The 2025 UNE Local Presidents’ Conference is just a few short weeks away!
This three-day event will be packed with presentations, workshops and training that will enhance your leadership skills, give you the knowledge and tools to help you and your members. It is also an opportunity for all Local Presidents, or their designates, to come together, engage in activism, and gain a deeper understanding of our Union’s structure and operations.
📅 When: April 10-13, 2025 📍 Where: Hotel Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan
Each UNE Local is invited to send a Local President or designate to attend.
Apply online by Friday, March 7, 2025!
All Expenses Covered!
UNE is proud to fully cover the costs of your participation, including:
✅ Flights and transportation ✅ Accommodation and meals ✅ Loss of salary reimbursement ✅ Childcare support
Travel & Expense Details:
✈️ Your travel to the airport is covered! If you drive, track your kilometers and provide a google map of your trip. If you take a taxi, keep your receipt. (Please note: Unionized taxi companies are preferred over services like Uber.) 🚗 If you plan to drive to the Conference, pre-approval from UNE Events is required.
💰 Upon registration, an advance cheque will be provided to cover your per diem covering meals that are not provided. 👶 On-site childcare is available, or UNE will cover childcare expenses at home while you attend the conference.
As we take time this month to honour and recognize Black legacies and leadership, CAPE and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists also wanted to carve out time to have an important discussion on how Black members can build and take power in our current unions, as well as how to defend ourselves with the union as our vehicle.
Black, Indigenous, and racialized members are encouraged to attend and be prepared to ask questions on this theme.
We hope that you can join for this important discussion on concrete actions we can take. We’ll be joined by Chris Wilson from the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and Alisha Kang, the president of the PSAC component Union of National Employees.
Some key questions we’d like panelists and participants to discuss:
How do you succeed in developing Black union leadership? What do we mean by leadership (rank and file, elected officials, staff, etc.)?
How do you succeed in organizing other Black members? What are some strategies to connect?
How do you stay connected and involved with other Black leaders and activists in the labour movement?
How can Black trade unionism influence electoral outcomes?
Wednesday, February 26 5 to 7 pm ET Hybrid – at the CAPE national office and online
First come first served for in-person attendance. For people attending in person, a light dinner will be served. If you selected to attend in person but our capacity has been reached, you will receive a Zoom link to attend online instead.
Alisha Kang is president of the Union of National Employees with over 27,000 members coast to coast and 80 collective agreements as well as holding a lead role in the Federal Black Employee Caucus. A published author, Alisha is a single parent and is most proud of her 22-year-old son Kael, a budding activist studying Law, and her 26-year-old daughter Kyrro, a scientist on the autism spectrum.
Christopher Wilson (he/him) is a workers’ rights advocate, community activist and lawyer with over 25 years experience in the labour movement. Christopher is a member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists where he led the Green is Not White Research project that has engaged over 3,000 labour and community activists in participatory workshops to confront Environmental Racism.
Your UNE regions invite you to participate in the National Capital Region’s Combined Regional Seminar scheduled to take place at the Chateau Cartier Hotel in Gatineau, QC from February 27 to March 2, 2025.
As a UNE member, your participation is fully funded and there is zero cost to you.
This seminar is for participants from the four NCR-based regions:
Regional Seminars are packed with presentations, workshops and training that will give you the knowledge and tools to help you and your members. They are also a wonderful place to meet other activists and forge long-lasting friendships.
UNE will fund two (2) participants and an additional (1) youth participant per Local. Preference will be given to:
The Local President or designate
A member who has not previously attended a seminar should be given priority
A youth member (age 35 or younger as of December 31, 2026).
Locals should also encourage the participation of equity members and may send additional members at the Local’s expense.
Youth Delegates to Convention
At each seminar, regions will elect two (2) Youth Delegates and alternates to the 2026 Convention. To be eligible, Youth members must be 35 or under in the year of the Triennial Convention (2026, in Montreal, QC). UNE encourages your participation, so you don’t miss out on these delegate seats at the Triennial.
Travel, Accommodations and Meals paid by UNE
Participants will be expected to arrive for on-site registration at 6:00 p.m. Thursday evening, February 27, 2025. Accommodations will be arranged for delegates to spend three nights at the hotel for the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as activities are scheduled to take place into the evenings. The Seminar ends on Sunday, March 2 at 12:00p.m.
Your travel to and from the Seminar is paid for by UNE. If you are driving, track your kilometres and provide a google map of your trip. Your stay at the hotel is also paid by UNE, with no upfront cost to you. You will also receive a per diem covering meals that are not provided.
