1

On the whole 2010 will not go down as a record-breaking year for RW members, but progress wasmade on all fronts. Many shops bargained the bestwage increases in years while our government-controlled employers such as HospitalLaundry and the Casinos were cheated bythe Saskatchewan Party. Hundreds ofgrievances were filed and resolved formembers across the Province.General Counsel Larry Kowalchuk’scalendar is already booked into lateSpring for arbitration boards ongrievances that couldn’t be fixedat the shop level.

Joint Board Representatives havebeen kept very busy providingservice over and above in thispast year. A few may think theyare overpaid, but our Reps arealways available – even when onvacation. As far as pay isconcerned, RW Representatives arecloser to the bottom than the topwhen compared to representatives ofother Unions.

I am very pleased with the activism of ourshop and Local leadership. The biennialbargaining conference last June and theSeptember Presidents’ meeting were extremely wellattended, but I have no words to express my pride withthe RW delegation at this past SaskatchewanFederation of Labour Convention. We filled every

credential we could at great expense to the Localsbecause it was important to be counted at this crucialmoment in the labour movement.

Many shops took strike votes in 2010 toconclude their contracts. While some

view shop floor militancy as old-fashioned, this form of passive

resistance is our best defense. Iwould like to particularlycongratulate our members atCasino Regina who walked theline for seven weeks overprinciples. In fact, these were theonly RW members who actuallystruck an RW employer in 2010.

2011 will be even busier. Thisis a convention year for RW andI encourage all Locals to makesure there is full participation.Many agreements will be open

for renewal and there are stillquite a few big shops waiting for

their settlements. Our largestemployer, Canada Safeway, is miles

away from making a deal and that tablecould get ugly in 2011.

Finally, on behalf of the Provincial ExecutiveBoard, I wish to extend a happy and prosperous NewYear to all of our members across Saskatchewan.Good luck and keep up the struggle.

Volume 41 Number 4 Autumn Review, 2010

2010 Busy – 2011 Busier

PLEASE RESPECT PICKET LINES WHEREVER THEY APPEAR

by President Doug Foote

The Saskatchewan

Defender“TO KEEP YOUR RIGHT OF FREE CHOICE FREE”

SASKATCHEWANJOINT BOARD

RWDSU

November Lottery Winners$100.00 Winners

Steven Cooper, Local 455 (Casino) Moose JawCoral Koop, Local 454 (Safeway) ReginaBrenda Knapp, Local 496 (Co-op) TisdaleTammy Wiseman, Local 950 (Safeway) Swift CurrentArlene Amson, Local 544 (Co-op) North BattlefordEli Hoover, Local 568 (Canadian Linen) ReginaWinnifred Speed, Local 455 (Co-op) GravelbourgKelsey Shouse, Local 545 (Co-op) YoungAaron Cole, Local 558 (Pepsi) SaskatoonNatisse Stade, Local S-635 (Co-op) Estevan

$250.00 WinnersBrad Cobbledick, Local 568 (Conexus Arts Centre) ReginaLedyn Ruf, Local 955 (Co-op) Yorkton

October Lottery Winners$100.00 Winners

Pauline Ponto, Local 455 (Temple Gardens) Moose JawValeria Mohle, Local 539 (Sherwood Co-op) ReginaDorian Reesor, Local 558 (Brinks) SaskatoonBarry Holstein, Local 955 (Morris) YorktonHugo Guzman, Local 454 (SYSCO) ReginaJody Hall, Local 950 (Pioneer Co-op) Swift CurrentDavid Flatt, Local 540 (Federated Co-op) ReginaLee Ann Cherpin, Local 635 (Co-op) WeyburnEllen Wood, Local 568 (EVRAZ Place) ReginaKaren Johnson, Local 496 (Prairie North Co-op) Melfort

$250.00 WinnersEd Schnitzler, Local 558 (Coca-Cola) SaskatoonRaymond Crapley, Local 480 (Safeway) Saskatoon

