Governance of GSU

GSU Founding and 1999 Merger Convention

These remarks have been prepared at the request of Government Services Union for the 25^th anniversary of the SSU-UPWE Merger Convention.

While I have tried to accurately represent the merger process, much of this account is based on personal memory and may be subject to unintentional bias. The account of the Merger Convention was, however, taken from the actual Convention Proceedings.

 

Part 1 - Founding

In July 1993, Kim Campbell’s Progressive Conservative government announced  plans to create a new government department by joining Supply and Services Canada, Public Works Canada, the Translation Bureau and Telecommunication Services; the Royal Canadian Mint would report to the Minister of this new department.

Two PSAC Components were affected by this merger – Supply and Services Union and the Union of Public Works Employees. Both Components were approximately equal in size, representing about 2500 members each. The two Components’ Executives, dues structures and national offices were roughly equivalent.

In July 1996, the Public Works and Government Services Act was passed by Parliament and PWGSC was officially created. In the summer and fall of that year, both SSU and UPWE Conventions called for merger discussions between the two Components.

By early 1997 a joint UPWE-SSU merger committee was established with representatives from each Component. This committee was tasked with determining whether a merger was possible, what the terms would be and how the final decision would take place. The committee used an iterative process, with members reporting back to their   Components on progress and for feedback and direction.

In early 1998 the merger committee reached an agreement and proposed a joint meeting of the UPWE National Executive and the SSU Executive Committee. Key parts of the agreement were:

• a referendum vote of the entire SSU-UPWE membership would be held to approve the merger
• By-Laws for the new Component as drafted by the merger committee would be included in the referendum kit
• By-Laws regarding Executive structure and the Local Presidents’ Council would be decided at the founding Convention
• no SSU or UPWE staff member would lose employment as a result of the merger
• no Local would be forced to merge

The joint Executives, over a two-day meeting in mid-1998, approved the proposal. Subsequently, the PSAC administered the referendum vote by mailing a merger kit that included proposed By-Laws, the provisions shown above and a ballot to all SSU and UPWE members. The PSAC then conducted the count and announced that the membership had approved the merger.

Planning and organizing for the founding convention occurred during the winter and spring of 1998 – 1999.

 

Part 2 – 1999 Merger Convention

The Merger Convention of SSU and UPWE was held in Ottawa from 27-29  August 1999. 

In attendance were 94 accredited delegates, 47 from each Component, including 24 from the Components’ Executives and 70 representing 44 SSU and UPWE Locals. Convention was jointly chaired by Valerie Denesiuk, President of SSU and John Gordon, President of UPWE – along with PSAC National President Daryl Bean.

Approximately 100 resolutions from Locals, Component Executives and the merger committee were submitted to Convention, of which 54 were decided by the delegates and the remainder were forwarded to the incoming Executive as unfinished business.

Convention unanimously approved resolutions which defined the Executive structure of the new Union and which incorporated a Local Presidents’ Council, with a mandate to make recommendations to National Council, into the new By-Laws. Convention also unanimously approved a 3-year budget and adopted a percentage dues structure for the new Union.

Other significant decisions that delegates made or referred to the incoming National Council for action included:          

• confirming the Union’s name as Government Services Union
• calling for a competition among Locals for the design of a GSU logo
• making National Council meetings open to observers
•  providing simultaneous translation at all national GSU meetings
• rotating NC meetings across the country by regions and funding Local observers from the region where the meeting was to be held
• providing financial assistance to small Locals for their annual general meetings
• mandating the use of unionized goods and services

And finally, PSAC President Daryl Bean and Vice President Nycole Turmel conducted elections for the GSU National Council positions and PSAC   Convention delegates.

 

Part 3 – Post Convention

Amongst the many challenges and opportunities facing the new organization, four stand out as especially critical to GSU’s success.

1.  As a priority, GSU at all levels worked to consolidate labour relations with PWGSC and the RCM. New consultation agreements were signed and put into effect at national, regional and local levels and a new representational model was implemented.
2. The GSU National Council quickly came together as a team – a post-Convention meeting to deal with referred business was held and was followed by a retreat to clarify roles and forward plan. NC met multiple times in person and even more frequently by teleconference in each of the following 3 years.
3. The GSU National Office was completely reorganized – a new physical workspace was built, new work descriptions were created and classified, a new collective agreement was negotiated after the office bargaining unit was certified  and two separate and longstanding pay-equity complaints were settled. No   employee lost their employment as a result of the merger.
4. While it had been a condition of the referendum that Locals would not be forced   to merge, Locals across the country came to the conclusion that new GSU Locals would better represent members’ interests than separate SSU/UPWE Locals. Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax - 12   separate Locals - all merged within three years of the founding Convention.

 

Part 4 – Conclusion

What this narrative does not include are the faces behind the founding and merger. I could literally name dozens of people who contributed in significant ways to the success of this endeavor. Certainly, all 94 delegates at the Ottawa      Convention set the tone for GSU’s future.

I do want to acknowledge a few UPWE and SSU members and staff who played key roles at and behind Convention – Bill Dennis and Suzanne Lambert who co- chaired the By-Laws Committee, Jean-Paul Fortin who co-chaired the Finance Committee with me and Maria Thomas, Gail Peck, Bob Kipper and Laura Griffin whose staff work on the merger was invaluable.