May 2010

To all Members:

It is hard to believe that I am already half way in this my last mandate to lead this local. It has been a very busy year to say the least, and foresee a busy last half of the term. To do so I have the privilege of working with a lot of hard working members who do a lot of work on behalf of the membership. A lot of that work is done free of charge and on their own time, and that seems to get forgotten.

Scheduling is now a done deal, and although many of us are not happy with the result, contrary to popular belief a 6 and 2 is not the answer. Our scheduling committees all worked very hard to come up with the best possible schedule under the circumstances, and should be congratulated. No doubt for management to advise us that we would be getting  about 25 more officers just hours after the agreement was signed left a bitter taste in the mouth of many of our members. Someone knew and decided not to give us all the information and I will leave it to the membership what if anything they wish to do about it.

I have called two meetings for May 20th with the idea of starting the bargaining process as mandated by the PSAC. I am on the bargaining committee and only time will tell whether or not I will be one more time on the Bargaining Team in Ottawa next year. I urge you all to come to those meetings and let us know what kind of demands you would like to see in your new contract. We will have all the help and forms necessary for you to make your demand known. We have a meeting for the clerks and one for the officers as we need to keep their demands separate.

At this time I would also like to say thank you to all those members who are not part of the steward body or Executive body who step forward time and time again to help this union and its membership. You have it right, because a wrong to someone else is a wrong to you, and as this is YOUR UNION, it is up to all of us to do the right thing. These members stand up and rightfully believe it is up to all of us to make sure the contract is adhered to. As I am winding down not only my office but also my career, it will be up to our new and younger members to take up the fight. From experience I can tell you that unless you fight for it, it will not be given to you.

This will be our first summer without students and we will rely on you to tell us if your vacation has been refused, has something been done contrary to the contract. It will be a learning experience for all of us, and we do want to make sure mistakes are not repeated.

In Solidarity,

Fred Milligan

President

CIU Local #16

Niagara Falls