Cancer Support Fund Now Available to NSGEU Members and Immediate Family

When you or your family member is accessing this fund you must know what NSGEU local you belong to. If youre not sure of your local, call the NSGEU at 424-4063 or 1-877-556-7438.

Terms of the Fund:

Immediate family consists of: spouse, or common law partner, same sex partner, adult children or parent. The latter bonds may be by blood or legal adoption.

Examples of what can be funded: Travel costs, insurance payments, costs of lodging, utility payments, mortgage payments, services, groceries, drug costs.

Request from this fund will have a maximum ceiling amount of $200.00 per patient/family.

The NSGEU Cancer Support Fund will not replace any existing funding options available but will be an extra avenue for support.

To access this fund call the Nova Scotia Cancer Centre Social Worker by calling 473-6000.

Established by the NSGEU Womens Issues Committee 2010-2011

VON Pay Update

The implementation of a new payroll system by the VON has resulted in Employees not receiving their correct pay.

NSGEU representatives were informed on January 26, 2011 of the details of the errors which include both overpayments and underpayments to employees.

The NSGEU has filed a Policy Grievance to force the Employer to comply with the Collective Agreement.

The NSGEU advises all VON members to check their pay for accuracy and to keep a detailed record of all monies received and records of service. In addition, the NSGEU recommends that all members keep an accurate record of all bank charges or financial hardship incurred as a result of pay discrepancies. The NSGEU is committed to ensuring Employees are properly paid and made whole for any lost income, financial charges or financial hardship.

For Employees who have not received all of their pay, VON has communicated to NSGEU a process for Employees to receive missing amounts of pay as an interim measure, until pay for all Employees can be audited. NSGEU expects that when all Employees are individually audited, all corrections and errors will be reconciled. If an Employee has been overpaid, amounts will have to be paid back to the Employer.

Attached to this update is a question and answer document provided by your Employer, the text of voicemails provided to Employees through the voicemail system and a copy of the Policy Grievance filed by the NSGEU. The NSGEU will provide further updates as more information becomes available.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact NSGEU Labour Resource Centre at 424-4063, toll free at 1-877-556-7438 or email us at inquiry@nsgeu.ca.

Further to the Update provided on February 8, 2011, please note that the telephone number provided by the VON for employees to request a change in pay deposits has changed to:

1-866-508-0563 3 1
Extensions 2473,2372,2404,2304.

The VON advises that only these extensions should be accessed to request pay.

Press Releases

No current press releases found.

Bargaining News

Locals 93_94_95 - Proposals Exchanged
Feb 3, 2012

Local 480 - Membership gives Bargaining Committee clear consensus to proceed with transition discussions as quickly as possible
Feb 2, 2012

Local 39 - Negotiations Continue
Jan 27, 2012

Local 59 - Negotiations Continue for First Agreement
Jan 27, 2012

Local 30 Negotiations Continue
Jan 27, 2012

Local 77 Heads Back to Conciliation
Jan 23, 2012

Local 3 EDC - Interest Arbitration Decision Received
Jan 23, 2012

Local 93_94_95 - Bargaining Scheduled
Jan 20, 2012

Local 480 - Information Sessions Scheduled
Jan 19, 2012

Local 42 - Negotiations Scheduled to Begin
Jan 17, 2012

Local 3A (EDC) - Awaiting Interest Arbitration Decision
Jan 10, 2012

NSGEU Conferences

Conferences are an excellent way to share ideas, experiences, and to learn from one another.

Our members, through their work on provincial committees, organize a variety of workshops and conferences.

Women's Conference
Over seventy-five percent of NSGEU's members are women. Each year, since 1999, the women's committee has hosted a women's conference. This conference provides an opportunity for women to identify workplace issues and concerns and strategize about how to improve their working lives.

This year's conference is entitled "Women Change The World"…NSGEU Women Do Great Things and is scheduled to take place April 13, 14, and 15, 2012, at the Debert Hospitality Centre." Click here for more details and an application form.

