GSU LOCAL 8 STRIKE: A message of support from ILWU Canada national president Rob Ashton

Another day longer, another day stronger for our GSU Local 8 members who are on the picket line in Regina, SK, fighting for a fair deal.

Thank you to president Rob Ashton and our brothers and sisters in ILWU Canada for their support.

Farewell to the remarkable Jane McAlevey, who lost her battle with cancer at age 59

By GSU staff rep Mason Van Luven

I was fortunate enough in April 2022 to have a quick yet impactful exchange with the remarkable woman, organizer, and trouble-maker, Jane McAlevey (‘Mac-a-levee’), who recently lost her battle with cancer at the age of 59. 

A close friend and mentor of mine lent me a copy of Jane’s first book, “Raising Expectations and Raising Hell” (2012) which laid bare how she organized private healthcare workers in Nevada against hostile corporations, their sympathetic politicians, and the power struggles she had within her own union. It was evident that these workers were underpaid, overworked, and expected to provide quality healthcare in a company that made billions cutting costs to maximize profit.

Back then, I was not a union staffer. I was, however, beginning to think more deeply about working-class struggles, and how so few of us were ever told that we have the power to demand more. Looking back, her book – and the strategies she took to organize these workers – made me realize how contradictory organizing for power can be: on one hand, it is as simple as setting aside our differences and standing together to improve everyone’s lives, but on the other an almost herculean task bringing many people with differing interests together for the same goal. She was successful, so I guess that makes her an Organizing Hercules.

Some years later, I received a notification that I could register for Jane’s “Organizing 4 Power” course; a six-week intensive course on her methods to organizing working-people, with a network stretching across the globe. I applied, and was later grouped with people I had never met before. We then spent six weeks doing homework together, holding each other accountable, and talking about our own struggles at work. During one of those calls, Jane made a quick appearance to say hello, and to prod about what we had been discussing. In seconds she cleaned up our messy conversation, before fluttering back to do the same to another group.

I was starstruck. Her prose was direct, and she was open about her time in the movement. Nicknamed “Hurricane Jane”, as effective as she might have been as an organizer, her approach ruffled the feathers of her superiors in the movement who felt like she was going against the grain and outside her mandate. She was supposed to fly in, clean up a struggling local, and fly out. Instead, she organized en masse a chain of hospitals, made national news, and stirred the pot. The consequence of her leadership was that hundreds of workers saw an increase in pay, patient-to-staff ratios, and a whole host of dignity enriching benefits.

Apart from praising her impact on the labour movement (as well as bragging that I virtually met her), I want this article to entice people to Google her name. The sad reality is that the vast majority of workers in unions or not do not know her name. That is a shame, and indicative of a broader concern that workers do not know their own history. The struggles and conflict which led workers to organize in an economic and legal climate not too dissimilar to the one we live in today. It is because of them we have some semblance of balance between working most of our lives, and being able to live outside of work. Yet here we are considering having children return to the workforce, or re-introducing a 6-day work week[1].

She realized that, and acted accordingly.

She was an inspiration, an intellectual, and deserving of all the praise she ever got and will get.

If you are interested in reading McAlevey’s A COLLECTIVE BARGAIN book, contact the GSU office. 


[1] Quote from the article: “Unions in Canada fought to institute a shorter work week in 1872 and Lander said the five-day work week has not dampened productivity”, as rhetoric around economic growth and making workers work more has been around for centuries, even when the evidence is in the contrary.

GSU Defense Fund Board meets

(L-r) Wilfred Harris, Barry Zimmer, GSU’s general secretary Steve Torgerson and Accounting and Payroll Administrator Rebecca Forness, Lynn Shaw, Doug Kampman and Craig Reiman.

On June 20, the Board of Directors of the GSU Defense Fund met in Regina to conduct its business and ensure that the Defense Fund remains healthy. This group of elected officers meets several times throughout the year to review the growth of the fund, policies and guidelines necessary to manage the fund, and address requests from GSU Locals to access fund support during collective agreement renewal negotiations. The directors know that members’ money in the Defense Fund is important to balance the power of employers over employees during contract negotiations, and they work diligently to ensure the Defense Fund is there to help GSU members today and in the years to come.