December Lottery Winners$100.00 Winners

Raymond Fenrick, Local 540 (Federated Co-op) ReginaEric Friesen, Local 480 (Safeway) SaskatoonPatrick Kopp, Local 568 (EVRAZ Place) ReginaDavid Kappel, Local S-955 (Co-op) WynyardAllen Mesch, Local 454 (McKesson) ReginaRichelle Bang, Local 544-K (Co-op) KindersleyRichard Holt, Local 950 (Co-op) Swift CurrentCalvin Assman, Local 539 (Sherwood Co-op) ReginaColin Bull, Local 496 (Safeway) Prince AlbertBrenda Junck, Local 455 (Co-op) Assiniboia

$250.00 WinnersJeffrey Wittal, Local 454 (Safeway) ReginaElizabeth Francisco, Local 558 (ALSCO) Saskatoon

RW Dental Plan Improves Benefits

The RWDSU Dental Plan is second to none in thisProvince. It provides the absolute best coverage for thebroadest scope of workers from casual to permanentpart-time, full-time and their families. By necessity ouryouth are staying much longer with their parents andthe Plan has now addressed that. As of January 1stthere will be full coverage for dependents up to twenty-one years of age. For full-time students living at homethere will now be full coverage up to twenty-five yearsold.

If your shop is looking for information on the best plancall either of RW’s offices or your Union Rep. for moreinformation.

2

Privately Owned For ProfitClinics More Expensive

The Saskatchewan Party’s plan to reduce surgical waitlists was a fraud from the beginning and now arbitratorand law professor Dan Ish has shown that to be so. Thegovernment’s ‘Sooner, Safer and Smarter’ initiativewas dealt a blow recently at a three-day hearing held inRegina to resolve a grievance filed by CUPE againstthe Regina Qu’Appelle Heath Region (RQHR).

The CUPE collective bargaining agreement allows theRegion to contract out services provided the newprovider can do the job just as efficiently and cheaperthan CUPE members in the public setting. It turns outthe RQHR was unable to prove that Regina’s privatelyowned Omni Surgical Centre was cheaper fortaxpayers. Furthermore, Arbitrator Ish accepted theUnion’s submission that public facilities such asoperating rooms, CT scanners, etc. were not being usedto maximum capacity. Management conceded the latterpoint but argued they were short-staffed and could notoperate at full capacity. The irony of this should not belost.

The Province can’t provide maximum benefits andshorten wait lists because of staffing problems. Andwhat is our government’s plan? Wage controls for ourhealth care workers and expensive private health careclinics. Clearly, the Sask. Party is chiseling away atMedicare.

Arbitrator Ish gave the RQHR until 2013 to terminateits contract with Omni.

UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL

Unions Do Good Things For People

3

Medical Doctors Are Not EssentialThe fact the Sask. Party provincial government is atwar with ordinary workers and their unions is nowfully exposed. While virtually everyone in the deliveryof health services are covered by essential serviceslegislation outlawing strikes, apparently doctors arenot. Leading up to Christmas doctors in the CypressHealth Region in and around Swift Current and theFive Hills Health Region around Moose Jaw have beenholding one-day study sessions. Saskatchewan doctorshave been without a contract for almost two years andare looking for a number of improvements in theirProvince-wide agreement.

It is the hypocrisy of this government that a CUPEmember sweeping floors and cleaning toilets cannotfight for better conditions, but doctors can. Wallbrushed off the issue by saying doctors were notworkers but private contractors – businessmen.Notwithstanding doctors have an association, electedexecutive members, a bargaining committee and useage-old trade union tactics like study sessions.

To be clear, the Defender is not proposing that doctorsbe legislated to work like everyone else in the medicalcommunity. The issue is that everyone should and musthave the right to strike. It is, after all, a human rightaccording to the best authorities.