Union Leave and Leave Letters
UNE will reimburse your loss of salary while you are attending the Seminar. Some employers (Treasury Board, Parks Canada) require you to submit a Union Leave Letter. UNE encourages you to advise your employer of your intent to participate upon receiving this communication. Once the final selection has been made, UNE will issue the leave letters. Your pay will not be interrupted. (For example, if you are scheduled to work on the Friday, you submit a Leave Request and provide your supervisor with the UNE-issued Leave Letter).
Other employers will request you to take leave without pay. In this case, you will be reimbursed your loss of salary directly by UNE. Either way, we want to be sure you don’t miss a beat and that your salary and expenses for attending the event are taken care of.
Apply today!
You must apply by Friday, January 17, 2025. Applications are then sent to the regional team for final selection. Unfortunately, we will not consider late applications.
The Union of National Employees Women’s Conference will be held this fall in the National Capital Region. We are excited to begin planning for the event and to get started with the work needed to make the event successful.
The National President, Alisha Kang, has appointed the National Executive Vice-President, Hayley Millington to chair the committee and she has chosen Mirelle Jaillet, the National Equity Representative for Women, and Carole Maillet, from the Francophone Committee as her co-chairs.
In preparation, we are creating a small steering committee. Our Conference committee will meet weekly via teleconference and, when necessary, in person. Meetings will be scheduled during the day and if you miss work to attend the meeting, a union leave letter will be provided for you.
The steering committee will include the following members:
One woman from each UNE region
One woman from the Francophone Committee
UNE Event Staff
One woman who has never attended an event
The committee will assist UNE Event Staff with the following and contribute to the overall organization of the conference:
Determining the program and organizing the agenda
Selection of subject matter and speakers for the conference
UNE branded items & activities
Nominations should include a short paragraph from the nominee explaining why the member would be a good fit for this committee. Please submit your nomination to Suzanne Boucher no later than June 28, 2024.
Calling all UNE members in the National Capital Region! Let’s join the rally from 12:00-12:30pm in front of the Treasury Board office at 90 Elgin Street in Ottawa on June 11, 2024.
UNE is joining with USJE and other components of PSAC, as well as allies, to rally in front of the Treasury Board building in Ottawa with a strong message to “Scrap the Mandate.”
The rally is in response to President of Treasury Board Anita Anand’s arbitrary decision regarding the Direction on prescribed presence in the workplace (the “Direction”). Effective September 9th 2024, the Direction mandates all federal public service employees to be at the work site a minimum of three days per week, and Executives a minimum of four days.
This new Direction will further limit hybrid work options for federal public service employees.
The Direction flies in the face of the Government of Canada’s previous commitments of collaboration, flexibility, and consultation as expressed in the Letter of Agreement on Telework (2023).
Come out and show your support and wave those UNE flags high!
UNE youth members gathered from April 18-21 for the first ever Young Workers Conference and left on Sunday looking forward to the next.
“You could feel the energy at registration on Thursday and it lasted all weekend long,” said UNE national president Alisha Kang. “The future of our union, our workforce, showed their strength and desire to make positive change.”
In the midst of networking opportunites, educational workshops and captivating guest speaker appearances, Allison Fraser, Vice-President of Local 80178, put the question to those gathered; why don’t the young workers have more voice within UNE?
The UNE president quickly came to the mic and declared the creation of the first ever UNE Young Workers Standing Committee.
Allison and her peers were impressed with how quickly their voices were heard.
“Better representation leads to better engagement and supports the union’s future success. Giving a voice to the younger demographic in our membership helps foster intergenerational solidarity and creates a mentorship environment that welcomes new members. Young workers have a unique perspective and different needs than older union members. By encouraging young members to take on leadership roles in the union as they advance in their careers, the union remains relevant and appealing to its new members.”
Ryan Lipski, who was on the steering committee for the conference, was happy to see their vision come to fruition:
“This conference encapsulates the power of young workers in standing up and advocating for the future they want for their union, their workplaces, and their communities.”
The next Young Workers Conference will be held during the next mandate, sometime after the triennial Convention in 2026.
The Credentials Committee reported first thing in the morning that we have 180 delegates at this year’s Triennial Convention. After some administrative announcements, it was right back to business with the Finance Committee and a lively debate on the budget. Delegates got behind all the work done and passed the budget with a strong showing of support.