This meeting marked the last for director Barry Zimmer, who has since entered retirement. Barry was a great asset to the board and his absence will be felt. We appreciate his service to his fellow GSU members and wish him a long, happy retirement.

The Board’s directors are elected at GSU’s biennial policy conventions. Interim appointments to fill vacancies are conducted by the GSU’s Joint Executive Council as required between policy conventions, and Council will address the vacancy created by Zimmer’s retirement when they meet in the fall.

Global Women’s Strike – June 2024

Protesting is a powerful way to bring people together, shine a spotlight on issues we feel strongly about, and work toward creating meaningful changes.

June 24, 2024 has been designated by women’s groups globally to visually demonstrate the contributions of women in the world. Different groups are focusing on different topics, but the overarching theme is working toward a world where women’s rights are recognized as human rights, every woman is able to achieve her full potential, and where women have access to all resources and are represented in decision-making positions on an equal basis with men.

Organizers of some protests are asking that women strike by not going to work or to school, and that they do not spend money (even one penny!) to demonstrate what a world looks like without the contributions of women. Those who cannot strike are being asked to wear red, encourage other women to do the same, and spread the word.

When an issue is important to us, it’s crucial that we fight for what we believe in to create meaningful change. Find opportunities to make your voice heard and be part of the changes you want to see.

Our Welcome Booklet for new GSU members will be available soon

Becoming a union member can be confusing, especially if you’ve never belonged to a union before. Even if you have previous experience working for a unionized employer, union structures and administration can vary widely.

Our new booklet will help new members navigate membership in GSU. We plan to have the final version at the printer next week and back in our hands before the end of the month.

If you need new-member booklets in your workplace, or if you or a co-worker are new GSU members and would like a booklet, please let your staff representative know. 

How the UAW organized in anti-union country

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

 Abstract: Those curious about the development of organized labour watched in awe as the UAW successfully organized the only non-union Volkswagen auto plant in the world. They did this after two failed attempts, and in an environment where business wields significant authority over local economies. Unbeknownst to a lot of workers looking for inspiration, this successful effort came after rank-and-file members reformed their union; chasing out corruption and ineffective leadership. Rather than cast away their union cards, they turned to democratize their union, and have benefited from record wage increases, and a growing appreciation for the power workers hold.

Twice before, the United Auto Workers (UAW) had tried and failed to unionize the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A decade later, many of the same workers, who were inspired by the union’s ability to win against ‘the Big 3’ automakers, voted overwhelmingly to support the union, turning the company’s sole non-union plant (on Earth) into a UAW shop. Cited professor Josh Murray shines light on what led to this change, calling what the UAW accomplished against Ford, Chrysler, Stellantis – the Big 3 – and now Volkswagen as the “politics of possible”: once there is evidence that a movement can win, it then leads to future successes. People who were otherwise demotivated now have an example that what they want is possible, and become inspired to act on it.

Rolling on from this victory, the UAW, having collected enough ‘union cards’ to call for an election, is slated to have Mercedes workers in Vance, Alabama vote to become a UAW shop by May 17. The hope is the UAW, and another group of workers, find success by coming together and demanding better.

Understanding the breadth of this success in a deeply hostile, anti-union environment starts with the workers on the shop floor who, twice before, opted to vote against the union and to entrust the company to resolve their problems. What changed was the pandemic economy; the success of the UAW; the efforts inside the union to snuff out corruption; a new influx of investment and younger-workers; and ignored promises by the company created the concoction necessary for workers to find the courage to organize themselves into a bargaining unit.

When workers come together, anything is possible.

Most of us join already certified bargaining units that are – like many of our GSU contracts – decades old. We are then a generation or two away from the first effort, led by workers, to certify our union, and the reasons why they did it. Yet we benefit from their efforts.

