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Regional Seminar – Manitoba & Saskatchewan

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Your regional seminar is fast approaching and it’s the best place to learn about our union and the many things we do.

This event is jam-packed with lectures and workshops to help you gain the knowledge and confidence you’ll need to help our members. It’s also a great place to meet active members just like you and forge long-lasting friendships.

For a sneak-peek at what else we have in store for you, check out the agenda.

Participants should arrive between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 30, 2016 to register. You should select representatives from your Local to attend the seminar. The Union of National Employees will fund two delegates per Local as well as one youth:

  1. One delegate should be the local president or designate.
  2. The second delegate should be a member who has not previously attended a UNE conference or seminar.
  3. One delegate from each local should be a youth delegate. (A youth delegate is defined as a member who will be 35 years or younger on December 31, 2017.)

During the seminar, youth delegates will elect two of their peers to represent them as delegates to our 2017 convention.

You must register by Friday, August 19, 2016. Unfortunately, we cannot consider late registrations.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE

Should you have any questions, please contact Suzanne Boucher at: events@une-sen.org.

In solidarity,

Your regional teams:

Manitoba

Chris Little-Gagné, Regional Vice-President, Manitoba
Martin Kaminski, Assistant Regional Vice-President, Manitoba
Melody Raabe, Assistant Regional Vice-President, Manitoba
Jacqueline Nanali, Regional Representative for Human Rights, Manitoba

Saskatchewan

Omar Murray, Regional Vice-President, Saskatchewan
Gloria Pfeifer, Assistant Regional Vice-President, Saskatchewan
Janette Husak, Assistant Regional Vice-President, Saskatchewan
Sandra Ahenakew, Regional Representative for Human Rights, Saskatchewan

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Quebec Regional Seminar

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Your regional seminar is fast approaching and it’s the best place to learn about our union and the many things we do.

This event is jam-packed with lectures and workshops to help you gain the knowledge and confidence you’ll need to help our members. It’s also a great place to meet active members just like you and forge long-lasting friendships.

For a sneak-peek at what else we have in store for you, check out the agenda.

Participants should arrive between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 16, 2016 to register. You should select representatives from your Local to attend the seminar. The Union of National Employees will fund two delegates per Local as well as one youth:

  1. One delegate should be the local president or designate.
  2. The second delegate should be a member who has not previously attended a UNE conference or seminar.
  3. One delegate from each local should be a youth delegate. (A youth delegate is defined as a member who will be 35 years or younger on December 31, 2017.)

During the seminar, youth delegates will elect two of their peers to represent them as delegates to our 2017 convention.

You must register by Friday, August 12, 2016. Unfortunately, we cannot consider late registrations.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE

Should you have any questions, please contact Suzanne Boucher at: suzanne.boucher@une-sen.org.

In solidarity,

Your regional team:

Yvon Beaudoin, Regional Vice-President, Québec
Yann Boudreau, Assistant Regional Vice-President, Québec
Géraldine Fortin, Assistant Regional Vice-President, Québec
Keith Lemoine, Regional Representative for Human Rights, Québec

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Parks bargaining team raises pay issues, rejects short term disability proposal

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Our Parks negotiating team met with the employer’s team on June 28 and 29, 2016.

We opened our discussions by expressing our dismay and anger toward the agency regarding the ongoing pay issues. We concluded our discussion by advising the agency that pay day should be not be a stressful event. Meanwhile, PSAC, along with other federal government unions representing thousands of federal government employees filed a Notice of Application with the Federal Court directing the Respondent to implement a pay administration system that meets its obligations under the FAA and the Directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment.

The agency tabled a revised short term disability proposal to replace our current sick leave provisions. Similar to the proposals tabled with other groups recently, the agency’s proposal would remove sick leave provisions from the current collective agreement and short term disability would be administered as an agency policy. Our negotiating team remains committed to resisting this concession and rejected the agency’s proposal.

Negotiations are set to resume on October 24-27 and November 14-17, 2016.

Our negotiating team thanks you for your ongoing patience and support.

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Unions file court application to force federal government to pay workers impacted by Phoenix pay system

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PSAC, along with other federal government unions representing thousands of federal government employees filed a Notice of Application with the Federal Court today.

The unions are seeking a court order directing the Respondent to implement a pay administration system that meets its obligations under theFAA and the Directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment.

The federal government is responsible for paying public service workers on time for the work they do. The unions are demanding that the federal government meet its legal duty to provide timely and accurate pay for public service employees.

Pay system not working

The new Phoenix pay system is not working and hurting many public service workers. It is also putting excessive stress on the employees who process pay under the new system. Since its implementation, Phoenix has exhibited ongoing and significant systemic problems in the administration of pay for public service employees.

The application states Phoenix has resulted in the following pay system problems

  •          Outright failure to pay employees
  •          Delayed and inaccurate payments
  •          Failure to pay overtime and extra duty pay
  •          Failure to process information necessary for disability insurance, employment insurance and pension payments.

The unions argue that these ongoing circumstances raise concerns that affect all public service employees, constitute a breach of the employer’s duty to provide timely and accurate pay for public service employees.

