{"id":3648,"date":"2014-03-04T11:13:16","date_gmt":"2014-03-04T16:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.une-sen.org\/press\/?p=3648"},"modified":"2014-03-04T11:13:16","modified_gmt":"2014-03-04T16:13:16","slug":"some-stellar-bargaining-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/?p=3648","title":{"rendered":"Some stellar bargaining teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Some<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI left that conference really impressed by our members\u2019 passion and eagerness to get involved,\u201d said National President Doug Marshall, referring to the recent Treasury Board bargaining conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur members weren\u2019t afraid to step up to the plate,\u201d added Marshall. \u201cWe have members at all level of the organization to thank for that; from local members who were involved in the bargaining process from the very beginning, to everyone who was present at the conference to cast a vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of the conference, four members were elected to the PA table, two to the EB table and one to the TC table.<\/p>\n

Kate Hart, who is the UNE\u2019s national equity representative for LGBT people, is one of the four members who was elected to the PA bargaining team during the conference. She admits, her stump speech was rather unconventional.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always get the three minutes to make your speech,\u201d explained Hart.\u00a0 \u201cI decided to go for the laughs.\u201d<\/p>\n

She sums up her introduction as such:<\/p>\n

\u201cHi. I\u2019m Kate, I\u2019m a trans woman and a lesbian \u2013 and I suspect my definition of \u2018family\u2019 is just a wee bit different from Tony Clements\u2019.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Hart said the room erupted in laughter.<\/p>\n

Another UNE member who scored a spot on the PA bargaining team is Natalie Rainville, a young worker from Quebec. She said she left Quebec with the intention of running for one of the coveted seats at the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018I\u2019m going for it\u2019\u201d, said Rainville. \u201cWhy not me, I\u2019m going to try.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she\u2019s never sat at a Treasury Board bargaining table, she\u2019s got some solid bargaining experience; Rainville has twice been part of regional negotiations in the hotel sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not put that experience at work for others?\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking at the 10-member bargaining team, Rainville says she can\u2019t help but be blown away by the diversity around the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much diversity, in terms of experience, age, equity members\u2026,\u201d she said, noting that another UNE member elected to the team, Stephane Allard, is also a young worker. \u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s such a beautiful diversity that will really help us represent the entire membership.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in terms of geography too!\u201d exclaimed Kate Hart, who agreed with Rainville\u2019s point. \u201cThere\u2019s someone from every part of the country. And we have Geoff Ryan representing persons with disabilities. Equity groups, overall, have a good representation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both women also said that the event was a great opportunity to meet members from other components and learn a great deal about what\u2019s happening in other workplaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found that very valuable,\u201d said Hart.<\/p>\n

The conference hosted a number of speakers; many union leaders from outside the PSAC took the opportunity to express their unwavering solidarity. For Rainville, the outpouring of support and a great number of ideas have her fired up and ready to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really felt that members are determined to fight for what they have \u2013 to make no concessions,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s that kind of gusto that gave me a lot of pep. \u201c<\/p>\n

Congratulations are also due to Michael Freeman and Terrylynn Brandt who were elected to the EB team, which represents members who work in education, library science and educational support.<\/p>\n

And some serious kudos go out to Suzanne Arsenault, who\u2019s going to have some big shoes to fill at the TC table. During the conference, members took the opportunity to recognize the enormous contributions of Regional Vice-President Garry Larouche, of Ontario, who has participated on every single TC bargaining round since 1996!<\/p>\n

(If you\u2019re trying to think of a reference point, 1996 was when the Macarena was really cool\u2026). That\u2019s a long time, to say the least!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u201cI left that conference really impressed by our members\u2019 passion and eagerness to get involved,\u201d said National President Doug Marshall, referring to the recent Treasury Board bargaining conference. \u201cOur members weren\u2019t afraid to step up to the plate,\u201d added Marshall. \u201cWe have members at all level of the organization to thank for that; from … <\/p>\n

>> “Some stellar bargaining teams”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,12,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648"}],"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=3648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3650,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions\/3650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}