To win that sort of legal recognition today, workers climb a long, steep, and treacherous hill to their first contract. The ‘politics of possible’, namely with organizing unions, has been hindered purposefully by legislation which puts worker organizers’ jobs on the line, face hostility and threats in the workplace, and the company in a place to drag out negotiations for years, stiffing workers on getting their first contract. This, combined with employer efforts to scare, intimidate, threaten, or bargain with individual employees to undermine the collective efforts, leads many workers to not bother democratizing their workplace (https://www.epi.org/publication/union-membership-data/.)

This is what makes this UAW victory in Tennessee so remarkable.

What happened the last time around?

First, in 2014, when the UAW first announced that it would attempt to organize the Chattanooga plant, Volkswagen silently supported their efforts, considering the German automaker had, at every single one of their other plants (even in Mexico), some form of worker representation. They invited the UAW in which resulted in a petition to unionize skilled trades responsible for the plant.  The petition was successful, but they lost the broader election. One of the most cited reasons for this was not because of an aggressive employer campaign, but as the result of Senator Bob Corker suggesting that if workers chose to unionize, they would see tax incentives withheld from the company and their new SUV line with them. This implication, according to the organizers at the time, persuaded or scared enough workers away from voting for the union.

In 2019, the UAW tried to unionize the facility again. Almost on queue, it was Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee who came to the company’s rescue, who pleaded with the workers during a coordinated facility visit that to join the union would mean job loss. Volkswagen changed their tune towards the union, too, and hired a union buster which drafted anti-union leaflets to be provided by middle-management, and a general crackdown on pro-union campaigning on company property.

After two failed attempts, all the UAW had accomplished was a minority union made up of skilled trade workers – Local 42 – which continued to advocate for workers organizing throughout the decade. They made little progress with their peers, until the conditions in the company changed.

Broken Promises, and a reformed union

Before the second vote in 2019, worker organizers thought it was an opportune time to try again to unionize their peers. This was until their own union let them down. 

Starting the investigation in 2019, the highest echelon of union officers, members, and executives in the UAW were investigated and later arrested by federal authorities who were caught perpetuating a mass conspiracy of embezzlement, kickbacks, and bribes by the employer. Deciding to vote for a union which had its most powerful officers accused of siphoning union dues for personal gain was the figurative nail in the coffin for the 2019 vote.

In the UAW proper, the same nail in the coffin for the Volkswagen organizing drive, had the opposite effect amongst a group calling themselves Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD). They called for mass-democratization in the UAW, the end of all tiered pay structures, a more aggressive, member-driven form of negotiations, and most importantly, the end of corruption. The most notable change to institute the end of corruption was a referendum for “one member, one vote” to elect their union’s leadership.

Elected along with the reform group was President Shawn Fain, the now famous UAW leader who motivated his membership to take on the Big 3, with an ambition to unionize all automakers in the South. Through his efforts and the UAWD, workers who previously opposed the union changed their mind. Caleb Michalski, a safety lead, was one of those workers.

This meant, that by the time the UAW had finished negotiations or striking against the Big 3, the workers in Chattanooga were again piqued by these obvious reforms, and after safety requests and promised pay improvements were not respected by the company, the workers had enough, and voted overwhelmingly to have UAW represent them. 

Workers and unions need to maintain their Independence

By GSU general secretary Steve Torgerson

In the long history of labour relations, unions and organized workers have long been regarded as places of strength and solidarity, fighting tirelessly to protect people’s rights and interests in the face of corporate power. However, as the landscape of labour evolves, so too do the challenges we face, particularly when it comes to maintaining the independence and integrity of our unions.

Unions have always fought for improvements to working conditions and the betterment of society at large. The ways working people and their unions do this work is through advocacy, lobbying, collaboration with other like-minded organizations and continually pushing the agenda of working people – a fair and safe day of work for a fair day’s pay.

Unions have to be careful and not get entangled the agenda of business or political entities, often at the expense of their members. It often starts with compromise and concession as we push to move our cause forward. However, the lines between advocacy and appeasement can blur, and the essence of trade unionism is tested.

