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News - June 2007

The headlines for news items published during this month are listed below.

Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article.

• NHWU and CEIU plan for smooth transition

• Public Service Week – Show us the cash, not the tokenism

• Management puts off SDA-II announcement…yet again!

NHWU and CEIU plan for smooth transition

Posted June 25, 2007

Public Service Alliance of Canada members at Service Canada will soon be united under a single Component, and the National Health and Welfare Union and the Canada Employment and Immigration Union are working together to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible.  National Presidents Tony Tilley of the NHWU and Jeannette Meunier-McKay of the CEIU have had a series of meetings that they both describe as cooperative and productive.

“Our people are practical and they know how to get things done,” said Tilley, “so I know we can put the pieces in place.”  The two Component unions have signed a file transfer agreement designed to protect the case files, including grievances, of incoming members.  Under the agreement, each affected member will be advised, and should any file require special arrangements, such as those related to time-sensitive matters, they will be set out in detail for the member concerned. “We want a seamless transition for the case files of incoming members,” said Meunier-McKay, “and the file transfer agreement is designed to accomplish this.”

The CEIU welcomes the participation of incoming members in the life of the union.  In some instances, this will best be achieved by having locals chartered under their former component continue as independent locals within the CEIU.  In other cases, it will make better sense to have incoming members join established CEIU locals.  More information on this subject will be available soon.

Both Tilley and Meunier-McKay agree that incoming members will need a voice within the CEIU.  CEIU locals receiving incoming members have been asked to consider steps to provide the newcomers with representation on their executive or steward body.  At the national level, a representative group selected from call centres, large locals and small locals will be established to provide input.  In addition, President Tilley will be invited to attend meetings of the CEIU National Executive until the 2008 national convention.

The movement of members between components will likely have a few snags, but the commitment to handle them cooperatively will keep the larger process on-track.  According to both component presidents, this cooperation is what the members expect and it’s what they are determined to provide.

Public Service Week - Show us the cash, not the tokenism

Posted June 13, 2007

It’s ‘Public Service Week’. That silence you hear is the sound of one hand clapping.

Like a cynically contrived ‘Hallmark Holiday’, this one week of 52 is designed to make us forget about the reality of our work lives the rest of the year.  Fat chance.

Take, as an example, our SDA-II members at Service Canada.  For them, it may as well be April Fools’ Day.  If we hear one more time that a settlement of our grievance campaign is ‘imminent’…

And, of course, all National Health and Welfare Union members are waiting to see this Public Service Week benevolence carry over into this year’s negotiations with Treasury Board for a new collective agreement!

Show us the money.  And the respect. We can all go without the token love.

Management puts off SDA-II announcement…yet again!

Posted June 4, 2007

The on again-off again announcement on the resolution of our Service Canada members’ SDA-II grievances is off again.

A conference call, scheduled for late last week at management’s request, was cancelled at the last minute without explanation or excuse. The NHWU, however, has pieced together what appears to have happened through our contacts within Service Canada.

It seems that an announcement was indeed imminent. However, at the eleventh hour, management realized that the grievors had not been informed of the decision, as is required. As well, the printed materials supporting the announcement contained at least one factual error.

Regional managers have told us that headquarters is trying to get its act together for a June 18 announcement.

Our SDA-IIs should circle that date on their calendars…but, given the employer’s dismal track record on this file, in pencil only!