Close to 1000 trade unionists from aroundSaskatchewan were registered delegates to the SFL’s55th Annual Convention. The Conexus Arts CentreConvention Plaza in Regina was packed to the rafters.Except for a very small visitors and press gallery, everysquare foot of the floor was used by seated delegates.RW too broke its attendance record with 121 delegates.The reason for the extraordinary turnout wasultimately due to Saskatchewan’s anti-union Brad Wallgovernment. This was an election year for SFL officersand President Larry Hubich had a challenger in theperson of Tom Graham. Graham is the President of theSaskatchewan Division of the Canadian Union ofPublic Employees and he has been very critical of theSFL’s campaign over Bills 5, 6 and 80. By week’s endthough, convention delegates were reinvigorated andPresident Hubich was re-elected by a comfortablemajority. Also returned to office unopposed was RW’sown Wanda Bartlett from Weyburn Local 635. LoriJohb, an SEIU member from Humboldt, got theTreasurer’s position and Administrative Co-ordinatorPaul Guillet was elected Vice-President from the RWcaucus.

The election year convention, always held in Regina,

ran four days from October 27th to October 30th.Countless resolutions, reports, guest speakers and thenelections pushed the convention to late Saturdayafternoon. There was much debate but no big surprisesexcept for one resolution. The SFL Executive hadsubmitted a proposal in support of the Federal GunRegistry. It was defeated resoundingly.

For more information and all the proceedings anyonecan visit the SFL’s website.

Wanda Bartlett re-elected as SFL Recording Secretary

Biggest Ever Saskatchewan Federation Of Labour Convention

The Rip-OffConsumer watchdog Edgar Dworsky is cautioningCanadian consumers to be mindful of product sizes andweights when doing their grocery shopping.Apparently, major suppliers and retail chains are notbeing very honest when they proclaim holding downcosts on a whole range of food items. It is true the costper unit has stayed fairly constant, but not its contents.For example: Tropicana orange juice went from a 1.89litre container to 1.75 litres but is being sold at thesame price. In actuality, that translates into a 7.4%increase. Sun Chips reduced the size of their bags from240 grams to 225 grams. Frito Lay Canada, which alsomarkets Doritos and Tostitos, admitted to doing thesame. That’s a hidden increase of 6.25%. President’sChoice ice cream was shrunk from 1.89 L to 1.65 L, anincrease of almost 13%. Kraft’s Miracle Whip used tobe in 950 ml glass jars. When they switched tocheaper plastic containers in 2010 it came out with 890ml of product. Classico and President’s Choice sauceshave been re-bottled from 700 ml to 650 ml containers,but are still being sold at the old price. According toDworsky even toilet paper has been shrunk in size.Most major producers such as Unilever, General Millsand Nestle refused to co-operate in his study. Dworskyalso found that most consumers were oblivious to thesesubtle changes in size. It leads one to conclude theConsumer Price Index and Cost of Living figures canbe easily skewed and may be unreliable when it comesto the cost of food.

4

Regina Qu’Appelle HealthRegion Says “No Way”

In the Summer Review edition of the Defender wereported the Provincial Government’s plan to providenames of patients to hospital fund raisers. The idea waspoo-pooed by Privacy Commissioner Gary Dicksonwho said it was a gross invasion of privacy and couldbe misunderstood by some patients who might feelobligated to ‘donate’.

Dwight Nelson, the Chief Executive Officer of theRQHR, said his Region would not be providing patientnames to anybody. Apparently, his office and those ofother RQHR board members received numerouscomplaints about this policy. The Sask. Party shouldget the message and cancel their plans. Instead ofpromoting fund-raisers the Government should makethe money available. According to Brad Wall this is therichest province in Canada.

