We invite all UNE members in the area to join us on Saturday, September 30th, for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour children who never came home and survivors of Residential schools as well as their families and communities.
Wear your orange shirt in solidarity as we remind our government that this is only part of the reconciliation process and there is still much work to do.
Event details:
1:00 PM – Parliament Hill, Ottawa
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Commemorative Event
At 1:00 PM, we will gather on Parliament Hill to participate in the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Commemorative Event. This solemn occasion offers an opportunity to acknowledge and honor the historical and ongoing impact of colonization on Indigenous communities. Together, we will stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples in the pursuit of truth, healing, and reconciliation.
Please note that the Union of National Employees office will be closed as of 4:30 p.m. (EST) on Friday, September 29, 2023 and will re-open on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, in acknowledgement of the statutory holiday commemorating the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation.
In case of emergency, please leave a message at (613) 315-3026
In Solidarity,
John Gordon Trusteeship Administrator Union of National Employees-PSAC
In May, PSAC introduced a system allowing members to report any discrepancies in their strike pay. Any outstanding issues are being investigated and resolved, and all PSAC members who took part in the strike action have now received their strike pay.
In August, PSAC also introduced a system to compensate members who incurred loss of salary on May 1st or May 4th as a result of delays in returning to work following the conclusion of the strike.
As the sixth month since the end of the strike approaches, PSAC has set October 31, 2023 as the deadline for both strike pay error reports and the May 1st / May 4th compensation requests to be received by PSAC.
Members who have not yet reported errors in their strike pay or who incurred a financial loss upon returning to work are requested to make a report prior to the deadline.
Please contact us at info@une-sen.org for further information regarding any strike pay top-ups, where applicable.
Develop your leadership skills to build union power! Apply for the Union Leadership Development Program.
Deadline for applications: Friday, October 6, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Applications will not be accepted after the deadline.
Are you an elected union leader or an informal leader who has the trust and respect of fellow union members?
Are you committed to fighting for workers’ rights, human rights and social justice?
Do you want to develop a sustainable, collaborative leadership practice?
Do you want to know how to lead from an anti-oppressive perspective?
Do you want to learn skills that will help transform PSAC into a stronger, more effective, inclusive, better-organized, membership-based union?
Can you to commit to a year-long, intensive education program and to applying what you learn to your union leadership in the years to come?
The PSAC’s Union Leadership Development Program (ULDP) is an advanced, year-long leadership course for members who are ready to expand their leadership roles within the union.
For more than 35 years, the ULDP has been recognized as among the best comprehensive union leadership training programs in Canada. Many current national and regional PSAC leaders are graduates of the ULDP and can attest to the learning opportunities the program provides.
This program provides training for both formal union leaders in elected positions as well as informal union leaders who are respected in the workplace. Ideal candidates for the ULDP are leaders who demonstrate that they are in a position to work with others in our union and make meaningful change, and those who have the respect and trust of members.
The ULDP provides leaders at PSAC with training, tools and shared space to develop their individual and collective capacity to transform PSAC into a stronger, more effective, inclusive, better-organized, membership-based union.
The ULDP is delivered once every three years in each of the 7 PSAC Regions. Francophones from the NCR and Atlantic Regions will join the Quebec Region while Anglophones from the Quebec Region will join the NCR Region. The program has six mandatory steps which include three face-to-face gatherings and three remote steps.
Here are the dates and locations of each step of ULDP in each region.
Step 2 – in person – April 10 to April14, 2024 – Québec
Step 3 – remote – April 15 to June 4, 2024
Step 4 – in person – June 5 to June 9 2024 – Orford
Step 5 – remote – June 10 to December 3 – 2024
Step 6 – in person – December 4 to December 8 2024 –Brossard
Course prerequisites
Talking Union Basics (TUB)
or Introduction to PSAC for Indigenous Members
or equivalent experience through activism within PSAC and/or their community
PSAC is committed to ensuring that participants in the ULDP represent the diversity of our union membership. We encourage applications from members who are Indigenous, racially visible members, members with disabilities, women, 2SLGBTQIA+ members and members under the age of 36.
For the first time in its history, the Union of National Employees (UNE) – representing nearly 24,000 workers in workplaces across the country – has elected two Black women to its national leadership team.
Alisha Campbell, a Parks Canada member, was elected National President, and Hayley Millington, from Employment and Social Development Canada’s Learning Branch, was elected National Executive Vice-President at UNE’s National Triennial Convention, held August 21-25 in Toronto.
“This is the dawn of a new era for UNE members and the Labour movement at large,” said Campbell. “The future is bright, and our members led the charge. I am a Black and Cherokee francophone woman, and a proud member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. I am pansexual and a person with disabilities, and I’m here to represent all members.”
Campbell and Millington bring a lot of activist experience to their roles on the UNE’s National Executive. Millington was the National Equity Representative for Women, National Equity Representative for racialized persons, Assistant Human Rights Vice-President and held numerous terms in her Local as a Local Human Rights representative.
“What we have achieved here today is truly historic,” said Millington. “Members voted for this, and together, workers made history.”
