{"id":2034,"date":"2013-04-15T16:50:43","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T20:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.une-sen.org\/press\/?p=2034"},"modified":"2013-04-15T16:50:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-15T20:50:43","slug":"update-from-the-national-executive-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/?p=2034","title":{"rendered":"Update from the National Executive"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The National Executive met last week, immediately following the All Presidents Conference. That\u2019s a long time to be living out of a suitcase! But, despite a rather busy (but nonetheless enjoyable!) weekend, our leaders didn\u2019t waste any time getting right to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really was a busy weekend,\u201d said Assistant Regional Vice-President Paulette Gaudet of Saskatchewan, who volunteered her help wherever she could: the registration desk, the swag table and the hospitality suite. From working the registration desk alone, Gaudet said she got to meet 90% of the members attending the conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was awesome to see so many faces and being able to put names to faces!\u201d<\/p>\n

The national executive meeting was also the occasion to give a warm welcome to our union\u2019s newest assistant regional vice-president, Bill Bennett.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I sound nervous, it\u2019s because I am nervous,\u201d joked Bennett during the introductions. Bennett will be the Atlantic\u2019s assistant regional vice-president in charge of Newfoundland and Labrador. He has been working at Parks Canada since 1988.<\/p>\n

One of the first items on the agenda was the attack on the Rand formula. If the Conservatives succeed at eliminating the formula, employees in a unionized workplace would have the option to decide whether or not they wish to pay union dues. We\u2019re not sure of any other service that gives you the option to decide \u201cyou know, I don\u2019t feel like paying for this today!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy should only some of the people in a workplace pay for something everyone in that workplace benefits from?\u201d asked PSAC National President Robyn Benson<\/a>, recently, in the Financial Post.<\/p>\n

Members of the national executive agreed that the union needs to engage members. During the meeting, they voted in favour of setting a goal asking local, regional and national leaders to engage with every member, one on one, by the end of 2013. The motion also allocates $40,000 to the regions to support this activity.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, workforce adjustment has become a regular item on the agenda. As previously reported, the National Capital Commission and the National Gallery were two organizations where members were recently told that they\u2019d be out of a job. And with the recent announcement of the Canadian International Development Agency being folded into the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, our members working in development are worried about their future.<\/p>\n

Sadly, workforce adjustment is the reason why Regional Assistant Vice-President Benoit Dubeau will no longer be part of the Union of National Employees. Dubeau just recently found a new job.<\/p>\n

\u201cBenoit was a very great assistant. He had a lot of potential,\u201d said Regional Vice-President Jean Pierre Naud.<\/p>\n

Despite the sad news, Naud says he\u2019s encouraged by the fact that many members are interested in stepping up to the plate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was worried I would have to convince people to step into the position, but it seems like we\u2019ll be having elections shortly,\u201d said Naud.<\/p>\n

At the end of a 3-day national executive meeting, the standard item before the adjournment is a roundtable goodbye. By the end of the meeting, we\u2019re pretty sure that Bill Bennett had gotten over his initial nervousness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a busy week and I\u2019ve learned a lot,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s quick on the uptake so he\u2019ll get the hang of it quickly,\u201d joked his fellow regional team member, Angela Decker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Executive met last week, immediately following the All Presidents Conference. That\u2019s a long time to be living out of a suitcase! But, despite a rather busy (but nonetheless enjoyable!) weekend, our leaders didn\u2019t waste any time getting right to work. \u201cIt really was a busy weekend,\u201d said Assistant Regional Vice-President Paulette Gaudet of … <\/p>\n

>> “Update from the National Executive”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,12,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2034\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}