Thank you to everyone who sent us an email and shared how COVID-19 changed their workplace.

Last week we asked GSU members which measures and restrictions they thought should become temporary and permanent parts of the workplace routines as governments and employers re-open and navigate our new normal.

As promised, we conducted a draw from the replies we received, and the following five GSU members have each won a $100 gift card of their choice:

• Raelee Kearns (Local 2 – Viterra)
• Kaylee Kruger (Local 2 – Viterra)
• Mark Pankratz   (Local 1 – Viterra)
• Tasha Seitz  (Local 2 – Viterra)
• Jill Topham (Local 1 – Viterra).

We received a lot of valuable feedback and insight from GSU members. That helps us understand the issues you are facing so we can tailor our representation services. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns as your workplace adjusts to COVID-19 regulations and restrictions, please feel welcome to reach back out to your GSU staff representative and they will be happy to assist you.

The overwhelming majority of GSU members have continued to work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures. A number of members were able to work from home, but the predominant majority continued to report for duty at their usual workplace, albeit under dramatically different circumstances. 

Restricted access to work locations, physical distancing within workplaces, enhanced sanitation and hygiene as well as heightened awareness about personal wellness were hallmarks of the changed approach to work. Along with these measure came additional anxiety and stress as GSU members (like so many others on the front lines) worried about the health of their families, their own health, and juggled additional family responsibilities. 

Happily we can report that no GSU-represented workplaces experienced any cases of COVID-19 infection. And we once again acknowledge and thank all who were able to and continued to do their jobs. 

As governments and employers begin the “re-opening” process, which of the various workplace measures and restrictions do you think should become part of the so-called new normal? 

What do you think should become a new permanent part of workplace routines?

Send your email reply to us at  gsu@gsu.ca by 5:00 p.m. on June 1.

On June 2 we will conduct a random draw from the replies received for and five GSU members will win a $100 gift card of their choice.

Winners will be announced here on June 2.

On May 20 GSU Local 15 bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling sent an email update to Local 15 members. If you did not receive the update we don’t have your current email address in our database.

If you would like to be added to GSU’s database and receive updates like this one, send us an email at gsu@gsu.ca and let us know.

May 20, 2020

Greetings,

The Company and GSU are still in negotiations. The last time we met was on February 18 and 19 when Nutrien made an offer that GSU’s bargaining committee took away to consider. Since then normal planning for in person bargaining meetings and other union/management business has been overtaken by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are in the process of rescheduling bargaining with Nutrien, albeit in dramatically changed circumstances. 

The Company is trying to take some of the benefits you currently enjoy out of the Collective Agreement. Your bargaining unit has fought for and had these benefits incorporated as part of the Collective Agreement for many years. While from time to time they may have changed, however, the members had an opportunity to negotiate around those changes.

On wage increases GSU’s committee is pushing for guaranteed increases for employees in recognition of rises in the cost of living as opposed to solely aggregate or average wage increases that reward some, but don’t do much for so many employees.

The Company and the Union are in discussions to commence scheduling a resumption of bargaining in order to negotiate a settlement worthy of the commitment and hard work of GSU members. The Company is going to respond with dates and once something is scheduled I will advise you of this.

I understand this is a busy time for everyone, we are hopeful the upcoming bargaining meetings will produce an acceptable settlement, In the meantime during this busy time, stay safe and stay well.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding the bargaining or other workplace issues.

Sincerely,

Dale Markling
GSU Local 15 bargaining spokesperson / GSU Staff Representative
Grain and General Services Union
Dale@gsu.ca
306. 384.7314 office / 306.229.9299 cell

The departure of director Sharlene Tetrault to join GSU’s Joint Executive Council this spring left a vacancy on the union’s Defense Fund Board of Directors. This elected five-person board is responsible for overseeing the administration and investment of the fund assets (currently $4.5 million). The primary purpose of the fund is to provide income protection and assistance to GSU members who are engaged in a strike or lockout.

The vacancy was advertised within the GSU membership in April, and on May 15 the union’s Joint Executive Council elected GSU Local 14 (Richardson) member Barb Healey to the Defense Fund Board. Healey works for Richardson at their Edenwold facility. She joins current Defense Fund directors and fellow GSU members Wilfred Harris (Local 1 – Viterra), Darryl Knelsen (Local 1 – Viterra), Ron Gerlock (Local 8 – Advance), and Dennis Piasta (Local 14 – Richardson) to round out the board.