Next, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee presented its report. Three resolutions were debated and voted on:
CS 2 – The National Vice-President for Human Rights
CS 1 – Statement of Duties – National Vice-President for Occupational Health and Safety
CS 3 – Abolishment of Term Limits in 2026
Resolutions CS 2 and CS 1 passed, while CS 3 was defeated.
Following lunch, Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President, gave the Convention a passionate speech that energized the delegates and left them singing in the hall.
The General Resolutions Committee were next up and dealt with three resolutions in the afternoon:
Composite GEN 7A – PSAC – Strike Pay
GEN 3 – UNE National Youth Conference – Each Cycle
GEN 12 – PSAC and any Canadian Labour Congress Sanctioned Education Event
All three resolutions were passed by the Convention Floor.
We hope all the delegates had a great time in the evening at the Royal Ontario Museum!
All Convention documentation will be available and updated electronically on the UNE website. As such, you should bring your laptop and/or tablet to follow along when discussing resolutions and Convention business. Should you require an electronic device be provided to you, please contact us at your earliest convenience. Members who require a paper copy of Convention documents may make a request to be accommodated.
TRAVEL
You should plan to arrive at the Sheraton Center Hotel, in Toronto by the evening of Saturday August 19, 2023.
Delegates travelling by air are required to make their arrangements with WE Travel for all air travel bookings. The toll-free number for WE travel Ottawa is 1-888-676-7747 and WE Travel Vancouver is 1-800-663-4703. They have been instructed to have you travel to Toronto on Saturday, August 19, 2023. Your return flight should have you depart Toronto after 6 p.m. on Friday, August 25, 2023. Should you be unable to arrive home before 10 p.m. that evening, you can choose to stay overnight at the hotel and depart Saturday morning. Should there be any requirement to modify air travel arrangements from the proposed schedule, such arrangements must be approved in advance by the UNE office. Please contact Suzanne Boucher at Suzanne.boucher@une-sen.org or at 613-560-4359 to coordinate your travel requirements.
If you are not traveling by air, in order to be reimbursed, delegates must keep all receipts for transportation such as taxis, buses, and parking.
**Delegates in the GTA using their personal automobile will be reimbursed for mileage and parking at the hotel.
ACCOMMODATION
Reservations will be made for you to arrive at the Sheraton Center Hotel, in Toronto on the evening of August 19, 2023 and depart the evening of August 25, 2023.
FAMILY CARE
The Union of National Employees reimburses family care expenses in an effort to encourage full participation in union activities by members whom, in light of their family responsibilities, may otherwise be unable to do so. When you send your expense claim, please provide a receipt signed by the person providing the service. The receipt must clearly indicate the hours and dates of service. Please see the Family Care Forms for further information. In addition, on-site childcare will be provided during Convention activities. Please indicate whether you require on-site childcare when you register online or send the attached Family Care Form. Last-minute registrations may not be accommodated.
FINANCIAL ALLOWANCES
Delegates will be reimbursed travel costs in accordance with regular UNE Policy. With respect to accommodation, delegate accommodation will be prepaid by the component (room and tax only). Incidental expenses are the delegate’s responsibility. During registration, you will receive an expense claim to be completed for all expenses and loss of salary. Please submit your claim for reimbursement to the UNE convention office at the hotel or mail the claim to the UNE office in Ottawa, following the convention.
USE OF YOUR PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION
As a delegate, you have the right and responsibility to make informed decisions on issues which will be presented to you, including the election of your UNE Officers. Similarly, members who run for elected office within the UNE (candidates) have the right and responsibility to communicate with convention delegates. As a result, upon request, candidates are entitled to receive your personal contact information from the UNE. Personal contact information includes your name, address, phone number and email address. Your personal contact information will be shared on a need-to-know basis only. Therefore, candidates may only obtain personal contact information from members who are entitled to vote on the position for which they are seeking elected office (e.g. candidates who run for National positions, or candidates who run for Regional Vice-President in your region only). Candidates may only use this information to communicate with you about their candidacy. They are also required to safeguard your personal contact information in accordance with UNE Privacy policies (Refer to Policy CE1).
Should you have any further questions, please contact Suzanne Boucher at 613-560-4359 or by email at events@une-sen.org.
Due to the current climate facing our Union, we understand many of our members are either on strike or working hard to achieve Local Conformance. As a result, UNE has extended the deadline for Convention Registration and submission of Resolutions.
The new deadline is Monday, May 15, 2023 at midnight EST.