Score Another One For Pay Equity

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) employs hundreds ofdoctors and nurses to determine the eligibility ofapplicants for CPP disability benefits. Nurses earn halfas much as doctors for performing identical duties. Ofcourse it goes without saying that 95% of CPP nursesare women which is the reason they filed a humanrights complaint a number of years back. The CanadianHuman Rights Tribunal in a 2007 decision agreed thefederal government discriminated against the womenas far back as 1978. For some reason in a 2009 decisionthe same Tribunal said it would not order the paymentof wage loss or damages except for two of the nurses.The nurses appealed to the Federal Court of Canadawhich has now ruled that a different Tribunal mustdetermine the amount of lost wages and damages forall the complainants. It is now up to the federalgovernment to argue why these 413 women should nothave received the same wages for doing the same workas men.

Bill 160 – Another Attack On Human RightsIn a 1992 decision the Supreme Court of Canadareasoned that human rights legislation was “… specialand not quite constitutional … the final refuge of thedisadvantaged and the disenfranchised … the lastprotection of the most vulnerable members of society”.All Canadian jurisdictions adopted some type ofinformal process whereby human rights tribunals couldadjudicate claims of discrimination. In all casesdecisions can still be appealed to a higher court. Nowthe Sask. Party government is planning to do awaywith tribunals putting Saskatchewan out-of-step withthe rest of Canada. Ultra-conservatives hate humanrights legislation which they would repeal if theycould. The next best thing to killing these laws isdenying access to them and that is about to happen inthis Province. According to Ken Norman, past chair ofthe Human Rights Commission, these tribunals havedeveloped their own special processes to investigateand resolve complaints and make rulings.

Furthermore, complainants and those complainedagainst can air their disagreements without payingheavy legal bills or incurring travelling costs astribunals always go to the city, town or village wherethe alleged incidents occurred.

Justice Minister/Labour Minister Don Morgandefended Bill 160 arguing it would “streamline” thewhole process and “expedite” the files. These are justcode words meaning there will be a lot less cases andcomplaints if everything now ends up at the Court ofQueen’s Bench with a room full of lawyers. To addinsult to injury Ezra Levant was present in theLegislature the day Bill 160 was introduced. Mr.Levant has the reputation of being the most rabidanti-human rights activist in the Country. Sources sayhe was invited to attend by his many admirers in theSask. Party.

Cigarettes Or Drugs?A number of years ago the Defender pointed out thecontradiction of pharmacies which sold healthcareproducts alongside cigarettes and other tobaccoproducts. At the time, Manitoba was the onlyjurisdiction that prohibited the sale of tobacco productsin drug stores. It has now spread to several otherprovinces and as of April 1st it is coming toSaskatchewan. The profit from healthcare products andpharmaceuticals far outweighs that of cigarettes. Mostgrocery stores have in-store pharmacies soconsequently smokers will have to go elsewhere.

Hand-in-hand with this new law the ProvincialGovernment has banned smoking in cars with children.Smoking is also prohibited within three metres ofdoors, windows and air intakes around publicbuildings. Finally, with a doctor’s prescriptionMedicare will be covering Champix and Zyban. Doesthe Saskatchewan Party really care about people or arethey just all rabid non-smokers? On the whole thoughthe Defender concedes these new laws enjoyoverwhelming support around the Province.

5

Most Expensive Meeting In the World

The Defender reported in last Spring’s Review that thefederal Conservatives had spent one billion dollarshosting the G8 and G20 heads of state at weekendmeetings in Huntsville and Toronto, Ontario. We weremisled. Adding up all the bills a dollar here – a milliondollars there – the final tab is closer to $1.2 billion.The summit lasted 62 hours at a cost of $5000 second.The last two G20 summits in Pittsburgh, USA andLondon, England each cost $40 million.

What could possibly cost so much one asks? Well, thedetails are starting to come out. The most expensiveitem was security at well over $300 million. Then therewas $200 million for hotels and car rentals, $334,000for sunscreen, bug spray and hand sanitizer. Another$4.4 million was spent on a security fence, $12 millionto lease the Toronto airport and finally, as delegateswere leaving the country, Canadian taxpayers paid out$2.5 million for ‘boxed’ lunches.

