Union News - September 2021
After a nine-month hiatus and many queries from our membership, “Whatever happened to the newsletter?” Welcome to the September 2021 edition of Union News.
The last nine months have been incredibly hectic for everyone involved in the union. As many may have experienced themselves, doing things virtually tends to take almost twice as long to accomplish. Much of this is the reality that we are a national organization, with members from coast to coast, spanning multiple time zones. This played a significant role in the amount of time required to get things done.
The pandemic resulted in all PSAC Regional conventions and the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) Triennial National Convention being postponed until 2021. This combined with an effort to return to some degree of normalcy within UTE via virtual meetings, stretched the committee’s ability to produce a newsletter. However, WE ARE BACK.
A feature that appears quite regularly in the Union News is providing members clarification and insight into clauses within our collective agreement. With a new agreement signed this past year, the committee will endeavour to provide information useful to the membership.
Shane O’Brien, the Senior Labour Relations Officer for UTE has submitted two articles, both of which are timely and important; one relating to our part-time members, and one directed at our members working in call centres.
Gary Esslinger
Chair of the Communications Committee