Imagine a scenario where GSU is called upon to endorse company decisions that directly undermine the rights and well-being of workers. Perhaps it’s longer hours without adequate compensation, cuts to essential benefits, or even layoffs disguised as “restructuring,” but in return the company would guarantee that all other members would be left alone. In the face of such challenges, the temptation to compromise can be strong, especially when pressured by management or influenced by political agendas.

But let’s pause to consider the potential impacts of such actions. When unions are co-opted to justify decisions that harm their own members, the very trust and credibility upon which they rely are eroded. Workers who once looked to their union as a place of power and solidarity may now question its commitment to their interests. Disillusionment sets in, leading to disengagement and apathy.

Moreover, internal dissent festers when the voices of workers in their union are silenced or sidelined in favour of backroom deals and secret negotiations. As union members, we entrust our representatives with the duty of advocating fiercely on our behalf, not sacrificing our rights at the altar of expediency or convenience.

Co-opt – to divert to or use in a role different from the usual or original one.

This idea of being co-opted is something that GSU thinks about as an organization, but we also think about it for our individual members. Companies, Associations, and political parties may try to co-opt the union, just as politicians and groups will try to co-opt GSU members.
GSU and its membership must never forget our fundamental role is to make workplaces better, fight for others so they can have what we have and support of communities as the places that house our society. As we engage in politics, lobbying or participating in associations or groups, we must not let this change our bedrock priorities. If we begin trading favours, or ignoring some bad to accomplish some good, we put in jeopardy our purpose. If we go down the road to being co-opted, we leave a lot to be risked.

First and foremost, unions risk the erosion of trust and credibility among union members, and this cannot be overstated. As workers, we risk this same erosion of trust and credibility among our friends, family and members of our communities. How can we continue to support an organization or person that fails to adhere to their beliefs?

Furthermore, internal dissent inevitably brews when workers’ voices are drowned out by the clamor of compromise. As union members, we expect our representatives to be unwavering in their commitment to our cause, and unswayed by the allure of backroom deals, secret negotiations, or trading tomorrow for today.

Let us not forget the fundamental principles upon which the labour movement was founded: solidarity, empowerment, and the unwavering belief in the power of collective action. These are the same values our parents and grandparents had when living in their communities and cities. We must let these values guide us in our quest for justice and equality in the workplace and our homes.

As we navigate the maze of co-optation, let us remain vigilant in our defense of union independence and you, its members. We, the rank-and-file members, must hold ourselves accountable and demand transparency and accountability in all our dealings.

GSU will work to not allow itself to be co-opted by business or government, even if it means making the hard choices and maintaining our focus on our members. And I ask you all to do the same. When someone from some group comes to you offering you something today by selling out something for tomorrow, think twice. Think about what happens if you vote for a person or party that promises something you want now but also has policies that will harm you or your community tomorrow. Making the right choice is not easy and it is not made quickly, we all must ask questions and consider the consequences of our actions and not bow to pressure to change our belief that workers deserve a fair work, prosperous lives and to return home safe each day.

Together, we can continue to maintain the true essence of trade unionism – a force for positive change and a strong voice against the forces of exploitation and oppression in our society.

Labor Notes Conference 2024, April 19 to 21

by GSU staff rep Mason Van Luven

With a delegation from ILWU Canada and their Young Workers’ Committee, I was given an opportunity to attend North America’s largest trade union biannual conference organized by Labor Notes, a labour media and organizing project which has “… put the movement back in the labor movement since 1979”. This conference was held in Chicago, and it brought together thousands of trade unionists from across the globe to attend workshops and lectures explicitly about winning against our employers and government (which can also be an employer), but also about reforming your union from the bottom-up. Starting on April 19 and finishing on April 21, I was able to hear from trade unionists talk about or explore a number of issues facing the working-class, and how their independent struggles with management, corporations, and even fellow workers were woven together with other trade unionists for us to learn from one another.

What struck me the most about this conference was how rank-and-file members across the
country, across industries, and across different unions were organizing themselves to ensure
that their union was all about one thing: a member-led militancy.

