Calendar highlights and upcoming events: | |
|
SFL OH&S Conference
Sept. 13-15, 2023 ~ Saskatoon, SK
| |
The SFL Occupational Health and Safety Conference is held annually for workers in Saskatchewan to learn about the latest issues surrounding occupational health and safety.
GSU will sponsor up to three members to attend this conference.
Learn more about the conference here, and contact your GSU staff rep to learn even more or register.
.....
| |
GSU scholarship and bursary recipients will be announced in Sept. | |
Thank you to everyone who applied to our scholarship program. Our scholarship recipients have been contacted and we will be introducing them to you soon.
.....
| |
We're anticipating and preparing for a busy autumn agenda | |
We're preparing for an officer training course in January | |
|
Jan. 17 has been tagged as the date for a one day, on-line format officer training course for the union's newly elected officers.
The training will focus on understanding the role and rights of GSU officers, what jobs and responsibilities are included, and the tools they can use to represent members.
Participants can expect to begin building a plan for their individual workplaces that takes the needs of their members into account, identifies the issues at hand, and creates a plan that harnesses the energy and drive that all members have to make their workplaces better.
| |
Knowing your rights and making sure you are treated fairly strengthens your collective agreement.
The role of GSU is to assist our members and help them make informed decisions. We offer education opportunities like the one above, and encourage members to take the time to consider and understand what their employer is saying, what GSU is saying, and to ask questions.
|
|
Our path to reconciliation includes listening, learning, and creating opportunities for education and participation within GSU. Each month we will share a short piece of information that we hope will inspire you to learn more about the topic and ultimately contribute to a shared future of reconciliation. | |
By Mason Van Luven, GSU staff rep | “Reservation Dogs” - an Indigenous American television drama/comedy about intergenerational trauma | |
Reservation Dogs takes place on a small reservation in rural Oklahoma, in the Muscogee Nation, that follows four young people coping with the loss of a friend, limited economic mobility, and the generational trauma that informs their contemporary time. One of the main characters has a spiritual conflict follow him along the series in the form of a long passed-away Native Warrior who bore witness to Colonel Custer in open conflict. The Warrior follows the main character to provide antiquated but timeless advice on how to navigate the world around him.
This story uses humour and self-deprecation to mirror how communities cope with loss and turmoil in the face of systems that inhibit not just economic development, but also personal healing. The main cast - the majority of whom are Canadian actors - each face their own conflict, but come together as friends to take on the world and their local community.
What makes the story taking place in the United States unique to the Canadian context is the US has yet to reconcile nor even face its Settler Colonial displacement and marginalization of Indigenous peoples. They had a program similar to our Residential School and reserve systems; they used similar legal doctrine to legally claim indigenous territory; and enticed European settlers to claim the territory and cultivate the ‘American Dream’.
The story of Reservation Dogs takes place in the present, but finds a way to remind the viewer why this story is important.
Check it out on Disney Plus as a FX Original.
| |
Local 1 (Viterra Ops & Maintenance) & Local 2 (Viterra Head Office): no resolution reached at Aug. 31 bargaining session | |
|
On Aug. 31, GSU Local 1 and 2 bargaining committees returned to the bargaining table with Viterra. This is the first session following the rejection of the tentative agreement by the Local 1 Board of Delegates on July 27 and Local 2 Executive Committee on August 3.
"Members are tired of hearing the same old excuses from the company about their costs, their preferred pay system, that they have no issues with recruitment and retention, etcetera," said GSU bargaining spokesperson Steve Torgerson. "The economic reality that working people are living with demands that companies take note and actually pay their employees what they deserve."
As a democratic organization led by working people, GSU's elected Local 1 and 2 Local Executive officers met to receive a bargaining update and to discuss the lack of progress in bargaining and what next steps need to be taken. We hope the company will come back to the bargaining table with an offer that addresses our many concerns.
