GSU staff reps are finalizing dates, locations for annual general membership meetings

Our AGMs are underway and will continue until early December.

If you are a Local 1 or 2 (Viterra) member, your meeting will include a bargaining report and strike vote. If you are unable to attend your meeting, contact your staff rep and arrange to attend another meeting.

Watch your email inbox for your meeting notice.

If your Local or Sub-Local has a meeting date or time in mind, reach out to your GSU staff representative.

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Steward Training 2 - Nov. 8 & 9, 2023, Regina, SK - postponed until the new year

This training is available and will be shared with our GSU officers who have completed Course 1. If you haven't completed Course 1 but think we should make an exception and include you, contact your GSU staff rep.

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Defense Fund Board of Directors - Nov. 2023, (video conference)

These elected directors oversee the administration and investment of the GSU Defense Fund assets and set policy for payment of strike/lockout pay for union members engaged in collective bargaining disputes.

The board meets three or four times a year (or more often, if required) to review the Fund’s financial position, investment strategy and other administrative matters. Most meetings are held via conference call or video technology and paid union leave is arranged for participation in the meetings.

Learn more about the Defense Fund Board of Directors here.

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One of the best ways to stay informed and have a say in your workplace is by attending your Annual General Membership Meetings (AGMs). These gatherings offer members the opportunity to engage, deliberate, learn and collectively shape the future of their workplace. Throughout November we'll explore the reasons why attending AGMs is really important.

Stay Informed, Elect your Union Officers

Attending AGMs keeps members informed about the current state of affairs within GSU and your local/sub-local. Updates on negotiations, collective bargaining, workplace policies and other important issues are discussed, and members are elected to represent their peers.

The firsthand knowledge you will gather at your AGM will help you to make informed decisions about your employment and ensure you are aware of any changes that may directly impact you.

Questions about benefit coverage during a strike or lock-out

With strike conversations taking place at many sites, staff rep Donna Driediger is fielding strike and lockout-related inquiries from GSU members. One of the common concerns raised is what happens to benefit coverage during a labour dispute.

Fortunately, Driediger can advise that when GSU members are on strike or are locked out, the GSU Defense Fund pays the premiums for benefit coverage to ensure GSU members do not have any interruption in their benefit programs. 

GSU staff representatives work with you to find answers to your questions, recommend what course of action is best to follow, and find the solutions that work for you. These services are provided to you and paid for by your union dues. There is never an additional charge for assisting you, and no limit on the number of time you can seek advice.

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 GSU staff rep Mason Van Luven

It's important to spend time learning about subjects we are unfamiliar with as a way to expand our mind, vocabulary, and to consider ideas we are unaccustomed to.

We need to seek to understand complicated topics and not simply leave them to the interpretation of lawyers, academics, and politicians who are the professional thinking-class.

So how does reconciliation fit into this?

Reconciliation is not an easy subject to digest. It challenges you to reframe our country’s history, and books on this subject often use terminology specific to a group of academics.

It can be difficult to find time between work, family and life maintenance to keep enough energy and time to read a book or learn more about reconciliation, but it's important that you do. We must find ways to carve out time to ensure our personal interests don't fall to the wayside and that we seek opportunities to learn.

If history has taught us anything it is that remarkable things happen when workers permit themselves to learn.

Tony Mazzochi was a famous labour leader, a high-school dropout and WWII veteran, who organized a weekly book club with fellow workers who left school to support their families at a young age. He did this because reading sharpens the mind, and it also helped connect what his members had experienced on the shop floor with high culture theory that helped these members become labour leaders, organizers, senators, congressmen, and prominent figures in their communities. When “brain workers” decide to challenge professional thinkers - such as politicians - we see workers winning fights over poverty, parental leave, the weekend, and just about every other entitlement workers have had to fight for.

Never stop learning, and start learning more about reconciliation.

There is so much more to learn!

GSU is building a truth and reconciliation lending library. If you have resources you would recommend for our library or are interested in borrowing a book, contact staff rep Mason Van Luven at Mason@gsu.ca.

Local 1 (Viterra Ops & Maintenance) & Local 2 (Viterra Head Office): Nov. 15 & 16 set for conciliation; strike vote being conducted

As confirmed in our Oct. 27 email to members, Nov. 14 and 15 have been set as conciliation dates for Local 1 and 2. A bargaining update will be issued following conciliation.

We strongly encourage you to attend your annual meeting to hear the bargaining committee's report and ask any questions you may have prior to the vote on authorizing strike action.

You can read additional details in past Bargaining Updates which are regularly sent to GSU Local 1 and 2 members. 

You can read additional details in past Bargaining Updates which are regularly sent to GSU Local 1 and 2 members. 

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 general secretary and 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: Bargaining set to resume Nov. 20

As a result of scheduling issues, bargaining has been rescheduled to Nov. 20.

The bargaining committee comprises Laurie Michalycia, Donna Driediger (bargaining co-spokesperson/GSU staff) and Steve Torgerson (bargaining co-spokesperson/GSU general secretary).

Local 6 (Wild West Steelhead) bargaining coming up in 2024

When Local 6 members met at their Oct. 18 annual general meeting, they discussed their upcoming bargaining slated for early 2024.

Members in Local 6 work at a fish processing plant in Lucky Lake, SK. This business is a fully-integrated producer controlling all stages of production from egg incubation to finished, boneless fillets ready for the consumer. Members work both inside and outside the facility in roles such as divers and processors.

This group is looking forward to a productive round of bargaining in 2024.

 

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.

Don't compare your Chapter 1 to someone else's Chapter 20

As we live life, master new hobbies and skills, or gain experience at work, it's common for us to compare ourselves to others. What isn’t fair is measuring our early skills or progress against someone else’s well-established journey. 

If you just started your new job it's not fair to compare yourself to someone with seven years experience. If you just hit the slopes for your first lesson, don't expect your skills to rival the Black Diamond skiers.

Keep focus on what you have accomplished and where you are headed. Avoid the comparisons and enjoy your journey.

Learn more here:

• Stop comparing yourself to others. Do these 10 things instead
• Comparing yourself is a sure route to misery. Here's 5 ways to turn it into action

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.