“We are grateful to Sharlene for her service and excited to welcome Barb to the Defense Fund board,” said GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner. “When members step forward to represent their fellow GSU members, it gives workers a collective voice and it strengthens the union.” Directors of the GSU Defense Fund are elected at the union’s biennial conventions.

Vacancies occurring between conventions are filled by candidates elected by the Joint Executive Council (JEC). Defense Fund directors must be members of GSU who are not also serving on the JEC.

On May 15 Local 7 members working for Heartland Livestock/Northern Livestock Sales voted 57 percent in favour of accepting the proposed memorandum of settlement. 

The three-year agreement includes a guaranteed wage increase for every unionized employee. 

Thank you to the GSU negotiating committee of Tyler Sherwood, Heather Mackay, and Donna Driediger for their work.

Members of AEA/GSU Local 8 working for Advance Tank Production Ltd. in Regina began participating in a work sharing program on May 11. The program affects 58 members and was precipitated by the turmoil in the energy industry as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Work sharing programs operate in conjunction with EI and must be approved by a majority vote of the workers affected. Under the particular program affecting the 58 AEA/GSU Local 8 members, employees will work rotating shifts of two days per week and collect EI benefits for three days per week. 

A big thank you goes to Mark Crawford of the Unemployed Workers Help Centre in Regina who was especially helpful in providing sound advice and answers to questions about navigating the EI system in this difficult situation.

After several in-person bargaining sessions, GSU’s bargaining committee of Heather McKay, Tyler Sherwood and Donna Driediger negotiated a settlement with Heartland Livestock representative Stewart Stone.  Members of GSU Local 7 (Heartland) will be voting on the tentative settlement on May 15.  

“With a few changes to current language and a wage increase equal to 2% of payroll in each year of a three-year contract, the committee agreed it was best for members to vote,” said GSU bargaining spokesperson and GSU staff representative Donna Driediger. 

Results of the vote will be released on May 19.

Tuesday Members’ Memo – May 5, 2020

GSU and Nutrien last met for collective agreement renewal bargaining on Feb. 19. While the parties are close to agreement in many respects, there are significant differences in a few key areas. 

The Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions have delayed the bargaining, but GSU bargaining spokesperson Dale Markling has contacted the company about returning to the bargaining table via a video format or in person. 

GSU is waiting for Nutrien’s reply.

GSU has been urging employers to show appreciation for the additional risk being experienced and the added effort of employees who are continuing to work in essential sectors of the economy. As part of GSU’s effort, general secretary Hugh Wagner wrote to Nutrien and Viterra on April 13. (Wagner’s correspondence is reprinted, below.)

Nutrien replied in writing on April 21 (read that reply below) and Viterra replied verbally on April 28. Both companies declined the employee recognition measures proposed by GSU or any additional recognition.

“I am disappointed with the response by these two employers,” said Hugh Wagner. “These are extraordinary times that call for a much better and more generous employer acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication of their employees.”

Trouw Nutrition and Grain Millers Canada Corp. step up

Click here to learn more about two employers of GSU members who have gone out of their way to acknowledge their employees’ commitment and dedication with more than just words. 

Correspondence with Viterra

from: Hugh Wagner
to: Angela Zborosky
cc: Josh Fink; Bill Roszell
date: Apr 13, 2020
subject: Employee Recognition During the COVID-19 Pandemic

April 13, 2020

Ms. Angela Zborosky
Director of Employee and Labour Relations
Human Resources
Viterra Inc.
Regina, SK

Re: Employee Recognition During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 Pandemic Canadians have recognized that there are sectors of the economy/society beyond the frontlines of health care that are also essential to our collective well-being. In response to the situation various employers have chosen to recognize the efforts of workers many of whom are going the extra mile to keep the system functioning.

In recognition of employees’ commitment and dedication during this difficult time I am writing to propose that Viterra award all employees a two (2) percent across the board performance increase to their rates of pay effective April 1, 2020 in addition to paying out incentive bonuses for the past year.

Furthermore, since access to dental and other healthcare services are unavailable or restricted at this time and bearing in mind that employees pay their share of benefit plan premiums until their last day of work I propose that the employee benefits plans be amended to continue coverage for employees who retire for an extended period of time.

I also propose that Viterra temporarily amend the employee benefits plan to provide coverage to seasonal and temporary employees commencing on their date of hire.

I would appreciate it if Viterra’s senior management team would consider the above proposals. I look forward to a reply.