“I am a black, single mother of a son, Malachi, and I know all too well that sense of being excluded, of not being able to have a voice in spaces where decisions are made. We are ready to place the needs of all our members at the centre of our decision-making.”
Campbell and Millington will connect with as many members as possible to build a strong base. As agents of change, we foresee new ways forward through a review of our structure as voted in by members. We have a clear mandate to invest in our young workers and all members, and this aligns with UNE’s core belief of unity in diversity.
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Media inquiries:
UNE media relations team 613-298-7892
The Union of National Employees is a component union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, representing members working in 70 different workplaces in the public, private and non-profit sectors, in all corners of our great country and around the world.
We are teachers and mechanics, librarians and foreign service officers, plumbers and researchers, clerical workers and program administrators, passport officers and investigators —and more.
After the first Credentials Committee report, delegates got right back to business with the Finance Committee. The following resolutions were presented, debated and voted on:
FIN 1 – Removal of UNE Local Financial Review or Audit for calendar year end
FIN 2 – Modification to Policy FIN 1
Delegates listened to a fantastic panel monitored by the 2023 Convention Chair Sharon De Sousa on health and safety in the workplace with panelists Uppala Chandresekara, Director of Public Health at Toronto Public Health, Fatima Gardaad, National Coordinator on Anti-Racism and Human Rights at the Canadian Labour Congress, and Andrea Peart, National Health and Safety Officer with the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
It was back to Convention proceedings for the first part of the afternoon with the Bylaws & Constitution Resolutions Committee and the General Resolutions Committee. Four resolutions were debated and voted on:
CS 10 – Relocation of Full Time National President and Vice-President
CS 4 – Increase Number of Allotted Delegates to UNE Triennial Conventions
Amended CS 7 – Structural Review of UNE
GEN 17 – Search the Landfill
GEN 17 was an emergency resolution about launching national Search the Landfill campaign by the UNE Human Rights Committee. As stated in the resolution’s rationale, “[i]ndigenous women and girls are not disposable and deserve dignity, and the families deserve closure.” The resolution passed unanimously.
The all-candidates debate took place in the second part of the afternoon to allow delegates to discover the respective candidates’ platforms for tomorrow’s national elections.
On day two of Convention, the delegates debated Resolution GEN 12. The committee recommended that members be compensated $75 per day on weekends or outside working hours when attending a PSAC or CLC sanctioned educational event.
What stood out during the discussion however, was that members didn’t realize they already had access to compensation of $50 per day, as per a resolution of record from 2021. The convention floor passed GEN 12 so now that amount has been increased to $75.
It’s important for activists to know about the opportunities they have available to them as members of UNE.
To claim the $75, simply fill out a UNE expense form and provide proof of participation. You can then submit your claim to Christine.Sanders@une-sen.org.
The Credentials Committee reported first thing in the morning that we have 180 delegates at this year’s Triennial Convention. After some administrative announcements, it was right back to business with the Finance Committee and a lively debate on the budget. Delegates got behind all the work done and passed the budget with a strong showing of support.
Next, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee presented its report. Three resolutions were debated and voted on:
CS 2 – The National Vice-President for Human Rights
CS 1 – Statement of Duties – National Vice-President for Occupational Health and Safety
CS 3 – Abolishment of Term Limits in 2026
Resolutions CS 2 and CS 1 passed, while CS 3 was defeated.
Following lunch, Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President, gave the Convention a passionate speech that energized the delegates and left them singing in the hall.
The General Resolutions Committee were next up and dealt with three resolutions in the afternoon:
Composite GEN 7A – PSAC – Strike Pay
GEN 3 – UNE National Youth Conference – Each Cycle
GEN 12 – PSAC and any Canadian Labour Congress Sanctioned Education Event
All three resolutions were passed by the Convention Floor.
We hope all the delegates had a great time in the evening at the Royal Ontario Museum!
With Convention just a few days away, we hope you have your travel booked, your suitcase dug out of the attic and your devices charged and ready to go. Hopefully you have time to cut the lawn one more time too.
In preparation for next week, we highly recommend you go through the documents so you are ready to go from the outset.
Convention Information
This section includes important information on subjects such as the Convention agenda, UNE’s Attendance Policy, Environmental Sensitivities Policy, Statement on Harassment and some nice light reading on the Acronyms used by our Union. We also have a policy about bringing in outside food. Some members life threatening allergic reactions to scents and some foods, so please read this section carefully.
Convention Procedures
Documents that outline the rules and procedures for Convention, such as the PSAC Rules of Order, Tiling Guidelines and the PSAC Constitution are also available on the website. We encourage you to read them in advance. Be sure to join us on Sunday for Delegate training for a “Convention 101” presentation where you will have the opportunity to find answers to your questions.
Reports and Accompanying Documents
During Convention business, delegates will be presented with resolutions from the reports of the three Convention Committees. The reports are available on the website for you to look at in advance.
We can’t wait to see you in Toronto! If you have any last minute questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at events@une-sen.org.
