January 15, 2019 

Anything can happen, but here's what we have on our calendars for January 14 - 18:

  • The Tuesday Members' Memo is emailed to GSU members weekly on Tuesdays. If you know a co-worker who doesn't receive the TMM and would like to, have them call GSU toll-free at 1.866.522.6686 or send an email to  gsu@gsu.ca
  • staff representative Dale Markling and the Local 16 (Lake Country Co-op) bargaining committee meet with their management counterparts for bargaining on Jan. 14 & 15. 
  • general secretary Hugh Wagner, staff representative Donna Driediger, and the Local 1/2 (Viterra) bargaining committee members Jim Brown, Brett North, Travis Brewer, Willie Harris, Sheila Tran and Howard Wilson meet with management for bargaining on Jan. 15, 16 and 17
  •  bargaining is schedules Jan. 17 and 18 for Dale Markling and the Local 18 (Lloydminster Co-op) bargaining committee
  • Questions? Contact a GSU staff representative at either our Regina or Saskatoon office. 



Saskatchewan Rush at home to Rochester Knighthawks

Thank you to all the entrants to the RUSH ticket draw last week. It seems like 2019 will be a fun year looking at the things members want to do:
  • We have never been to a RUSH game and this is something we would like to do in 2019!
  • In 2019 I want to visit Toronto and go to a Blue Jays game.
  • whitewater rafting
  • In 2019 I would like to go parasailing
  • I want to see part of Canada I've never been to, so we're heading out to Prince Edward Island for a week to explore Eastern Canada!
  • One thing I've never done and want to in 2019 is go sledding in the mountains.
  • This new year resolution is learning how to skate . Never really learned, figured it's time!
  • I would like to go on a cruise or go to Barbados.
  • And also learn to knit and crochet (I'm an old soul in a young body)
  • and many more entries!
Congratulations to Lynn MacDonald whose name was drawn and will be going to  cheer the RUSH on this Saturday night.

The next home game is February 9, 2019 so keep a look out in the TMMs to come for a chance to win. 
 


Strong Majority Approves Continuation of GSU Defense Fund Dues

A strong majority of 90.45 percent of GSU members attending their Local or Sub-Local annual meetings voted to approve continuation of the additional union dues being paid into the GSU Defense Fund. Each year union members have the opportunity to vote on whether to continue or halt the ten dollars per member per month being paid into the Defense Fund.
 
The GSU Defense Fund was established on May 1, 2002. Its primary purpose is to provide strike or lockout pay to GSU members experiencing a collective bargaining dispute with their employer. Administration of the Defense Fund and its assets is overseen by a five member board of directors elected at biennial GSU policy conventions. Between policy conventions vacancies on the board of directors can be filled by GSU's Joint Executive Council (JEC) provided the candidate(s) is not sitting as a representative on the JEC.
 
Currently there is a vacancy on the Defense Fund board of directors that will be filled by the JEC at its spring 2019 annual meeting. Members of Locals 1, 2, 14 or 15 who are interested in being a candidate for the vacant director's seat are asked to contact GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner.
 
 

Bargaining Update


Local 1 & 2 - Viterra Country Operation and Maintenance and Regina Head Office

UPDATE:  GSU/Viterra Bargaining Resumes
 
Agreement renewal bargaining between GSU and Viterra resumed this morning and is scheduled to continue for the next two days.

"Initially the bargaining meetings will focus on monetary issues," said GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner. "The primary objective of GSU's bargaining proposals is to address the structure of Viterra's pay plan and provide decent wage increases to all employees in the two union bargaining units."
 
An update will be released in the next TMM.
 
GSU's bargaining committee : general secretary Hugh Wagner, staff representative Donna Driediger, Jim Brown, Brett North, Travis Brewer, Willie Harris, Howard Wilson, Sheila Tran.

Local 8 - Advance

UPDATE:  Minister Appoints Conciliator in Local 8 Bargaining Dispute

The Saskatchewan Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety has appointed a conciliator to meet with AEA/GSU Local 8 and Advance Tank Production/Tank Centres representatives in an effort to resolve their collective bargaining impasse. The conciliator will begin meeting with the parties on January 25. February 4 and 5 have also been reserved for conciliation meetings as required.

AEA/GSU Local 8's collective agreement with the employer expired on October 31, 2018. The union served notice of a bargaining impasse on December 13, 2018.

Updates will be issued as the conciliation proceeds.

GSU's Bargaining Committee: general secretary Hugh Wagner, Doug Murray, Ron Gerlock, Dion Elliot Steve Holliday



Learn more about the bargaining process and how it works

The Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union has done a great job of explaining bargaining in their Bargaining for Beginners web page and accompanying  infographic. You can check those out here. 




"Toxic" behaviors that society has normalized, according to Reddit

In 2017, researchers at Yale University published  a paper in the journal Cognition demonstrating that what people consider normal behavior appears to be a mix of what's common and what they see as ideal. The finding suggested a significant consequence:

"People might sometimes be able to separate out the average from the ideal, but they more often make use of a kind of reasoning that blends the two together into a single undifferentiated judgment of normality," the researchers wrote in  the New York Times. They added: "Our work thus offers support for those who worry about 'normalization': that things, simply by becoming more common, become more acceptable.

The way society has normalized certain "toxic" behaviors was  the subject of a popular thread on Reddit over the weekend. After thousands of comments, two behaviors stood out with more upvotes and replies than others:
  • Employers expecting workers to be available and ready to respond to requests well beyond the end of the workday
  • Ghosting, in which somebody ends a relationship by simply ceasing communication, without warning or explanation
These behaviors are probably more often aggravating than life-threatening. Still, the responses show they're having real effects on well-being nonetheless and suggest problems with the way companies often treat employees.


To read the entire story follow this link:  "Toxic" behaviors that society has normalized, according to Reddit


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