Nat iona l O f f i ce r s :

Donna Lac k ie

Nat iona l P re s i de n t

Jac k Gale

Nat iona l V i c e -P r e s i de n t

Bob Cameron

Nat iona l V i c e -P r e s i de n t

Lo r i Wal ton

Nat iona l V . P . Eq u i t y

Reg iona l VP ’s

NCR Reg iona l VP ’s :

Ron LeB lanc

Greg McGi l l i s

Marc Imbeau l t

John Jedra s ik

At lan t i c Reg iona l

VP ’s :

B i l l Wal sh

Randy Howard

Quebec Reg iona l

VP ’s :

Mélan ie Hame l

Lou i s Co t te

Ontar io Reg iona l

VP ’s :

Dav id Cunn ing

Dave Thomson

Weste rn Reg iona l

VP ’s :

Mart ine Babcook

A la in Cou rce l l e s

Pac i f i c Reg iona l VP ’s :

L inda Hard ing

Da le B landford

Volume , Issue

Summer 2015

Government Services UNION

President’s Desk Our members are facing a

year of many challenges. A

federal election and collective

bargaining are just two of the

challenges. But as we know

from the past practices of this

current government, our

members can expect a long

and arduous road with both.

Now that the writ has dropped

and we are at the beginning

of the longest election process

in modern history our members

need to clearly examine this

government’s policies and

work to defeat it. Collective

bargaining is a slow process

with many bargaining

demands… and our collective

agreements are not for sale!

We will not give up our hard

fought rights contained within

them.

I would ask all of our members

to check daily for updates on

the PSAC website, as well as

the GSU website for links to

important information that they

may need to know over the

coming months. As well, there

are many events planned

across the country to show

support for collective

bargaining that you will want

to attend and support. GSU

will ensure we keep our list of

these upcoming events posted.

In April Government Services

Union was represented by 18

delegates and 3 observers at

the Public Service Alliance of

Canada Convention. This

convention is held every three

years and provides us an op-

portunity to do the business of

the union, make changes to the

constitution and elect the

National President and

National Vice-President. Sister

Robyn Benson and Brother

Chris Aylward were both

acclaimed as National

President and National

Executive Vice-President

respectively and Brother Larry

Rousseau is the alternate

Executive Vice-President.

Also at the Convention the

members voted to allocate a

$5 million budget to fight the

Conservative government and

to create a national

advertising campaign. There

were many other resolutions

raised and debated amongst

the delegates concerning a

number of issues such as

gender expression, regional

health and safety committees,

area councils, the definition of

young workers, aboriginal

workers education as well as

creating a course on domestic

violence awareness.

Conventions are more than just

debating resolutions, however,

and to that extent there were

a number of powerful and

exceptional speakers starting

with Hassan Yussuff, President

of the Canadian Labour

Congress, Alex Himelfarb who

among other titles, is the chair

of the Canadian Alliance to

End Homelessness, and finally

Beatrice Vaugrante the

Executive Director of Amnesty

International Canada’s

Francophone Branch.

In May we held our Local

Presidents Conference and

National Council meetings in

Halifax. The Local Presidents

Conference is our once a year

gathering where we have the

opportunity to participate as a

component in education

sessions and to hear what is

going on in each local and in

each region. We were lucky to

have a brief presentation concerning the issue of mental health with Stephane Grenier, how it is affecting our members

and how the stewards are coping with the stress our members are facing in the workplace.

We also had a presentation and update about Unionware at the meeting. We announced the 4 locals that will be taking

part in the pilot process in using the new portal. This is scheduled to begin this fall and it will include two locals from the

NCR, one from the Atlantic, and one from the Western region.

Education and Local Development are very important elements of what we do as union activists and with this in mind we

will be focusing our attentions on the Miramichi Local as it continues to grow and expand with almost 300 new members.

We are also going to follow through with the next step in the mental health training with two sessions planned-one in the

NCR and one in the Atlantic with all training delivered by Stephane Grenier.

As local executives continue to change with new members moving into executive positions education is becoming more

important than ever. I strongly encourage all locals to send their executives on any and all PSAC training when it is of-

fered and encourage every local to check the regional website and our website for the links to the courses offered.

As I said earlier, at the PSAC convention a motion was passed to develop a campaign to help defeat the Conservative

Government. This government has been slashing jobs and fighting unions ever since it was elected and the PSAC ad cam-

paign that was launched just these past weeks across the country showed that to ordinary Canadians. As you have seen

the campaign has been a great national success with print, TV and radio coverage. There have been over 2 million

“views” with millions of “likes” on all social media. I was very proud to have been a part of the committee that selected

the company that led our campaign, they did an amazing job!!

You and your members have been coming out to the “19th” events over the past few months but we need to continue over

this last month of summer and fall leading up to the October election. And finally I want to remind everyone of the

importance of voting, having your voice heard, and doing your part as a Canadian to cast your ballot.

“You cannot complain if you do not vote”.

In Solidarity,

Donna Lackie

National President

GSU 2015 Bursaries Tuesday August 25th is the deadline for applications for our three

bursaries. Each bursary is worth $1,000.00 and the winners will

be selected by the Union Recognition Committee. The bursaries

are given to students who are enrolled in college or university

level courses and are a dependent of a GSU member in good

standing.