Business Unionism – an important part of your history.

So commonplace is business unionism, many workers – those in unions included – have likely never heard of the alternatives to how a union ought to operate. So often, too, are workers not shown their own history, so by the time they join the workforce they are left without knowing how powerful their labour, if organized with other workers, can actually be.

With reform being the general theme of the conference, what many of these trade unionists
were doing in their own unions was paying homage to the great worker-led struggles of history, and attempting to turn their union away from business unionism, an idea of union bureaucracy devised and then popularized in the post-war era.

Before then, unions had minimal means to be legally recognized in the workplace, which motivated unions to organize more broadly, stretching their efforts into the community. Workers, having no seat at the table, had to demand improved wages through other means – such as job action – instead of at the collective bargaining table we are familiar with today. This resulted in unions which were aggressively member-led, built on mass coalitions around progressive issues to curb employer presence in the media, the community, and in public office.

In the post–war era, things changed. With the federal government applying an emergency P.C. 1003 in 1944 which protected workers’ right to organize, employers were then also required to recognize their workers’ chosen union. This legally strengthened their legitimacy in the workplace, and for the first time in Canadian history, workers thought they could truly sit across from their employers as equals.

This changed the ethos of the labour movement. No more did members have to organize
themselves, parade in the street, publish their own work, or ever worry about poverty. Those in the movement who believed workers should not turn away from their roots, were snuffed out. This, over a generation, took the movement out of the labour movement, as teams of professional staff got cozy with the company with the promise of curbing their members from
mass participation in the workplace, in the political arena, and even in their communities.
This is when union membership became more about it being an insurance policy than as a
means to empower a worker to improve their lot in life while also improving the lot of others.

Reform is coming, and it is working.

I cannot stress how impactful listening to other worker struggles were on me. One session in
particular, entitled “How We’re Turning Our Union Around”, had a Business Agent (which is
equivalent to my role as a Staff Representative) decide to quietly root for a reform caucus in his Teamster Union called “Teamsters for a Democratic Union” (TDU). This was after it was
unveiled that for years executive officers had been finding ways to get allies elected, and selling off union assets to give themselves wage increases. Once his support was shared with these officers, his career was purposely ended a year short of qualifying for retirement. Rather than quit, he kept on fighting with the TDU, which led to a TDU slate being elected, these corrupt officers removed, and a return to an aggressively member-led local.

The same was evident in a meeting with the same UAW workers who took on the Big 3
automakers this past year, and won remarkable victories in the media and for their collective
agreement. TDU, and their impressively organized reform caucus, led the charge on similar
gains against UPS. I heard from teachers and public sector workers who had to literally fight
against elected state representatives, governors, and councilors to make modest gains at the table, whose re-election bid was dependent on “sticking it to these workers”. I heard from
graduate students who saw their tuition rates skyrocket while their teacher/research assistant hours were cut by school administrators. Most impactful by far was listening to the nurses and doctors (yes, doctors are in unions) who were forced to triage patients with minimal resources and staff while administrators cut costs to improve shareholder returns.

(Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRJ1LNHd13w)

Again and again, I heard examples of when workers decide that enough is enough and decide to cast away their apathy to join forces with co-workers, their lives literally improve. The first leap for many of them, after being frustrated union members for years (and sometimes decades) was getting involved.

What did I learn from this conference?

Education, education, and education. Absent a solid curriculum for workers to learn about their history, seeing beyond our own workplace or career experience does not come naturally. We are all underpaid and overworked, yet we – the collective – refrain from coming together to admit this fact. This is nothing new; what has changed is the current circumstances we find ourselves in.

Another lesson I learned was that no one is apathetic. We all care deeply about something or someone; we just sometimes need a nudge to put that care into improving our workplace, or for our care to point in the right direction. We will spend the majority of our lives working and a lot of that time with the same people. Yet if those relationships are not tapped into, and then organized, that group of workers are leaving a lot of power untapped which could be utilized to improve their material conditions. If you are unionized, to expand on this point more, an important aspect of your membership is to give you the opportunity to be more bold with management, to stick your neck out to advocate for ways to improve your workplace.

