’ Union (AEU), which represented UNE staff, and the former national executive of UNE.
The documents allege that the AEU filed “spurious or artificially substantiated” classification grievances on behalf of union staff, which were then settled informally by granting “general damages for human rights.” The scheme, the documents state, allowed union staff to land extra pay without membership approval, while avoiding taxes and some deductions.
According to the court documents, Kang wrote a letter in March of this year to AEU president Louis Bisson where she expressed “deep discomfort” with the scheme. About two months later, the documents state, UNE self-reported to the Canada Revenue Agency and made a restitution payment of $69,000.
Employees were disciplined, the documents state, and Ottawa police were contacted.
But on October 24, just four days before Kang was to present her concerns and the audited financial statements, her component union was placed under trusteeship by PSAC’s board. That removed Kang and other top UNE executives from their roles and their right to take part in PSAC board meetings.
DeSousa, who was elected PSAC president in 2024 in a race where Kang finished second, could not be reached for comment late Wednesday through a spokesperson. Kang, who had vowed to run again for PSAC president, could also not be reached.
In an Oct. 24 press release, PSAC said it made the move to put UNE into trusteeship because it had “heard from many members who have raised concerns about the level of representation and support” from UNE. PSAC, Canada’s largest public service union, also said that there were concerns about UNE’s financial practices and accountability, high rates of staff turnover, and complaints about Kang and other members of the executive.
The release said the trustee would assume the elected officers’ roles and work to “restore the component’s capacity” and report to PSAC’s president and board.
According to the documents filed in court, PSAC had for several months conducted a campaign to oust Kang from her role. Kang had been elected in 2023 to a three-year term to lead UNE and soon thereafter became interested in its finances.
The documents state that the move to put the smaller union under trusteeship did not follow PSAC’s own rules and was never fully explained to Kang or other UNE executives. Kang also states that her executive team was never informed about any complaints about their work and was never given a chance to respond to the PSAC charges.
The court documents state that Kang is asking for her role at UNE to be fully restored as well as court costs and any other “relief” or compensation that the court deems fair.
In the documents, Kang states that DeSousa “exerts a hold on everyone” at PSAC and tries to eliminate her political opponents and those of her allies.
Kang is not the only component union executive to feel PSAC’s wrath. In 2024, court documents state, a DeSousa ally presented a motion at the PSAC board to impose disciplinary measures against the president and executive vice-president of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU). Both were suspended from membership, prevented from holding office for one and two years respectively, documents state, before a DeSousa ally was appointed.
UNE represents 27,000 members who work for 76 different employers. According to PSAC’s website, UNE is one of 15 components within PSAC and represents foreign service employees, passport officers and other workers across the country and in embassies around the world.
Ottawa-based PSAC represents nearly 240,000 workers across Canada and in other countries who work for the federal government, universities, casinos, community services agencies, Aboriginal communities, airports, and the security sector among others. Its board is comprised of 24 PSAC executives and presidents of its component unions.
National Post
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