No one can argue against world leaders meeting face-to-face to exchange views. But at what cost and who isPrime Minister Harper trying to impress?

Biennial Convention Coming Soon

Early in the New Year Secretary-Treasurer GarryBurkart will be issuing a Convention Call for what willbe RW’s 36th biennial convention. This year’sconvention will be held in the city of Humboldt at theBella Vista Inn from June 8th to June 10th inclusive.

RW’s Constitution orders that there be a Springconvention every two years. The entire ExecutiveBoard is up for election and this is the occasion to setdown the Union’s goals for the following two years.Locals are very much encouraged to submit proposalsfor debate at convention. The convention call willcontain all of this information as well as the number ofdelegates each shop and Local is entitled to have.Presidents and Chief Shop Stewards are automaticdelegates under the Constitution, but theoverwhelming number of delegates will be elected atLocal meetings over the next few months.

Night And Shift Workers Twice AsLikely To Be Injured On The Job

Thunder Creek Pork – Open For BusinessAfter closing four and a half years ago this Moose Jawplant has now started hiring. The new owner, Donald’sFine Foods/Britco Pork Inc. out of British Columbia, isworking feverishly toget the plant up to speed.They are still predictingthey will need up to 200full-time workers whenthe plant is fullyrefurbished. Secretary-Treasurer Garry Burkart,who has toured theplant, says the newowners mean businessand seem to becommitted for the longhaul. Apparently, the

federal government thinks so too because it extended a$1.7 million low-interest loan to Thunder Creek Pork.

Residents of Moose Jaware overjoyed and it is thefirst good economic newsthe City has seen in years.The City has sufferedthrough many closures inthe last four or five yearsthrowing hundreds ofworkers out of their jobs.The Company has alreadyhired some 80 to 90workers and others aresoon to follow.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia sayCanadians who work night and rotating shifts arenearly twice as likely to be injured on the job. Thestudy published in the current issue of theScandinavian Journal of Work, Environment andHealth examined Statistics Canada data on more than30,000 people. It found that while the overall rate ofwork injuries went down from 1996 to 2006, there wasno decline for night-shift workers.

Lead author Imelda Wong says the disruption ofnormal sleep patterns can cause drowsiness or fatigue,which can lead to workplace injuries. The studysuggests women might have more difficulty adjustingto shift work because they’re more likely to beresponsible for childcare and household work. It saysCanadians made more than 300,000 injury claimsrelated to shift work in 2006, representing more than$50 million in workers’ compensation costs.

6

Ex-CEO of Shaw Communications Receives $5.9 Million Annual Pension

Jim Shaw, the 53 year-old ex-CEO of ShawCommunications, will receive a monthly pension of$495,833.00 bringing his annual pension up to $5.95million. It has been approved by the Board of Directorsfor Shaw Communications as his golden handshake.It’s interesting to note that this is more money than hewould have received had he waited to retire at normalretirement date of age 65.

This may be a bitter pill to swallow for ordinaryworking class Canadians who witnessed their pensionfunds plummet to record losses as a result of the worldfinancial crises of the last two years. Many of themhave to work much longer and in some cases way

beyond age 65 in order to rebuild their pension fundsavings. At the same time we are being told by theHarper government that they may be backing awayfrom much needed improvements to the CanadaPension Plan.

The often quoted slogan of “the rich get richer and thepoor continue to get poorer” continues to be themission statement of corporate Canada. Keep this inmind the next time a Shaw Communicationstelemarketer calls you to consider switchingcommunications providers from that of a CrownCorporation like SaskTel versus a private for profit(greed) provider.

Canadian Revenue Agency Announces Maximum Pensionable Earnings For 2011

The Canada Revenue Agency announced that themaximum pensionable earnings under the CanadaPension Plan (CPP) for 2011 will be $48,300.00, upfrom $47,200.00 in 2010. The new ceiling wascalculated according to a CPP registered formula thattakes into account the growth in average weekly wagesand salaries in Canada.