From that lesson, I learned that divisions amongst workers is what keeps us weak. We find these specific if not meaningless things to keep us from engaging with other workers, which has the intended effect of keeping us disorganized. Worse yet, some workers use those divisions to their advantage, therein playing a game with the boss the boss plays better. Again, I heard from trade unionists across the world who fight with peers that would rather sell everyone out for a nickel, when coming together could mean everyone gets a dime.


Conclusion

Hope is not lost. The working-class, which is increasingly inclusive of those who can barely feed themselves, have the collective power they once had. The barriers to accessing them are new or reformed (e.g. a growing anti-union consultancy industry), but are nothing we cannot overcome. What we do have to overcome is the division we place amongst ourselves. Whether it is by age, skin colour, ethnicity, or any other minor difference we can find. Another is discarding whatever apathy we have, tapping into what we care for, and doing so to improve the lot of others.

Your union is merely the representation of our charter right to participate in a free society, and serves as a permanent organization which legitimizes our fight and provides permanent
resourcing for it. As proud as these trade unionists I met were of their union, they were not “union members first”, they were “whole workers” who tapped into the power of their union – an organization which finds its strength from its membership.

What I participated in:

Workshops I participated in:

  1. Building a Member-Organizer Program

    Plenary Sessions:
    • How We’re Turning Our Unions Around
    • Using Popular Education to Rethink Trainings
    • Organizing in ‘Right-to-Work’ states
    • Burnout: What can we do about it together?
    • Coordinated Bargaining with a Common Employer
    • Canadian Workers’ Meeting
    • Organizing Remotely and Organizing from Square One

      Watch live sessions here: https://www.youtube.com/@labornotes/streams

    2024 Annual Day of Mourning, April 28

    The day of mourning is a memorial ceremony across Canada, where members of the labour movement come together to remember and mourn the victims of workplace injuries and who have died because of workplace incidents, accidents or exposure to harmful substances. We come together to remember their sacrifice, and to renew our pledge to urge governments and employers to improve the health and safety standards in the workplace, and workers compensation benefits in the workplace.

    By remembering those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of work, we remember that it could have been us. It could have been our loved ones that we lost because of inadequate health and safety standards in the workplace. We come together to show our support for the ones left behind. We come together to show our solidarity. To stand next to our fellow workers, to stand up for ourselves and mostly we stand up to ensure that the future is safer for all.

    A list of Saskatchewan services is available here.

    An injury to one is an injury to all.

    Do you know your collective agreement rights?

    Aside

    Spring brings temporary, casual, term employees and Co-op students into GSU. Our staff reps are helping them learn more about their rights and benefits as union members.

    For first-time union members, having employment information set out in a collective agreement is a new experience. To better understand your collective agreement benefits and rights available while working for a unionized employer, speak to a GSU staff representative.

    GSU staff rep Brian Lark has been helping new GSU members understand their rights as union members.

    “All GSU members have the right to fair representation no matter what their employment status is. We are here to provide that,” Lark said. “Most of our collective agreements contain language that pertains to temporary, casual or term employees. These employees are dues-paying members and they deserve the coverage and compensation that all GSU members are entitled to.”

    Lark cautions that not all collective agreements or all employers are equal, and available benefits may fluctuate from employer to employer and agreement to agreement.

    If you are a new or seasoned member of GSU with questions about your collective agreement or the benefits and rights you are entitled to, contact a GSU staff representative.

    Our assistance is paid for by your union dues. There is never an additional charge for assisting you and no limit on the number of times you can seek assistance and advice. Reach out to us any time you have questions or a problem that needs to be addressed. We offer the support you need and we will never contact your employer or take action on your behalf without your approval or consent.

