April 28, 2023

To: All Local 1 (Viterra Country Operations) and Local 2 (Viterra Head Office) members

UPDATE #13



Bargaining Update

This week, on Wednesday and Thursday, your bargaining committee met with the company to bargain. No major progress was made and your bargaining committee wants to report to members about negotiations and ask for feedback.

Before we schedule membership meetings, we are meeting with the Local 1 Board of Delegates (BoD) this Monday, May 1, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. The bargaining committee will provide a bargaining report to the BoD, seek their approval to hold membership meetings, and ask for feedback.

We expect to hold Townhall ZOOM meetings open to all Local 1 members where they will hear from the committee and each other. Members can also anticipate attending in-person meetings in their Sub-Local where they can share their views and ask questions.

• If you are the elected delegate for your Sub-Local, please check your inbox for the meeting invitation.

• If you are not the elected delegate, ask your staff representative or check with fellow GSU members. Share your thoughts with your elected delegate to take to Monday's meeting, and follow-up with them following the meeting to stay updated.

Our bargaining proposals as presented April 26

The following proposals were presented to the company this week. They have evolved and changed throughout the bargaining process and they are not chiseled in stone. We want to hear from you, the members, to ensure we are headed in the right direction.

Your bargaining committee asks that you review them before Monday's Board of Delegates meeting and the upcoming membership meetings. WE NEED YOUR INPUT.

Local 1 & 2 April 27, 2023 Proposals

More Input

Member engagement is crucial and we've been consulting the membership throughout bargaining from the beginning. We are at a point where additional member perspectives would be valuable on our committee.

We are seeking Customer Account Representatives and Maintenance staff who would be interested in joining the bargaining committee.

As a bargaining committee member, you will be responsible for representing all members of GSU. Bringing your perspectives as CARs or maintenance staff will increase the effectiveness of your bargaining committee.

If you are interested in taking on this position, please submit your name for consideration using the following process.

1. Any members who are a Customer Account Representative or an Operations Maintenance person who want to serve on the bargaining committee should email GSU General Secretary Steve Torgerson (steve@gsu.ca) and volunteer to have their name stand for election by the Board of Delegates.
2. This volunteering process will be open until Monday, May 9, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.
3. All volunteering members will be given an opportunity to provide a statement of why they want to join the bargaining committee.
4. A Board of Delegates meeting will be convened on May 16 to elect additional members to the committee.

Please note this process is subject to approval at the will be confirmed at the May 1 Board of Delegates meeting. Only they have the authority to add additional members to the bargaining committee.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact your elected representative on the Board of Delegates or a GSU bargaining committee member.

Communication

If you know a member who is not receiving our bargaining updates or is not checking the bargaining webpage:

• encourage them to share their email address and get the updates
• direct them to the updates on the webpage at GSU.ca.

Bargaining Dates

Below are the current bargaining dates and details of what has occurred so far.

May 9, 10 and 11, 2023 - cancelled

April 26 & 27, 2023 - both sides met

Read more above.

April 4 & 5, 2023 - both sides met

Bargaining has reached a point where we are close to our limit of what you, our members, have told us to fight for. But your committee wants to report to members personally and hear what you all have to say. We will begin to plan and schedule bargaining update meetings that will begin after our next session. Regardless of the outcome of those next dates, we feel that it is time to meet.

March 7 & 8, 2023 - both sides met

The company and your committee each presented offers to bring both sides closer together but still not close enough. We kept up and reinforced that even though the company might not like certain proposals, they all came from you, the members, as a result of frustrations and anger about the current state of affairs.

January 31 & February 1, 2023 - both sides met

The company brought their money and wage offer and presented it to your committee. Your committee worked to review the offer and prepare a counter offer which was presented to the company on the second day. Your committee took a thoughtful approach and their counteroffer still maintained the focus and goal of achieving real gains for members. Including real wage increases and no aggregate pay, better hours or work language, clarity on car loading and understanding of the impact on workers and health and safety.

December 14 & 15, 2022 - both sides met

The company still did not bring any money or wage proposals but advised that they would next time. The company presented additional information about their proposals submitted, and your committee again said they wouldn't bargain with themselves and was frustrated about the time it has taken as we wait for the company to come to bargaining prepared.

November 24 & 25, 2022 - both sides met

The company still didn't bring money or wages to the table. Your committee again said we wouldn't negotiate until the company brings their money. We shared why we are asking for what we proposed because members told us they want and need these changes to the collective agreement.

November 16 & 17, 2022 - both sides met

Local 1 & 2 provided their full proposal package. Viterra provided some of their proposals but nothing about money or wages. We said we wouldn't change or withdraw any of our proposals until the company brought their entire package, including money and wages.

STIP Update

This is not a bargaining update but an update on what has taken place since the STIP was withheld by Viterra in March.

Viterra responded on April 26, 2023, to the filing of our Unfair Labour Practice on April 3, 2023. They had 15 days to reply and now we have a further 10 days to send in our reply.

Once complete, the Board-assigned Officer will reach out to both parties to attempt to resolve the matter.

As we progress through the ULP we will keep members up to date.

If you have questions about the ULP, let us know and we will address them and add them to our upcoming Frequently Asked Questions document.

We continue to strongly encourage all members to consider how they can keep the pressure on Viterra to pay the 2022 STIP. If you have an idea talk, share it with your elected representative.

If you have any questions about bargaining, specific bargaining issues or about sharing your story reach out to your staff representative or anyone on your bargaining committee.

On Behalf of your Bargaining Committee,

Steve Torgerson

GSU staff representative

Your GSU bargaining committee members are Local 1 – Jim Brown (Balgonie), Wilfred Harris (Carnduff), Shannon Antonenko (Lloydminster), David Barrett (Gull Lake) and Travis Brewer (Saskatoon); Local 2 – Sheila Tran, Howard Wilson and Kaylee Kruger; assisted by GSU staff representatives Steve Torgerson and Mason Van Luven.

Local 1 & 2 (Viterra) members will be the first to hear about what is taking place at the bargaining table. Email updates will be issued before the information is released in our Tuesday Members’ Memo.

Please share these updates with fellow GSU members who may not be on our bargaining update or Tuesday Members’ Memo email lists, and encourage them to sign-up for updates by contacting their GSU Staff Representative or their Local representative.