GSU biennial policy convention - March 23, 24 & 25, 2023

The Joint Executive Council convenes a policy convention of GSU delegates once every two years prior to May 31. The location of the 2023 policy convention is the Moose Jaw Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa.

Learn more here.

Members who are interested in being a delegate to GSU’s 2023 convention in Moose Jaw are asked to follow up by contacting their Local executive committee members, a GSU staff representative or by sending an email to GSUconvention@gsu.ca.

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GSU Shop Steward and New Officer Training set for March 1, 2023

Members who were elected to serve as their Local's/Sub-local's shop steward or officer are invited to participate in GSU's annual Shop Steward and New Officer training. Whether you're new to your role, or have been in it for a while, this virtual training will orient you to your role, give you an opportunity to meet more of your fellow union members, learn about GSU's structures, and give you the skills and information necessary to represent your co-workers as effectively as possible.

You will be contacted by your Staff Representative about material, registration, and all other relevant information.

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Timeliness - The Union Advantage

By General Secretary Hugh Wagner

On January 6 it was announced that CIBC will pay $153 million to approximately 30,000 current and former employees to settle a class action law suit over the bank allowing/requiring employees to work unpaid overtime.

While settlement of the law suit is good news for the employees involved, it is noteworthy that the class action was commenced in 2007 and originally sought $500 million in compensation for affected employees.

Unionized employees do not have to hire lawyers, commence class action law suits or wait sixteen years for results when they’ve been wrongfully denied employment rights like payment for overtime work. Unionized employees have access to a grievance/arbitration procedure through their union at no extra cost.

GSU provides effective employee representation and grievance action to defend the workplace rights of union members. 

“Over the years millions of dollars in wages and benefits have been recovered for GSU members through active utilization of the grievance/arbitration process,” said GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner. “Processing grievances and taking them to arbitration does take time, but nothing remotely close to the years piled up in the CIBC class action suit"



“GSU insists on employer respect for employees’ workplace rights,” wagner said. “It’s all about balancing the scales.”

Health & Safety

Playing catch-up at work after the holiday season 

Time away from work to a lot of people means one thing: more work waiting for them when they get back.

By GSU staff rep Brian Lark

Take this time to remember that when coming back to work from a break, whether it is from a planned vacation or a leave of absence, we all want to get caught up. This often motivates a worker to rush their work, to excessively multi-task, or to take on longer hours just to feel that they're not behind. However, these actions increase your risk of having a workplace incident.

Those longer hours lead to fatigue, those rushed tasks, and the distraction that comes from doing do too many things at once, are major contributors to incidents in the workplace.  Judgement errors, causing bodily harm and equipment failure can be avoided by taking time to slow down and keep your mind on task. Incidents include mental health stresses from feeling overwhelmed by the workload that you have come back to. We need to take care to protect our mental health just as much as we do our body. 

Don't forget, the work will be there tomorrow, you can’t do a week’s work in a day, and we are fools to try.

If you have concerns about your health and safety in the workplace, don't hesitate to contact Brian Lark or one of our other GSU staff reps.

Working from Home - Local 2 Viterra (Regina Head Office)

By GSU staff rep Steve Torgerson

One of the issues that Local 2 members brought to the bargaining table was working from home. Some positions are able to work from home to some degree or another and they wanted to explore this further with the company. 

Through some of these discussions, the company informed us that they currently don’t have any restrictions or company policies regarding employees working from home. The company stated that employees who want to work from home should discuss it with their manager and see what options they might have. 

The Local 2 bargaining committee sent an email to all members on November 29, 2022, with more information. Any members of Local 2 who haven't seen the email should search for it or talk to their bargaining committee to learn more.

Local 1 (Viterra Operations & Maintenance) & Local 2 (Viterra Head Office) continues

The two sides last met Dec. 14 and 15 and have since been in contact to schedule our next set of bargaining dates. Your committee is expecting to continue negotiations with your company by the end of January or the first week of February. Stay tuned for additional information and when bargaining dates are finalized.

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) and Travis Brewer (Saskatoon); 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).

Members from Local 5 (Western Producer) meeting to assess renewal bargaining

Members from Local 5 - Western Producer, will be meeting on Wednesday this week to evaluate and assess the current standings of negotiations. Management and your committee last met on December 16, 2022 and no further dates have been set. GSU is committed to the process and looks forward to having input from the membership this week. 

The bargaining committee comprises Michelle Houlden, Sharlene Lark, Laurie Michalycia, Donna Driediger (bargaining co-spokesperson/GSU staff) and Hugh Wagner (bargaining co-spokesperson/GSU staff).



Local 7 (Heartland Livestock Services/Northern Livestock Sales) bargaining session held Dec. 20

The two sides last met met on Dec. 20 and are set to continue today, Jan. 10. Your committee is keen to reach a tentative agreement with your company, but there remains a significant gap in your union's monetary proposals and the company's.

The bargaining committee comprises Paige Lister (Moose Jaw), Lori Branton (Prince Albert), Melissa Little (Yorkton) and Mason Van Luven (bargaining spokesperson/GSU staff).

Updates will be issued directly to members after each bargaining session and as new information is available. Contact Mason@gsu.ca if you are not receiving updates and would like to be added to the list.



Local 16 (Lake Country Co-operative) to begin Jan. 31

The first bargaining session will take place on Jan. 31, Feb. 1 and 2.

Bargaining will take place through virtual conferencing. Recognizing the value of being together to communicate and discuss proposals as they arise during the bargaining sessions, GSU’s committee plans to gather in person and meet with the company by virtual conferencing. 

Your bargaining committee will share bargaining updates by email and text message, so make sure your contact information is up-to-date.

GSU’s bargaining committee comprises Ward Tolley, Kara Thevenot and GSU staff representative/bargaining spokesperson Brian Lark. 

 

Locals 17 (Discovery Co-op) committee reaches tentative settlement with their management counterparts

Your bargaining committee met with the company representatives on Dec. 13 and 14 with a focus on negotiating a renewed collective agreement that fairly compensates members for their work.

A tentative agreement was reached and a memorandum of agreement is being prepared. Details of the proposed settlement will be distributed to Local members, and a ratification vote will be taking place Wednesday Jan. 11 at noon.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact your bargaining committee members or GSU staff rep.

GSU’s bargaining committee comprises Kristen Keating, Nathan Rafuse, and GSU staff representative/bargaining spokesperson Brian Lark.  



Local 18 (Lloydminster & District Cooperative Association) bargaining scheduled in March

The first bargaining session will take place March 28, 29 and 30. At the company's request, bargaining will take place through virtual conferencing.

GSU’s bargaining committee comprises Christina Jones, Trent Herring and GSU staff representative/bargaining spokesperson Brian Lark.