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News - May 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.
• Emotion-packed National Presidents’ Conference
ends on an optimistic note
• Chatham protests over employer’s stonewalling of SDA-II
and other grievances results in meeting with HRSD Minister
• National Presidents Conference meets in Quebec City
• A Tale of Two (Union) Cards
• Service Canada representation vote: now what?
• A message of thanks to all Service Canada workers
from Ray Strike, NHWU National President
• NHWU leads the way in addressing Key Performance Indicator
workload issues at Service Canada
Emotion-packed National Presidents’ Conference ends on an optimistic note
Posted May 29, 2007
The NHWU National Presidents’ Conference, held May 25-27 in Quebec City, was nothing if not eventful.
Group shot of Conference participants
As a result of the recent representation vote, it was the last such event before our Income Security Programs members are obliged to leave the NHWU to become part of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union.
Given that our ISP members had been teamed with the NHWU’s Health and Public Health Agency members since the founding of our union, the mood was indeed bittersweet.
National President Tony Tilley chairing the Conference
Most of us are familiar with the so-called ‘seven stages of grief’ – shock or disbelief; denial; bargaining; guilt; anger; depression; and, finally, acceptance and hope. To an observer, it appeared that our 75 delegates and observers managed to condense and ride this emotional roller-coaster to its completion in just three short days.
While Conference attendees had arrived in Quebec City in a funk, both sides of our union house left with a sense that it was time to focus on the future and ensure that we continue to ‘put members first’.
National President Tony Tilley, while himself an ISP member, has arranged to remain at the NHWU helm to oversee the critical weeks and months ahead.
Tilley will be working to ensure that our ISP members transfer to the CEIU under the best-possible terms and conditions.
Conference delegates at work
Of equal importance, Tilley and the National Office staff will be working to ensure our Health and Public Health Agency members continue to enjoy the quality of service and representation that has won the NHWU such loyalty from the membership over the years.
With nearly 4,000 members and a solid financial base, the NHWU is in sound shape for future growth. Health and PHA delegates met after the official close of the Conference to begin the process of providing the National Office with input on the future shape and structure of our union.
PSAC staff deliver a variety of skills-building presentations
All the above did not take away from the main business of the Quebec City Conference: to provide our Local leadership with skills development and networking opportunities.
In addition to updates on such issues as our active campaign for a new Department of Health and Seniors, delegates received a series of excellent presentations from specialist PSAC staff in the areas of health and safety, the Joint Learning Program, the Public Service Modernization Act and disability and pension issues.
An emotional Réjean Genest receives a NHWU Life Member award
Delegates also took the time to honour one of their own: Quebec Regional Vice-President Réjean Genest. National President Tilley conferred the title of NHWU Life Member on a clearly-emotional Genest, who has served our Quebec members with diligence and tenacity for an unprecedented eight terms – almost a quarter-century.
The celebratory mood surrounding this presentation neatly captured the overall spirit as the Conference came to a close. The NHWU can be proud of what we have accomplished together, and confident that the future remains bright.
Chatham protests over employer’s stonewalling of SDA-II and other grievances results in meeting with HRSD Minister
Posted May 26, 2007
What’s better than one successful protest? Two successful protests!
Twice within three days, members at Service Canada in Chatham, Ontario took to the streets to express their frustration over the employer’s handling of employee grievances, particularly the long-standing SDA-II grievances.
Picketers represented all classifications and levels. The result was copious media coverage, considerable employer embarrassment and…a face-to-face meeting with Monte Solberg, the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development.
Local 00037 President Dave Harris and executive members Jan Liberty and Elizabeth Cannon provided the Minister with a full briefing on the festering SDA-II grievance issue.
Solberg was amazed that a workplace issue could drag on for more than a decade and was quite receptive to the NHWU’s concerns. He also committed to getting back to our Local executive within the next several weeks.
The Solberg meeting came about May 24, after Local members learned the Minister would be in Chatham for a Conservative Party breakfast function. They mounted their second picket protest inside 48 hours to highlight the employer’s persistent delays and broken promises in resolving the SDA-II grievances.
The first protest, held during the lunch hour on May 22, had been put in place with great precision. Desk-drops, picket sign and a news release were all planned in advance.
Member participation was high, and concerns vocal. ‘11 years is long enough to wait!’ and ‘Give us an answer now!’ were typical picket sign slogans.
The employer embarrassment mentioned above was well-deserved. Phil Jensen, ADM of the Peoples and Culture Branch at Service Canada, repeatedly misled our union as to when an ultimate decision on the SDA-II grievances would be handed down.
Most recently, staffing supreme Jensen assured the NHWU that the last federal budget would in no way affect the resolution of this ongoing issue. Nonetheless, the employer missed yet another deadline. All the while, Jensen had the nerve to say he ‘understood’ the anxiety of our SDA-II members over the grievance outcome!