Our three bursaries are named after Brother Jim Williams who

was an activist in the union movement for over 22 years and

served in various positions; Sister Bonnie Robichaud who was able

to persevere through harassment and representation issues in her

career with the government; Brother A.F. Wood who was also an

activist and served for 12 years as Secretary Treasurer for Public

Works union before the merger.

Each of these members made a significant contribution to GSU

and to the union movement as a whole and we hope that the next

generation can continue their work.

Please go to the GSU website for

more information.

The clock is ticking on your sick leave sisters and

brothers, but be very aware that it is our pensions

that is the true target of this morally corrupt con-

servative government. Our employer has created an

illusion as to the value of our sick leave and has

cleverly used this benefit as yet another lie to garner

support from an antagonized and misinformed

general public. The big C in this conservative cabinet

stands for conman, and while the truth is out there,

such entities as the parliamentary budget officer, the

auditor general and Statistics Canada itself (all of

whom disagreed with the PMO) are discredited or

ignored, as all resemblance of parliamentary pro-

cess has been eroded away and replaced by the

PMO smoke and mirrors.

Our current pension is not gold plated. In fact the

average benefit is less than $25,000, nor is it a fis-

cal liability as claimed by the Harper spin doctors. In

fact the greatest jeopardy to the plan is that it can

be used as a slush fund and billions can be siphoned

off on a whim as did the previous liberal govern-

ments under Chrétien and Martin.

It is a direct benefit pension that has a fixed return

upon retirement. However members have to

contribute for 35 years in order to receive the

maximum benefit and the benefits are reduced dol-

lar for dollar upon receipt of the Canada Pension retirement

benefit. The relationship between the Public Service and the pub-

lic in general has been systematically weakened by this govern-

ment over the last 7 years and we have been demonized by our

own employers simply for adhering to our mutually negotiated

collective agreements.

We now face a public that has been conditioned and

programmed to reach for the lowest common level. The idea, “if I

don’t have it, you should not have it either” was not the Canadian

view prior to this government’s brand of reformed conservatism.

What Canadians should be asking is why don’t I have the same

benefits, and what is this government doing to help me in my

retirement? Seniors deserve more than false promises. This

government is not at war with the union, we are in fact only

collateral damage. This government is at war with public services

and clearly wants to bring in a “Service for Profit” system and

contract out our services to those who can afford to pay for them.

Now is the time to stand up and fight back for our benefits, for

our pensions and also for a free and accessible public service

that most of us have dedicated our adult lives to. We have to

become active. Call your MP and demand answers and

explanations for their policies; speak to your coworkers, family,

friends and call any and all retirees you know. Their pensions

and their lives are just as much at risk of being impacted by this

governments policies as our own.

Most importantly GET OUT AND VOTE and bring a friend or

two.

Sisters and Brothers we are a force to be reckoned with and

together we can stand up against any employer who has

abandoned fairness, honesty and most importantly the ethical

treatment of its own employees.

The battle must begin today.

The above article was reprinted from Tony Tilley, National

President of the National Health Union.

We’re on the Web!

Follow us at www.gsu-ssg.com

Contact Us!! Address: 705 - 233 Gilmour Street,

Ottawa, ON K2P 0P2

Telephone: 613 560 4395 Fax: 613 230 6774

Lackie, Donna

National President

Haywood, Bob

Advisor to the National President

Thomas, Maria

Assistant to the National President

Desrosiers, Monique

Finance and Administration

Laprade, Danielle

Assistant to the National Office

Michon-Hamelin, Paulette

Union Representative

Spencer, Craig

Union Representative

Ehler, Stephanie

Assistant to the Union Representatives

York, Jennifer

Technology Assistant

As we have all been told in school the

right to vote is a privilege that many

people have fought and died for

throughout history. The effects of not

exercising your right to vote can have

dire consequences on the country and

on certain elements of society.

More fundamentally for us, as

employees of the government, we are

actually electing our employer. This can

have a profound impact on our work

lives and our working conditions. This

election will decide if your employer

views you with respect and dignity or

will they use you as a political pawn to

support their agenda?

The government we now work for has

recently tabled the following legislation.

Bill C-10 - rolled back 1% of your negotiated wage increase (still before the Supreme

Court)

Bill C-4 - redefined “danger” in the workplace and made it harder to refuse unsafe work

Bill C-51 - the anti-terrorism bill that gave more power to CSIS to create a domestic spying

agency

Bill C-59 - Budget Implementation Bill that gave your employer the right to unilaterally

amend your sick leave provisions and replace them with a short term disability program

Bill C-377 - singles out unions to provide more detailed information to CRA

Bill C-525 - changes how unions are certified and de-certified.

If the same government regains power after October 19th there is no telling what they

will try to legislate next but probably high on their list will be your pension. They will

also continue to look at everything else in our collective agreements that their friends in

the private sector do not have: family related leave, personal days, and your vacation

leave quantum. Everything will be examined.

In order to protect your rights and benefits you

need to do a very simple thing - on October 19th

go out and vote for the candidate who will

defend your rights.