    Call us toll-free at 1.866.522.6686 (Regina) or 1.855.384.7314 (Saskatoon)

    Our Joint Executive Council Annual Report has been shared with members

     

    Check your email for a copy of GSU’s Joint Executive Council Annual Report to members. If you didn’t receive a copy by email you are not on our email list, and you can review the copy below:

    The report includes GSU’s audited financial statements for 2023 and an update on our work throughout the past year demonstrating what we can achieve when we work collectively. Member engagement and involvement are paramount to our continued success.

    Please make time to review this report thoroughly. Your understanding and insight into our financial health and operational activities are essential for informed decision-making and strategic planning, so don’t hesitate to contact any member of your Joint Executive Council or general secretary Steve Torgerson if you have any questions or concerns. 

     

     

    GSU’s 2024 new-officer training held online

    On March 6, 2024, 13 newly-elected GSU officers and stewards gathered online for training. This round of training was similar to last year’s new-officer training with one addition: emphasis on where unions receive their greatest strength and power.

    “Sometimes we equate power with wealth and how that wealth exerts influence on people and society, and money does have that effect,” said GSU general secretary Steve Torgerson. “But unions have always received their power and strength not from money, but from the influence and work of their members.”

    Everyone recognizes that a group of people can work together to achieve more than they could separately. It’s a good to keep reminding ourselves to see the union in that light.

    Members are the union, and members are the fuel that drives their union’s collective purposes forward. This concept becomes clear by replacing the word “union” with “us” or “we” when discussing the work GSU is doing.

    This is our third year of focused new-officer training. We’re already excited about next year’s training as we keep improving the content and delivery to better help our elected officers to assist GSU members.

    It’s March 8 ~ Happy International Women’s Day!

    Happy International Women’s Day!

    This is an event observed across the world every year on March 8. It is a day to acknowledge and celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and girls, and to raise awareness on issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights and violence against women.

    The labour movement has always fought for stronger wages, better working conditions and pay equity for its members. Many unions have developed strategies to combat racism, sexual violence and harassment in the workplace. But there’s still work to be done.

    Women are still more likely to be the victims of violence and harassment, especially if they are young, persons with disabilities, a visible minority or a member of the LGBTQ2+ community. One in three women worldwide will be subjected to physical or sexual violence during her lifetime.

    The theme of this year’s IWD is Invest In Women: Accelerate Progress, Show your support for women’s rights. Use the hashtags #IWD2024 and #InvestInWomen in your social media posts and use this day to celebrate the achievement of women in our workplaces, in our communities and in our friendships.

    Graphic and Story Credit to Maverick Studios, the graphic and design business owned by former GSU member and officer Michelle H.

    Don’t answer work calls when you are sick, on personal time away from work, or not actively working

    We're working on it!

    Regardless of the employer or the season, GSU staff representatives consistently handle calls from members who are stressed about receiving work-related calls during their time off, vacations, or sick leave.

    In response, our representatives offer a straightforward piece of advice: if you’re not at work, on call or on standby, don’t answer the phone.

    “You are not obligated to take or reply to calls when you are sick, enjoying your personal time away from work and not actively working for the company,” said GSU staff representative Mason Van Luven. “This fundamental principle is reinforced by collective agreements, empowering our members to maintain a healthy work-life balance and assert their right to uninterrupted time away from work obligations.”

    Van Luven advises “Members need to use the latitude their collective agreement offers. If you don’t use it, you leave the door open for management not to respect it.”

    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. Contacting GSU does not mean you are obligated to file a grievance. We are here to assist you in any way that we can, but we will not contact your employer, file a grievance or act on your behalf without consultation, direction and approval from you.

    BILL C-58: Federal government introduces legislation to ban use of replacement workers

    Canadian unions are welcoming the federal government’s introduction of Bill C-58, legislation to ban the use of replacement workers. This legislation will curtail the use of replacement workers in any federally-regulated industry during strikes or lockouts.

    Free and fair collective bargaining without the threat of replacement workers taking striking workers’ jobs is the best way to reach good collective agreements and maintain stable workplaces. Eliminating the option of using replacement workers also discourages practices that exploit non-unionized workers who are desperate for employment.