May 18, 2023

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

UPDATE #17



**REMINDER**

Additional Bargaining Committee Members

Your Board of Delegates met Tuesday evening and on the agenda was a discussion about adding additional members to the bargaining committee to bring a specific perspective from customer account representatives and maintenance employees. They voted unanimously to consider the volunteers who put their names forward.

Unfortunately, they discovered that only one member had put their name forward. This troubled the board that there was only one person who put their name forward, and they were concerned this was because not enough time was provided and, more importantly, members did not know they could put their names forward.

The board voted and approved the extension of the time available for members to volunteer to be considered for the bargaining committee.

1. Any members who are Customer Account Representatives or Operations Maintenance staff and 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 be open until Thursday, May 25, 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 26 to elect additional members to the committee.

Your elected delegates will work to encourage members to volunteer and asks all CARs and Maintenance staff to consider volunteering to join the bargaining committee. Your voice is wanted, please step forward to strengthen your bargaining committee.

Bargaining Feedback Survey

Last week we held three ZOOM town hall meetings with great success. There was a good turnout with close to 100 people in attendance, as well as great questions and participation.

An idea was brought forward about sending a survey to members to encourage more feedback, Tuesday evening your Board of Delegates agreed with the idea. Below is a short open text survey for members to provide their feedback on negotiations and the path they want to see bargaining progressing.

The survey will close on May 25 at 5:00 p.m. to allow time to collate all the feedback in time for the bargaining committee prior to negotiations on May 30.

This survey is another opportunity for members who didn't attend the ZOOM meetings, and can't make their Sub-Local meeting, to be heard. If you haven't provided your feedback to your bargaining committee already, please consider doing so below.

If you have any questions about volunteering or the survey 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.