National Executive

2013/02/15

Update from the National Executive

It’s a big (and somewhat formal) boardroom. There’s a huge table that barely fits everyone. And there are a bunch of union officials from all over the country packed into one room.

It’s the national executive meeting and, at first glance, it’s an intimidating place.

“When I first sat down I felt overwhelmed,” admitted Melody Raabe, UNE’s newest assistant regional vice-president for Manitoba.

Raabe came to Ottawa last month to officially get sworn-in and to attend her first ever national executive meeting.

Very quickly, Raabe started to feel comfortable. “As discussions began, I quickly felt as though I was sitting around the table with family,” she added.

During the meeting, the national executive reviewed ongoing business, including actions being taken in regards to workforce adjustment. It was also the chance to hear about collective bargaining from members who are on the bargaining teams.

Later, the executive was given an update on upcoming conferences: the All Presidents’ Conference (in April! Register now!), the Human Rights Conference and the 2014 Convention.

The national executive also decided to establish a committee to examine how best to engage members.

Finally, PSAC President Robyn Benson stopped by for a meet-and-greet and to share a few thoughts. Benson was especially outraged about Bill C-377; a bill that demands “transparency and accountability” from unions.

“It’s a way to attack unions, because it’s specifically directed to trade unions,” said Benson. “We’ve been encouraging our members to go find the financial statements [on our website] and to look at them. We are open and transparent; our budget is passed by convention – the spending is appropriate.”

After all that, Raabe said she felt really lucky to be part of such a dedicated group of union activists.

“I soaked up every word,” she added.

“These individuals give so much of their own time, away from their families, to strengthen our union – and to help to fight injustice and inequality. It’s exciting for me because I think I was born ‘all about justice’. It’s why I’m so proud to be a part of our union and the UNE team.”

2013/02/14

The PIC report is in!

The highly-anticipated Public Interest Commission report came in last month. As you may recall, the TC group was hoping the commission’s recommendations would lead to a fair tentative agreement to present to the membership. We caught up with one UNE bargaining team member to get the whole scoop!

“The report is favourable,” said Garry Larouche, Regional Vice-President for the Ontario. “It’s favourable in the sense that a number of our issues were recognized, including our economic demands.”

The report, in fact, points directly to UNE members in one paragraph, where it reads:

“The union’s brief is compelling in that it discloses that Labour Affairs Officers (LAOs) are paid less than their provincial counterparts for work of a similar and, in some cases, identical nature.”

The report also recognizes that Measurement Canada is having difficulty in “retaining both TI-03 recruits and [their] more experienced TI-04 staff.” In other words, Larouche explained, “we can’t hire – and when we do finally have them, they leave to the private sector.”

As a solution to both situations, the report recommended monthly terminable allowances. These allowances enable the employer to increase the salary of a particular group of employees without affecting the entire classification.

However, the employer doesn’t seem eager to accept these recommendations. A partial letter of dissent was written by the employer and included in the report.

“It gives us an idea of where Treasury Board is on the issue,” explained Larouche. “We’re not sure we’re going to get everything in the report.”

Larouche feels there’s still a lot of work to do. The next step will include mobilizing on the issue and putting pressure on the employer.

Soon, members of the TC bargaining team will start to hold town halls to provide more information on the road ahead. Locals who are holding annual general meetings should also consider inviting a member of the bargaining to speak with members.

“We want to explain where we are and where we want to go – but more importantly, we want to hear from the members,” said Larouche.

2013/02/11

Manitoba & Saskatchewan Regional Seminar

“The theme of this seminar is: go with the flow,” joked Saskatchewan’s Regional Vice-President, Omar Murray, during the Manitoba-Saskatchewan regional seminar.

What do you do when all your seminar material is lost somewhere between Toronto and Regina? As the old union adage goes: “the seminar must go on.” Thanks to a lot of last minute printing (*cough* thanks a lot, Purolator! *cough*), the seminar was a great success.

“The event started off a little shaky,” admitted Manitoba’s Regional Vice-President, Martin Kaminski. “But with a positive outlook on things, we managed to roll with the punches.”

This is the second time that the Manitoba and Saskatchewan regions chose to host a joint regional seminar. “We figured the more people, the more fun,” explained Murray.

Kaminski says he particularly enjoyed the presentations by UNE staff. Among other things, participants were treated to workshops on local finances, communications and grievance handling.

There was also an eye-opening lecture by Idle No More co-founder, Sylvia McAdam and invigorating speeches by UNE National President Doug Marshall and PSAC’s Regional Executive Vice-President of the Prairies Region, Marianne Hladun.