Unions involved in this application

Association of Justice Counsel, Canadian Association of Professional Employees, Canadian Federal Pilots Association, Canadian Merchant Service Guild, Canadian Military Colleges Faculty Association, Federal Government Dockyard Chargehands Association, Federal Government Dockyard Trades and Labour Council (West), Federal Government Dockyard Trades and Labour Council (East), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Profession Association of Foreign Service Officers, Public Service Alliance of Canada, Research Council Employees’ Association, Unifor

Background: PSAC letter writing campaign

PSAC has called on its members and public service workers to send a letter to Minister Foote urgently calling for the Phoenix pay system to be fixed immediately. So far more than 2000 letters have been sent documenting serious issues.

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Canadian Multiculturalism Day

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By: Shirley Torres

Diversity, unity, solidarity, mosaic, community, society, harmony, togetherness, equality: These are only some of the many words that are parallel to multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is a blend of different languages, religion, race, colour, custom and tradition. Multiculturalism is the world.

Canada is a world within the world. It is a melting pot of different cultures. It is home to many people of diverse ethnic backgrounds but people having the same aspirations and dreams. They live and work here to build their future, to pursue their dreams, striving, working hard and sometimes struggling to achieve their goals and by doing so, contributing to the development of their communities, the society and the country, culturally, economically and politically.

In 1971, Canada, the first in the world, adopted multiculturalism as an official policy. This was formalized when on July 21, 1988 the Canadian Multiculturalism Act was passed “to promote the full and equitable participation of individuals and communities of all origins in the continuing evolution and shaping of all aspects of Canadian society”. By Royal Proclamation, on November 13, 2002, June 27 of each year was designated as Canadian Multiculturalism Day. We celebrate this day to learn more about each other’s culture, to be proud of our own and to have a better understanding and acceptance of the diversity in our society.  This is a celebration of diversity, Canada’s strength.

June 27 is a day of recognizing, appreciating and celebrating each other’s culture. It is a day to pay tribute to everyone’s continuous contribution in building a stronger, united, diverse Canada.

Happy Multiculturalism Day!

Shirley Torres is the UNE Human Rights Representative for the B.C. and Yukon region.

 

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UNE Staffing Announcement

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It is with great pleasure that we announce the addition of Emma Sauvé to the Union of National Employees team.

Emma joins us as an administrative assistant, replacing Emily Gault-Due who is away on maternity leave. Over the years, Emma has worked in logistics and administration.

We wish Emily and her family all the best with their new addition.

You can find all staff contact information here.

Welcome to the team, Emma.

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Phoenix Pay System and Grievances

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What PSAC is doing

The PSAC is taking a number of high level steps to push for the earliest possible fixes to the problems at the Phoenix Pay System:

  • Regular meetings with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) management
  • Letter-writing campaign to PSPC Minister Judy Foote proposing high level intervention from the government to fix the problems
  • Filing a policy grievance to address the problems with training, workload and other adverse impacts on the compensation workers in Miramichi
  • Filing an unfair labour practice complaint with the labour relations board with respect to the new system’s failure to pay employees on time and accurately

What Members should do

By following these steps, most employees will have their issues resolved more quickly than going through the departmental grievance process.

  1. Contact your manager to confirm your paperwork was sent to the Pay Centre. If it was not, acquire the paperwork to request a salary advance and follow up with your manager to send the paperwork. It is also important that you advise your human resources department right away.
  2. If the paperwork was sent, call the Pay Centre at 1-855-686-4729 to speak to an agent about your file.
  3. If the compensation advisor doesn’t follow up within three days or you are unsatisfied with their response, contact the Client Satisfaction Bureau.
  4. Send us an email at info@une-sen.org so that we can work together with the employer and make certain our members are being paid. Please have members email details of their issue, their PRI number and a short statement indicating they consent to the union sharing their information with PSPC.

 Specific hardship cases

The Pay Centre is experiencing a particularly high level of problems processing pay for more vulnerable employees, such as those on gradual return to work from Sun Life due to disability, those on maternity and parental leave, and new hires. In these cases, grievances should be actively considered for any member who suffers serious financial damages.

If you believe a member needs to file such a grievance, please contact your UNE regional team.

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UNE Staffing Announcement and Reassignment of Labour Relations Officer Employer Groups

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Greetings,

I wish to inform you that Manon Desormeaux will soon be taking her maternity leave. I know that you will join me in wishing her and her husband the best, with their new addition.

In anticipation of Manon’s departure, the Component conducted a staffing action and we are delighted to report that Marco Dufour has joined our staff as a Labour Relations Officer. Marco comes to us from the Viamonde School Board where he held a senior labour relations position. Prior to that, he was a Senior Labour Relations Advisor, for 16 years with the Union des Artistes.

Marco will be assigned to Manon’s Employer Groups and he will assume the responsibility for any outstanding cases on a way-forward basis. We hope to make the transition as seamless as possible.

The updated Labour Relations Officers’ assignments can be found at http://en.une-sen.org/who_we_are/lro/

I appreciate your understanding, patience and cooperation, during this period of transition.

Thank you.

Franco Picciano
Coordinator, Member Representation
Union of National Employees