Contributors who earn more than $48,300.00 in 2011are not required or permitted to make additionalcontributions to the CPP. The basic exemption amount

of 2011 remains $3500. Individuals who earn less thanthat amount do not have to contribute to the CPP.

The employee and employer contribution rates for2011 will remain unchanged at 4.95% and the self-employed contribution rate will remain unchanged at9.9%. The maximum employer and employeecontribution to the Plan for 2011 will be $2,217.60 andthe maximum self-employed contribution will be$4,435.20. The maximums in 2010 were $2,164.15 and$4,326.30.

Employees Dismissed For Facebook CommentsTwo employees of a West Coast Mazda dealership werefired by their employer for making derogatorycomments about their employer and its managers ontheir Facebook internet social networking page during aunion organizing drive.

The union filed complaints with the B.C. LabourRelations Board alleging that the employer’s actionswere motivated by anti-union animus as a result of theunion organizing drive. The B.C. LRB ruled in favourof the employer on the basis that its decision toterminate the employees was based on legitimatebusiness reasons and had nothing to do with the fact theemployees were engaged in union activity. The LRBruled that the employer was responding to vulgarattacks made on Facebook by the employees targetingmanagement and the business.

The LRB said if you think that Facebook postings aresomewhat private, you better think again as there is noexpectation of privacy on a public website becausethere will be repercussions. The Board stated thatemployees can commit acts of insubordination throughsocial media even when they make their commentsoutside of working hours and on their own time andpersonal computers.

The lesson learned hereis that employers nowmonitor their employeeson social medianetworking sites likeFacebook. Therefore, bemindful of what you areputting up on yourFacebook page becauseonce you put it out thereon the internet – there isno retracting it!

The UNION Starts withYOU

ATTEND Regular Union Meetings

IF WE DON’T HANG TOGETHERTHEY WILL HANG US ALONE

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Safeway Members Underwhelmed But HopefulAfter a dozen or so bargaining sessions CanadaSafeway finally put a wage and monetary package onthe table. The Provincial Bargaining Committee of theUnion characterized the Company’s position as a firstoffer, not their final offer. The Company has a verylong way to go, but here are a few highlights.

As previously reported, all locations will be covered byone collective bargaining agreement which Safewayproposes should expire four years after the date ofsettlement. The offer bumps up the shift premium to 90cents an hour and the Company wants to cap LTD to amaximum of $2000 a month. A handful of managersand supervisors are offered extra nickels and dimes

over and above the wage offer and a new wage scale isproposed for Pharmacy Techs. No money was offeredfor the Pension and Dental Plans. Safeway isproposing no wage increases to the scales over fouryears except for the very top rates. For Regina andSaskatoon the offer for top rates is 35 cents each yearand for Prince Albert and Swift Current 40 cents a year.For employees who receive no wage increase theCompany is offering a one time only bonus rangingfrom $75.00 to $125.00.

The next session is scheduled for February 1st, 2nd and3rd.

Local News• The Defender omitted to report on the settlement of the Best Western Hotel in Yorkton in the last review so

it gets top billing this time. Employees of the old Days Inn realized a number of good changes in a newagreement that will expire in 2013. There are improvements to sick leave and a new retention bonus of 40cents an hour for 5 or more years of service. The bonus goes up to $1.00 an hour after 10 years. The mostcommon top rate received a 17% an hour increase in year one and then 5% in each of the two remainingyears.

• In other news from Yorkton, workers at Leon’s Manufacturing managed to nail down an agreementliterally on Christmas Eve. The deal was reached after strike and lockout notices had been served betweenthe parties. The new contract will see improvements to shift, Lead Hand and CWB welding premiums.Members will also be allowed to bank overtime at overtime rates and there are a list of benefit improvementsincluding 6 weeks vacation after 30 years of service, bereavement coverage for grandparents and increasesto the safety boot and prescription lens allowance. This three-year agreement with full retroactive pay willsee rates go up by 4% a year which is $2.46 an hour for welders.

• Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) recently reported sales were up from 2009 reaching an all-time highof $7.1 billion. This translated to almost $500 million in profits of which $356 million was paid out to retailco-operatives. Co-op employees know FCL is doing well even though their human resource lawyers keepsaying the opposite.

• Representatives Luchsinger and Miller out of the Saskatoon office have been doubling up these days.Representative Luchsinger has handed off responsibilities for the Prince Albert and Battlefords Co-operatives to Trevor. Rocky has been given other assignments in the General Division, but he did not leaveP.A. Co-op until all the details had been put in place after the department store and cafeteria closures.

• Union members in Saskatoon or visitors who need an oil change should check out the Great Canadian OilChange on Central Avenue. The owner has posted a big sign offering discounts for union members. TheManager confirmed that discounts of between $7.00 and $8.00 will be given to customers who declare theyare union members.

• Rumor has it that Canada Safeway is building a new store in Saskatoon’s Willow Grove district. Apparently,staff has seen a few Company documents identifying store #312 which does not exist. Sources go on to sayan announcement will be made sometime in April. The Defender wonders who will be working in these newfacilities. The turnover of new employees and the inability to retain them has left existing stores woefullyunderstaffed.

8

Local News• Signal Industries issued nice back-pay cheques to staff in time for Christmas. The new three-year agreement

starts off with a 75 cent per hour increase and then 50 cents and 40 cents the following two years. Start ratesgot a bigger bump and all of the scales were shortened. Staff will be receiving $200 for eyewear every twoyears and premiums on the RW Dental were also improved. All-in-all members were pleased with thesettlement.

• Representative Hollyoak is busy preparing for negotiations at the Regina Exhibition Grounds where the fourdifferent agreements covering all departments are about to expire. It is too soon to say what the mood willbe. With the changes in executive management many are optimistic an agreement without a fight might bepossible.

• Employees at Temple Gardens in Moose Jaw are sending their committee back to the bargaining table witha strike mandate. This employer boasts that its facilities are world-class becoming a destination point fortourists everywhere. You wouldn’t know that from the wage offer which they have proposed over a newthree-year agreement. 12% over three years would still leave members there way below competitors in thehotel trade. Talks are scheduled to proceed with the assistance of the Department of Labour.

• New Representative Bernie Olynick and Administrative Co-ordinator Paul Guillet report that the Co-opDivision has been very busy. Members at the Yorkton Co-op and the Southern Plains Co-op in Estevan havegiven their committee strike votes. Conciliation at both retails is scheduled for early February. Proposalswere finally exchanged between the parties at the Southland Co-op. Talks at this retail will start in earnestat Assiniboia on February 3rd and 4th.

• Casino Moose Jaw employees are feeling forgotten and waiting patiently for something to happen in theircontract talks. This agreement has been open since September of 2009. Talks were suspended over thesummer months while PSAC and RWDSU duked it out at Casino Regina. When talks were finallyscheduled to resume the SGC’s Human Resources Manager Loretta Gerlach was fired. Administrative Co-ordinator Guillet says a deal is close at hand. He also reports that many staff got nice back-pay cheques intime for Christmas as a result of upgrades and reclassifications.

AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!

Have a Problem? Need Information?Call or email your Union office:Regina SaskatoonPhone: 569-9311 Phone: 384-9885Toll Free: 1-877-747-9378 Toll Free: 1-877-717-9378Fax:569-9521 Email: rwdsu.regina@sasktel.net Fax: 384-1006 Email: rwdsu.saskatoon@sasktel.net

DefenderTheis published by: The Trade Union Education House, 1233 Winnipeg Street, Regina, SK.