CUPE Local 3761 represents 40 members, all of whom are employees of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses!
SUN’s office staff in both Regina and Saskatoon continue to do their part to ensure the Union meets the needs of the members. SUN members face many challenges in their workplace and the SUN staff provide a multitude of various services. A Sun Lawyer, Servicing Employment Relations Officer, a Research/Policy Analyst, Communications Officer, Pension / Benefits Officer, NAC Officer, Education Officer, Systems Administrator & Technical Assistant, Accountant and Payroll Clerk, Executive Assistants and Office Assistants all provide excellent support and service to the SUN Union, Board of Directors and SUN members by providing leadership and support.
Servicing Employment Relations Officers are experts in dealing with conflict, whether it is conflict between members, between members and their employers, or between layers of employers, they work tirelessly to seek to resolve workplace problems for SUN members. These may be the subject of a grievance under discussion at a union/management meeting or in discussions in a Local. The Servicing EROs are successful in settling many grievances and achieving many full and partial settlements for members in dispute with their employers.
The SUN Lawyer work tirelessly to represent SUN members at arbitration hearings and by representation of them through legal processes such as SRNA investigations. She also advises SUN management on legal issues facing the Union.
The NAC Officer does an excellent job of representing SUN members’ concerns regarding nursing issues across the province. Work situation files are filed and the Union makes presentations to health and employer boards. We have success in settling some long-standing nursing advisory committee issues, and work situation reports and providing success for nurses in resolving some significant workplace and nursing issues.
The Benefits Officer provides assistance to members who are having difficulty with Long Term Disability and provides education information to SUN members about the LTD plans, pension plans and the Extended Health Benefits Plan. She also has primary responsibility for representing the union in working with other unions and with the employer to make improvements to the pension plan, the extended health benefits plan, and the long term disability plan, in coordination with our collective bargaining initiatives in these areas.
The work of the union in the areas of education, communication and public relations continues on, as of course, the need for all of this work, as in other areas, is never ending. SUN provided a wide variety of opportunities for SUN members to attend education programs held in a variety of locations across the province throughout the year, building members’ confidence in their ability to approach employers and others about the need to solve problems both in the workplace and in the health care system. Communication initiatives also are ongoing, forming part of the union’s work to improve the workplace and mitigate the nursing shortage.
The administrative staff continue to do the work which enables the rest of the staff to manage their correspondence, talk on the telephone, and schedule and organize meetings. These staff do mailouts, manage databases, look after the SUN’s financial budget and payroll, maintain an ever growing network of computers, and other technology-based devices and do a myriad of other jobs that keep the union working. Much of the work of administrative employees is invisible to those who receive the benefits of it, but we all appreciate this work and the excellence with which they do it.