Well, we’re sick and tired of waiting. If the employer wants to play games with SDAs, Service Canada may well find the Chatham protests were not isolated incidents!
National Presidents Conference meets in Quebec City
Posted May 16, 2007
NHWU Local Presidents from across the country will meet in Quebec City late next week for three days of education and networking.
The regularly-scheduled National Presidents Conference is being held May 25 to 27. The weekend meeting provides our Local leadership with the opportunity to exchange views, share experiences and develop new representational skills.
As always, the Conference contains a high educational component. On offer this year are presentations on healthy and safety, the Joint Learning Program, the Public Service Modernization Act and disability and pension issues.
A Tale of Two (Union) Cards
Posted May 15, 2007
Pretty much everyone in the federal government knows you have to sign a membership card in order to officially join the union. In the case of NHWU members, our bargaining agent, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, provides a two-sided sign-up card.
But, on rare occasions, new members may be asked to sign yet another PSAC ‘union card’. So, what gives?
We’ve reproduced the two cards below. Let’s consider them one card at a time.
The above green, two-sided card – headed ‘PUBLIC SERVICE ALLIANCE OF CANADA’ – is the correct, official application form for union membership. It authorizes the employer to deduct union dues ‘at source’, that is to say directly from the member’s gross salary before issuing the net pay cheque. As well, it is a handy way to also seek a replacement membership card, or update membership information.
The second, black-and-white card – shown above – is headed ‘P.S.A.C. PAYROLL IDENTIFICATION’. This card is only signed by the new member if he or she is granting the department consent to disclose their home address to the PSAC.
Confusion can arise when a Local activist mistakenly uses the PSAC Payroll Identification cards as a substitute for the membership request card. A signature on this card does not confer union membership and, as the department was not involved, the card would not contain the mailing address information it was designed to share.
Service Canada representation vote: now what?
Posted May 7, 2007
To all NHWU members:
As most of you will know, the Canada Employment and Immigration Union has emerged with the greatest number of votes among Service Canada workers whose bargaining agent is the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
This was hardly surprising, given that CEIU has roughly three times as many Service Canada members as did the NHWU.
I want to thank all of our members for their support through the past difficult months. The NHWU had neither asked nor wanted this vote; it was thrust upon us. Nor, judging both by their percentage turnout and their support for the NHWU, did our Income Security Program members wish to change unions.
That said, the speed and success of the transition will depend on the goodwill of CEIU, the PSAC and the employer. I am hopeful that all will agree on the importance of ensuring that the members affected have a voice – a real voice – in how the transition is achieved.
Over the next few weeks, we will be discussing the next steps. In the interim, we will continue what the NHWU is all about: Putting Members First!
In solidarity,
Ray Strike
A message of thanks to all Service Canada workers from Ray Strike, NHWU National President
Posted May 2, 2007
Well, it’s all over but the counting.
The Service Canada representation vote of the past few weeks has come to a halt. Tomorrow, May 3, we will learn the results.
We in the NHWU, and especially the approximately 4,000 of our members who provide what we have traditionally called ISP services, neither sought nor welcomed this divisive vote. As the clear numerical underdog, we nonetheless set about communicating our philosophy, our approach and our services to all Service Canada workers.
Regardless of tomorrow’s outcome, I want to extend our sincere thanks…
…to those who took the trouble to become informed as to the stakes involved in this vote…
…to those who made it a point to vote…
…and to those who worked to ‘spread the word’ and served as vote scrutineers.
All of you are to be congratulated for your efforts to exercise a measure of control over your destiny. The above applies as equally to CEIU members as it does our own.
When the ballot counting is over, we can only hope that it is remembered that this vote was first and foremost about the best interests of the women and men we have the privilege to represent.
In solidarity,
Ray Strike
NHWU leads the way in addressing Key Performance Indicator workload issues at Service Canada
Posted May 1, 2007
Actions taken by NHWU Local 20017 in Victoria, B.C. to address workload issues resulting from Service Canada’s Key Performance Indicator are making waves nationally.
Our Victoria Local Executive saw clear evidence linking member efforts to meet KPI targets to inequitable workloads, burnout and compromised quality service to our clients. The Executive was further concerned that these issues were related to a 93 per cent monthly target that the employer had set for our Income Security Programs staff.
Thanks to our Local’s efforts, a Regional Sub Committee of the Regional Union Management-Consultation Committee was set up to address KPI’s destructive impact.
The work of this NHWU-initiated sub-committee has now caught the eye of senior Service Canada management in Ottawa, raising the possibility that any positive outcomes from the Victoria sub-committee’s work may be applied across the country.
Despite program differences (KPI targets are different for Employment Insurance matters), NHWU and the Canada Employment and Immigration Union have come together to share their common concerns.
While our union’s national motto is ‘Putting Members First!’, the initiative and hard work of the Local 20017 executive shows that this philosophy is true at every level of the NHWU!
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