Campus Chairs Update February 5, 2015

Brothers and Sisters, 

SFL charter challenge 

SGEU celebrates monumental decision! After three levels of legal review and eight years of litigation, the Supreme Court of Canada have ruled the Saskatchewan Party government’s Public Service Essential Services Act (Bill 5) is unconstitutional.  SGEU News Release

SGEU anti-privatization campaign 

All SGEU members should have received information from SGEU regarding our anti-privatization campaign. Please support your local SLGA store. Proceeds from public liquor sales return to our communities to help fund public services including education. Keep Liquor Public

Continuing education re-organization 

Recently an institute-wide meeting was held to discuss changes to the continuing education areas. Your bargaining chair, Shawna North, will be sending out an email to affected members. 

Fiscal restraint 

With the recent distribution of the fiscal restraint criteria and process information, members should advise their campus chairs if they are taking on additional workload due to vacancies not being filled. We want to make sure that our members have a manageable workload through this process. Your health and wellbeing is important. Homewood Health (EFAP Provider)

In solidarity, 

Shawna North 

Bonnie Bond 

Deb Zawada-Wiebe 

Terri Wale 

Ellen Leaman 

January 2015 Campus Update

Brothers and Sisters,
We are encouraging all our members to attend the upcoming round of campus meetings to discuss this year’s employee engagement survey. The dates and locations are:

Regina Campus
Monday, January 12
11:30  12:30 pm &
12:30    1:30 pm
Auditorium

Moose Jaw Campus
Tuesday, January 13
11:30  12:30 pm &
12:30    1:30 pm
Macoun Lounge

Prince Albert Campus
Wednesday, January 14
11:30   12:30 pm &
12:30    1:30 pm
Gymnasium, Tech Ctr

Saskatoon
Admin Offices
Thursday, January 15
9:00   10:00 am
SPAO 4th Floor
Boardroom

Saskatoon Campus
Thursday, January 15
11:00  12:00 pm &
12:00   1:00 pm
Idylwyld Dr
Room 317

The bargaining committee would like to remind members that if there has been a significant change in duties or responsibilities or five years have passed since your last evaluation you should be speaking to your immediate supervisor about revising your JIQ. Please refer to collective agreement article 13 or speak to your steward or campus chairperson for more information.

We are looking forward to our first union management meeting as per our letter of agreement. We will be having candid discussions about issues of concern brought to the meeting by both parties. We will report back to you on these discussions through this update.

In solidarity,
Shawna North
Bonnie Bond
Deb Zawada-Wiebe
Terri Wale
Ellen Leaman

Campus Update December 2014

The JEC Renewal Committee will be re-convening in the New Year. Our members
are Marie Callbeck, Ryan Greyeyes, Lyle Howat, and Ellen Leaman. Your
bargaining committee is meeting with management on January 14th to discuss the
priorities and review the process.

We are waiting for the Employer to finalize the process and send a letter to all
members regarding the part time pension lawsuit.

The Representative Workforce Committee has been established and our
representatives are Thomas Rush, Lynn Parenteau, and Amy Schlechte.

Observer training for stewards who attend pre-lims and interviews will be held in
the New Year.

Members are starting to report that they are expected to do more and more with
the same number of people while the employer adds more out of scope positions.

Your bargaining committee is working to resolve pay issues that casual and part
time members are having. If you are having pay issues, please contact your
campus chair.

Campus chairs will be attending employee engagement presentations at each
campus in January. Dates are posted on mySaskPolytech. We encourage all
members to attend.

Have a safe and happy holiday. We hope you enjoy your time with family and
friends.

In Solidarity,
Shawna North
Bonnie Bond
Ellen Leaman
Terri Wale
Deb Zawada Wiebe

Campus Update October 2014

Campus Chairs Update
October 2014

Collective Bargaining Agreements
Everyone should now have a printed copy of our current collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Contact your supervisor or local HR office if you don’t have a copy.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic
With the changing of our institute’s name from SIAST to Saskatchewan Polytechnic, our bargaining unit won’t be impacted by this. Our official name of “Professional Services Bargaining Unit” doesn’t reference our employer name.

Extended Health Plan
We had our annual meeting with HR and a representative from Mercer to review our extended health plan. We continue to operate with a surplus. If you are interested in seeing the report, contact your local chair.

Letters of Understanding (LOU)
There are a number of LOU’s in the collective agreement which deal with establishing various committees that we are working on. More details will be forthcoming.

Long Service Events
Your local campus chairs look forward to celebrating our members’ long service at each city this fall.

Next Meeting
The next bargaining committee meeting is scheduled for November 12 and 13 in Regina.

Yours in solidarity,
SIAST Professional Services Bargaining Committee
Bonnie Bond
Ellen Leaman
Shawna North
Terri Wale
Deb Zawada-Wiebe

September 2014 Campus Update

Your professional services bargaining committee members for the next two years are:

Shawna North PSBU Chair
Bonnie Bond, PSBU Vice-Chair and Chair Kelsey/SAO Campuses
Ellen Leaman, Chair Palliser Campus
Terri Wale, Chair Wascana Campus
Deb Zawada-Wiebe, Chair Woodland Campus

We would like to thank Terri Hamill for all of her work on the bargaining committee for the past two years.

Meetings
Your bargaining committee has resumed meetings after a summer break. We will be meeting in Prince Albert on October 6 & 7, Regina November 12 & 13 and Saskatoon December 8 & 9.

Committee Vacancies
Emails have been sent out asking for representatives for the following:
One (preferably male) representative for the job evaluation committee (JEC). Deadline for nomination is September 18.
One representative from Palliser and one representative from Wascana for the JEC Renewal Committee. Deadline for nomination is September 25.
Please contact your local chair if you are interested.

Pension Plan Lawsuit
Members who started their employment with SIAST on a part-time, end-dated basis and did not opt out of contributions to PEPP, may be eligible to participate in the upcoming part-time pension lawsuit. Please watch for more detailed information to be forwarded as it becomes available.

Annual AGM
MARK YOUR CALENDAR!! All members are encouraged to attend the annual general meeting of the SGEU Education Sector on October 25, 2014 in Saskatoon. Registration information will be forwarded as soon as it is available.

We look forward to seeing you at the meet and greet events being held at each campus this fall.


Yours in solidarity,
SIAST Professional Services Bargaining Committee
Bonnie Bond
Ellen Leaman
Shawna North
Terri Wale
Deb Zawada-Wiebe

JEC Notetaker Required

This is a call for nominations for a male representative (notetaker) from Professional Services to sit on the Job Evaluation Committee.

The Job Evaluation Committee evaluates all new jobs and any jobs where there is a significant change in duties or responsibilities. It consists of 3 PSBU reps and 3 SIAST management reps.

As per article 13.1.2 of the CBA, representatives on this committee “shall be granted leave with pay as required in order to prepare for and participate in the meetings”.

The Job Evaluation Committee is a three year commitment. The first year is as a non-voting notetaker to allow you to become familiar with the process. Years two and three are as a voting member. Committee meetings are one or two days, dependent on the number of jobs to be evaluated.

Nominations will close on September 18^th. If you are interested in this position please contact your local campus chairperson.

SIAST Welcome Back Meet and Greet Events

The PSBU bargaining committee will be attending these events as our schedules allow. Hope to see you there.

The events will be held from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. at each campus as follows:

Woodland Tech Centre Cafeteria Wednesday, September 3

Palliser Cafeteria Thursday, September 4

SAO 3rd Floor Staff Room Monday, September 15

Kelsey Cafeteria Monday, September 22

Wascana Cafeteria Wednesday, September 24