“Sylvia’s presentation on Idle No More and Doug’s presentation on the evil Bill 377 were topical and right out of today’s headlines,” said Murray.

Finally, we were all very fortunate to receive a surprise visit from Holly Serle, Manitoba’s former regional vice-president. Sister Serle drove over 200 kilometers to surprise us – and we’re very glad she did!

“I really enjoyed the opportunity to touch base with some familiar faces and some new ones,” concluded Kaminski.

2012/12/19

National Executive Meeting – January 2013

The National Executive will meet in Ottawa from January 22 to 24. The first session will start at 9:00 a.m. in the Union of National Employees boardroom.

If your Local wishes to place an item on the agenda, please contact your Regional Vice-President and provide him or her with clear and concise information. He or she will gladly bring your item before the executive.

About the National Executive:
The National Executive is responsible for the policies, programs and direction of the Union of National Employees. Between conventions, it makes important decisions and creates policies that help look after our union. The executive also carries out resolutions adopted by the members during the last convention. Its members meets three times per year to review the union’s activities and ensure that they reflect the will of the membership.

2012/11/27

NCR-TB Regional Seminar: a great success

Last weekend, members of the NCR-TB region got together for a historic regional seminar; this was the first union event in the history of the PSAC that included a visit from the clerk of the Privy Council.

Wolfgang Schulz, of Local 70183, said that Wayne Wouters’ participation on the panel was the seminar’s highlight.

“I really liked what he had to say and the way he talked about what he’s doing for the public service,” said Schulz.

The regional team had organized a panel discussion that included, David MacDonald, senior economist at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, Mathieu Ravignat, NDP MP (Pontiac), Wayne Wouters, Clerk of the Privy Council and Larry Rousseau, regional executive vice-president for the national capital region of the PSAC.

“I’m very happy with how it turned out. We wanted to do something different, and I believe we have,” said Regional Vice-President Richard Balance. “We haven’t done the same old, same old and I believe that has engaged the membership.”

The two-day seminar also included a number of workshops and sessions. The subjects covered included our union’s structure, human rights, how to run an annual general meeting, local finances and many more.

We took a bunch of pictures during the seminar: go to Flickr to check them out!

2012/09/04

National Executive Meeting – September 2012

The National Executive will meet in Ottawa from September 11 to 13. The first session will start at 9:00 a.m. in the Union of National Employees boardroom.

If you would like an issue to be brought up during the next meeting, please contact your Regional Vice-President.

2012/05/19

In memoriam – Laurel Gladu

The following was written by Kevin King, Regional Vice-President for the Alberta, NWT and Nunavut region and a friend of Laurel Gladu.

I wish to write on the sudden and unexpected passing of Sister Laurel Gladu, Assistant Regional Vice President of the Union of National Employees’ Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut region.

Laurel passed away on May 15th, 2012. She had just completed steering committee work for the upcoming UNE Health and Safety Conference in Montreal in October.

Laurel has been an activist within PSAC at her workplace of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada since the early 1980s. Her union involvement started as a steward in Inuvik (Local X0305), then in Yellowknife (Local X0304). In the late 1980s, Laurel moved to Edmonton where she became a continuous member of her Local Executive (Local 30067) until this early Spring.

Laurel was a well intended activist who worked hard – often with direct representation as a skilled chief shop steward. She worked tirelessly, with a wonderful dose of common sense, towards the steadfast advancement of women’s issues, the promotion of Aboriginal Peoples’ rights, and the raising of awareness of occupational health and safety matters.

Laurel was my confidante on the regional team of UNE. This region is an extremely difficult region to administer, but Laurel took on the labour issues, offering dignity and respect to members who worked in difficult workplaces, and, at times, with less than cooperative managers.

Her friends were many in the labour movement; her passing leaves a void among all activists within the Prairies and the PSAC Prairie Region of PSAC.

Regionally, Laurel was a Human Rights Representative for Equal Opportunities from 1990 to 1993. She was also Assistant Regional Vice-President at the UNE during from 2008 until just recently. Laurel also represented members at all but one triennial convention of the UNE since 1990.

Most importantly, Laurel was my friend.

She cherished the love of her family, her children and grandchildren, golfing and the memories of her favourite vacation destinations: Las Vegas and Myrtle Beach.

I am so deeply saddened by her passing, and cannot imagine the grief of her loved ones and friends.

Laurel’s family has shared the following information regarding her funeral service:

May 23, 2012
2 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time)
Evergreen Memorial Gardens
Edmonton, Alberta

There will be a service to pay your respects to Laurel’s family at 1:30 p.m.

Sincerely and in solidarity,

Kevin King
Regional Vice-President
Union of National Employees, PSAC