Sincerely,

Hugh

Hugh Wagner  General Secretary
Grain and General Services Union (ILWU • Canada)

Correspondence With Nutrien

From: Hugh Wagner
Sent:  April 13, 2020
To: ‘Cheryl Skiba’
Cc: ‘Roger Bortis’; ‘Kelsey Schaeffer’ >; ‘Dale Markling’
Subject:  Employee Recognition During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Nutrien

Without Prejudice

April 13, 2020

Ms. Cheryl Skiba
Senior Human Resource Manager (Canada)
Nutrien Ag Solutions (Canada) Ltd.
Regina, SK

Cheryl,

Re: Employee Recognition During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 Pandemic Canadians have recognized that there are sectors of the economy/society beyond the frontlines of health care that are also essential to our collective well-being. In response to the situation various employers have chosen to recognize the efforts of workers many of whom are going the extra mile to keep the system functioning.

Notwithstanding the fact that GSU and Nutrien are currently engaged in agreement renewal collective bargaining, I am writing to propose that Nutrien, in recognition of employees’ efforts during this difficult time, award all employees a two (2) percent performance increase to their rates of pay in addition to paying out existing incentive bonuses  for the past year.

I also propose that Nutrien temporarily amend the dental care, prescription drug, vision care and healthcare portions of the employee benefits plan to provide coverage to seasonal and temporary employees commencing on their date of hire and to grandfather coverage (for an extended period of time) to employees who retire.

I would appreciate it if you and your colleagues would consider and reply to the above proposals.

Sincerely,

Hugh

Hugh Wagner  General Secretary
Grain and General Services Union (ILWU • Canada)

From: Cheryl Skiba
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2020
To: Hugh Wagner
Cc: Roger Bortis; Kelsey Schaeffer; Dale Markling
Subject:  Employee Recognition During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Nutrien

Without Prejudice

April 21, 20120

Good Afternoon Hugh,

Thank you for your email of April 13, 2020, and of earlier today.

I hope you and your colleagues and all families continue to be safe and healthy during this time.  We are happy to report that the Canada Region has remained COVID-19 positive free to date.  We believe our aggressive approach to this matter has served us well.  We are hopeful this pattern continues.

In response to your proposal, we offer the following:

• As Dale will confirm, at the bargaining table we were not in agreement to providing any standardized across the board increase.  Our position has not changed.
• As you know, the Incentive Program is not a term of the Collective Agreement and therefore Nutrien paid out all incentives, based on 2019 business results, on March 13, 2020.
• As you will see from our employee reports, we continue to hire, and do business as usual.  You will have probably heard in our local news that other industries are laying off a large majority of their workforce.  Even in the current environment, we see no need to make any changes to any of our benefit plans.  We continue to do business in the same fashion as pre-COVID-19 and can employ a full complement of temporary staff. We certainly hope this continues.
• With regard to any retirees, we are always open to having discussions with retirees about a potential in change their retirement date (as we have already experienced) or keep their retirement date as originally planned (which we have also experienced). 

We would like to suggest that we return to the negotiating table, so that we can continue down the path to finalizing an agreement. In light of our current environment, it will have to be in a digital manner such that we can maintain the social distancing.  I attach instructions for the platform that we use internally, as it can be used externally as well.  I ask that you and your team review and determine if this is doable for your group.  A lot of our external meetings (ie Nutrien’s AGM) are being held digitally, and believe where we are at in negotiations that this would be appropriate. If you have any alternative options, we are of course open to assessing those as well.

Finally Hugh, while I have indicated that Nutrien Ag Solutions has so far not been directly impacted by COVID-19, this may change. Given this, we think it is in both the employee’s interest, as well as the Company’s, to conclude negotiations sooner as opposed to later.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding our proposal to return to the table.

I did receive your voice mail on Friday, but just haven’t had a chance to return your call.  If you would prefer, once you have had a chance to review this email, let’s set up some time to discuss.

Thanks,

Cheryl Skiba, CPHR, CPM
Sr. Manager, Human Resources – Canada

Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in becoming a GSU Defense Fund director.

Applications are being considered and we will announce our newest director soon.

Archives:

We are accepting expressions of interest from GSU members who are interested in becoming a director on the GSU Defense Fund.

The board of directors of the GSU Defense Fund is responsible for overseeing the administration and investment of the Fund assets (currently $4.5 million). The primary purpose of the Fund is to provide income protection and assistance to GSU members who are engaged in a strike or lockout.

The board of directors meets three times a year by conference call and at least once per year in person. Time off work for directors to attend to Defense Fund business is paid for by GSU along with directors’ travel, meal and hotel expenses.