"This round of negotiations is a reminder that belonging to a union does not mean everything effortlessly and automatically falls into place. What unionized workers secure in their collective agreements is only achieved because those members have negotiated and fought for it," Torgerson said. "As all GSU members have the opportunity to do when their collective agreement is open for negotiation, Local 1 and 2 members are currently working hard to bargain wage increases, leaves, vacations and grievance procedures. This is the union advantage."
You can read the complete Sept. 2 update sent to GSU Local 1 and 2 members here.
| |
|
If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact a bargaining committee member or your GSU staff representative.
You can read previous updates on the VITERRA BARGAINING page on GSU's main web page under the Bargaining menu tab. Contact Mason@gsu.ca to be added to our bargaining update email list.
| |
GSU bargaining committee members are Local 1 – Jim Brown (Balgonie), Wilfred Harris (Carnduff), Shannon Antonenko (Lloydminster), David Barrett (Gull Lake), Travis Brewer (Saskatoon), Dale Lysitza (Lloydminster) and Broc Goodwin (Moose Jaw); Local 2 – Sheila Tran, Howard Wilson and Kaylee Kruger with assistance from GSU staff representatives Mason Van Luven and Steve Torgerson (GSU bargaining committee spokesperson). Don't hesitate to contact your bargaining committee with any questions or concerns you may have. | |
Local 5 (Western Producer) bargaining impasse - members vote and overwhelmingly reject company's *final offer* | |
|
Members met on Aug. 23 to review and vote on a final offer presented by the company on Aug. 11. An overwhelming 90.5% of Local 5 members voted to reject the offer.
Members haven't called for or taken a strike vote, and they aren't in a strike position. Rather, Local 5 members and their bargaining committee remain committed to working toward a negotiated resolution to bargaining.
| |
The bargaining committee comprises Laurie Michalycia, Donna Driediger (bargaining co-spokesperson/GSU staff) and Steve Torgerson (bargaining co-spokesperson/GSU general secretary). | |
Local 16 (Lake Country Co-op) - final wording of the new collective agreement is approved, the agreement is signed | |
Lake Country Co-op and GSU representatives have completed their review, final wording has been agreed upon and the new collective agreement has been signed. The new collective agreement is on our web page and we are formatting it into booklets for distribution to members. |
|
Local 17 (Discovery Co-op) - the new collective agreement is now available on our web page | |
The agreement has been signed and it's available on our web page at GSU.ca. We'll be also be formatting the new collective agreement into new collective agreement booklets for Local 17 members soon. | |
Local 18 (Lloydminster & District Cooperative Association) - new collective agreement wording being finalized | |
|
On May 25, members of Local 18 voted in favour of accepting the proposed memorandum of agreement. Steps have been made toward incorporating the changes into the collective agreement. Once wording is finalized and agreed upon, we will make copies of the agreement and distribute them to members.
| |
Local 19 (Prairie Co-op) - current collective agreement expires Dec. 31, 2023 | |
|
With their collective agreement set to expire on Dec 31, 2023, Local 19 will be our last Co-op local to round out what has been nearly two consistent years of negotiations with Federated Co-operatives Limited and other Co-ops across Saskatchewan, headed by GSU staff representative Brian Lark. Local 19 will benefit from the lessons learned and the priorities shared at those tables as we gear up for negotiations that will likely center on the cost of living.
In the coming months, GSU staff rep Mason Van Luven is planning to engage with the members of Local 19 to assess their priorities, hear from them, and elect bargaining committee members.
| |
Do others recognize your value? | |
|
"A bottle of water can be $1 at the grocery store, $3 at a restaurant, $4 at the movies and $6 at the airport.
The ONLY thing that changed its value is the place.
So ... the next time you feel like you have no value, maybe you're in the wrong place."
~ unknown
| |
|
Whether it's a situation or relationship (work career, family or romance), if you don't feel valued, maybe it's time to consider a change.
Learn more here:
| | | | |
