June 1, 2021
Calendar highlights and upcoming events:
GSU scholarship application deadline is midnight tonight

Today is the last opportunity to get your scholarship application into our hands. We will be accepting applications at gsu@gsu.ca right up to the moment the time stamp says it's midnight.

GSU members, spouses and dependents are eligible to apply to receive one of five $2,000 scholarships based on community involvement and their scholarship essay. Learn more here.

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Prairie School for Union Women - June 22-25

Save the date for this virtual school. GSU will sponsor up to three members to attend. Contact your GSU staff rep to learn more.

GSU staff rep Steve Torgerson assumes responsibility for Co-ops
It's GSU staff rep Dale Markling's last week in the office before he retires, and GSU members working for Lake Country Co-op, Discovery Co-op, or Lloydminster Co-op are now being assisted by GSU staff rep Steve Torgerson. GSU members at Prairie Co-op are already working with Torgerson, and that will remain unchanged.

The impending retirement of Saskatoon-based GSU staff rep Dale Markling has lead to new staff assignments for GSU staff on a temporary basis, and we have been working closely with Dale to ensure a seamless transition.

GSU member to be paid for notice period
Recently a GSU member gave a month’s notice that he was resigning his employment and would be taking a job with a competitor, albeit in another community. The local management’s response was to inform the employee that he was done immediately and his period of notice would be covered by banked time and/or unused vacation.
 
A call to GSU resulted in quick results for the member. His former employer will pay for all of the period of notice. In addition, the union member will be paid out his banked time and unused vacation.
 
"The overtime an employee has in the bank along with their accumulated vacation is their time and can’t be unilaterally assigned to cover an employer’s obligations,” said GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner. “I’ve said it before and I’ll keep on saying that it pays to contact GSU to check out your rights.”


No problem is too small! Sometimes a brief comment, email, or meeting is all that's needed to address a situation. Call us when you think there is a problem to be fixed. Our services are provided to you as part of your union dues and there is never an additional charge for assisting you.




Deadline for receipt of applications is 11:59 PM June 1!

GSU is awarding $2,000 scholarships to five GSU members, their spouses and children
Have you, your spouse or dependant child been accepted
into university or tech school?

If your answer is YES, you are eligible to apply for a GSU scholarship.
We don't need transcripts or marks, but we do require confirmation the scholarship applicant is enrolled in a diploma, degree, or certificate program at a community college, university, trade school, or technical institute as a full-time student in any country. We also need the applicant to complete our application form, send us their two-page essay on the provided essay topic, and include a letter of recommendation from someone in their community. That's it.

It's easy to apply.

Scholarship forms and additional information are available here.

Deadline for receipt of applications is June 1, 2021.


Discovery brings sadness
“The discovery of the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School struck me with a profound sense of shock, sadness and shame,” said GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner. “This is a horrific reminder of the genocide against First Nations and Indigenous peoples led and coordinated by the Canadian state.”
 
“Canada has so much to answer for and the calls to action by First Nations leaders must be heeded,” Wagner said.

This article has been printed for entertainment purposes. The views and opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of GSU, its members, officers, or staff.