Administrative Professionals Conference
The NSGEU represents thousands of administrative professionals across the province and every two years hosts a conference specifically for them. This conference gives our members an opportunity to come together to discuss issues related to their occupation. The NSGEU's Administrative Professionals Committee plans and hosts this conference.

The theme of this year's conference is "The Worth of Our Work," and it takes place Friday, April 20 and Saturday, April 21, at the Holiday Inn Harbourview in Dartmouth. The sessions include:

Friday, April 20

Keynote Presentation: The History of Our Work presented by NSGEU President Joan Jessome, Conference Chair Kim Jenkins, and NSGEU 2nd Vice-President Dawn Ferris

Saturday, April 21

Presentation 1: Valuing Your Work and Yourself presented by Barbara Fry, Workplace Relationship Strategies
Presentation 2: Co-existing in the Workplace: Every personality has its strengths and issues presented by Susan Coldwell, NSGEU Staff
Presentation 3: Finding Your Voice and Helping Others Find Theirs presented by Janet Fortune-Woodworth, NSGEU Facilitator

If you're interested in attending the NSGEU's Administrative Professionals Conference, please fill out this online application.

NSGEU Human Rights Conference
Human rights conferences may be hosted at the discretion of the NSGEU's human rights committee, with the approval of the Board of Directors.

NSGEU Health, Safety & Environment Conference
Health, safety and environment conferences may be hosted at the discretion of the NSGEU's health, safety and environment committee with the approval of the Board of Directors. Along with the conferences organized by the NSGEU, there are also opportunities to for active members to attend conferences held by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour (NSFL) or the National Union of Public & General Employees (NUPGE). Members' participation in these conferences is subject to the approval of the NSGEU Board of Directors.

Campaigns

Help Us Protect Public Services and Your Workload

In April, 2010, the provincial government announced it was planning to cut the civil service by 10% by the end of 2013. This translates into approximately 1,200 fewer workers in the civil service.

We know the provincial civil service is already lean and that many of you have enormous amounts of work that you are not able to get done in the run of a day.

We know the services you provide are important to you and the public you support.

We need to fight back against these reductions. To do that, we need to know where they are happening.

Go to campaign page

All Together Now

A national campaign for Public Services and Tax Fairness

Follow the campaign by selecting the all together Now image.

Pride Parade

Come on out NSGEU, and show your Pride during the upcoming Pride Parades in Halifax (Saturday, July 24) and Sydney (Thursday, August 5).

It's a fun, safe and empowering way to spend a summer's afternoon. We're looking for people to march along beside the float, to handing out flags and candy, or to simply enjoy the parade with the thousands of spectators who will line the streets.

For the Halifax parade, we'll need volunteers to help build and decorate the float on the evening of Friday, July 23 in Tantallon. Stay tuned for more details about helping out with the parade in Sydney.

If you're interested in helping out, please RSVP gina.boyd@iwk.nshealth

Retirement Security for Everyone!

Dice Gambling

Canada is at a crossroads, just like it was forty years ago when it was time to do something about our health care system. Today, we need to do something about retirement income, and we need to do it soon.

It's time to change some things
The problem with Canada's retirement income system has become so obvious that even bank economists have started to admit the RRSP approach has failed. There’s too much risk and not enough security to ensure that, after a lifetime of work, people can retire and live out their last years in dignity.

We need to increase CPP benefits, boost low-income (GIS) public pensions so no senior lives in poverty, and introduce federal pension insurance to protect our hard-earned retirement savings.

Raising the minimum retirement income floor with more robust public pensions combined with the guaranteed protection of additional savings offers clear benefits to everyone.

Whether retirement is just around the corner or something that's decades into the future, Labour's plan for Retirement Security has clear benefits for everyone — no matter where you work.

Select this link to find out more http://www.canadianlabour.ca/action-center/retirement-security-for-everyone

To join the Facebook group select this link http://www.facebook.com/pages/Retirement-Security-For-Everyone/260209311318?ref=ts