Members who are elected to the Joint Executive Council of GSU are not eligible for election to the Defense Fund Board of Directors. Of the five Defense Fund Directors, three are required to be from Local 1 (Viterra Ops/Maintenance) and/or Local 2 (Viterra Head Office) and/or Local 14 (Richardson) and/or Local 15 (Nutrien).

The current vacancy on the board is open to be filled by a GSU member in good standing who is employed in any certified GSU bargaining unit.

If you are interested in becoming a GSU Defense Fund director or learning more about the responsibilities of a director, contact GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner at Hugh@gsu.ca or 306.536.3414.

Deadline for receipt of application is April 30, 2020.

Tuesday Members’ Memo – April 28, 2020

Video and live stream conferencing have become part to the new normal as we adjust to the realities of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This is no less the case for unions and employers as they deal with grievances and arbitrations. GSU has proposed that consideration be given to using video conference to conduct a Local 4 (Grain Millers) grievance arbitration scheduled for early June. 

“With bans on gatherings of any size, a requirement to maintain physical separation, and public health measures we need to take into account, it makes sense to consider alternative approaches to the usual courtroom style that applies to arbitration hearings,” said GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner. “We don’t know what public health restrictions and safety protocols will be in place in early June, so rather than postpone the case I’ve raised the video conference idea with the arbitrator and legal counsel for the employer.” 

Wagner advises that the alternative he’s proposed for this particular grievance arbitration is being considered by the employer side and he hopes to receive an answer in the next few days.

Every April 28 we remember workers who have been injured on the job or who have died as a result of their work. 

In 2019, 36 Saskatchewan workers died because of their job. Many more work-related deaths aren’t counted by our workers’ compensation system. Working safely has taken on new meaning in 2020 as we face a pandemic that puts workers at risk every day.

We can’t gather together in person this year to pay tribute and honour those we lost, but several Saskatchewan Labour Councils have organized tributes online.

Regina & District Labour Council 
Virtual Vigil on Facebook live: Regina & District Labour Council – April 28, 5:30 p.m. 

Moose Jaw & District Labour Council 
A wreath will be placed at memorial at the Moose Jaw Union Centre and the videos will be shared on their Facebook page: Moose Jaw & District Labour Council

Saskatoon & District Labour Council 
View a video presentation on their website: SaskatoonDLC.ca

Weyburn & District Labour Council
Video for social media: Weyburn and District Labour Council

Remember workers killed, injured, or made sick on the job.

Work toward a future with safe workplaces and no lost workers.

This information was shared with GSU members by email on April 23. If you didn’t receive this email from us, it means your contact information is not current in our database. Please email at gsu@gsu.ca to update your information and authorize receipt of GSU emails.

On behalf of the Joint Executive Council (JEC) of GSU, I am pleased to present the 2019/2020 Annual Report to Members of the union.

This annual report was presented to and adopted by the JEC during its annual meeting on April 3, 2020. The report covers the business and finances of your union and we encourage all members to examine it thoroughly.

A copy of the annual report is available to read or download here:

• 2019/2020 Annual Report of the Joint Executive Council

Please feel free to contact a member of the JEC, the GSU staff or me if you have any questions, require clarification or want further information about the contents of the annual report or any aspect of GSU. 

We appreciate the opportunity to serve the members of GSU. Thank you for your support. 

Sincerely,

Hugh Wagner
General Secretary
Hugh@gsu.ca

Our friends at the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU Canada) have done a great job of pulling together a comprehensive list of COVID-19 references and resources, including information on financial support, rental support, provincial and federal updates, mental health services and more.

Check it out here: ILWU.ca

In the early days of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saskatchewan a GSU member found themself in a situation of having to self-isolate at home as a result potential exposure to the virus. The member contacted their manager with relevant information as soon as they became aware of the exposure.

The union member’s manager considered the facts provided and advised them not to come to work but to stay at home for the recommended 14-day quarantine period. The manager also said that the time away from work would be charged against the employee’s earned vacation credits.
The employee didn’t think it was fair to have their absence for work charged to vacation credits and contacted a GSU representative who raised the issue with the employer’s HR department. After several conversations it was determined that the work time missed by the employee as a result of self-isolation would be charged to the employee’s earned sick leave credits.

GSU provides the resources and expertise to sort matters out for union members. 

The facts and specifics of every workplace issue are important to the outcome. A GSU staff rep has access to information and can help gather all the facts and identify whether your rights have been violated.

Often a brief comment, email or meeting is all that is needed to address a situation. Call us when you think there is a problem to be fixed.