Archive for the ‘um’ Category
New Member of Board of Representatives representing District 36
Friday, February 2nd, 2024
The Electoral and Districting Committee wishes to announce that, since the recent call for nominations, Danielle Saj (UM, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy) has been elected by acclamation to the position of Member of the Board of Representatives representing District 36.
Congratulations, Danielle and welcome to the AESES Board of Representatives!
Call for Nominations to the AESES Board of Representatives – District 36
Wednesday, January 17th, 2024
District 36 | Brodie Centre – Floors 4 to 8
University of Manitoba, Bannatyne Campus
The Electoral and Districting Committee (EDC) is pleased to announce a member has recently expressed a desire to serve on the Board in this district. Therefore, the EDC is holding a by-election in District 36 (Brodie Centre – Floors 4 to 8) for the position of a Member of the Board of Representatives.
If you work in District 36, you should have received an email with this information and the nomination form. The deadline for submitting nominations is Wednesday, January 31, 2024.
If you are a member of District 36 and have not yet received this email, please contact Judy Archibald at the AESES Business Office at jarchibald@aeses.ca for help.
Email to AESES-UM Members – UM Pension Plan Change
Tuesday, November 14th, 2023
November 14, 2023
To: All AESES-UM Members
By now, you should have received an email from the University advising of an upcoming change to the UM Pension Plan (1993), if you did not see it in your email Friday, check your Junk Mail folder. The email laid out the reason why this necessary change is required and advised employees that there will be no diminishment of their pension entitlement. AESES has been directly involved in the discussions and wants to assure our members that this is indeed the case.
In 2019, the University notified AESES and the other union and retiree stakeholders at the UM Staff Benefits Committee that it was necessary to make changes to the “1993 Pension Plan” to ensure it remained compliant with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) rules, and to ensure that retirement annuities could continue to be funded on a long-term basis. This “1993 Pension Plan” is the one that all current members participate in, even if you were just hired. After several special meetings of the Staff Benefits Committee in 2019 and 2020, AESES partnered with UMFA. Together we retained our own external legal and actuarial professionals to ensure the CRA required changes were necessary and implemented properly. While we recognized to come into compliance with CRA rules that changes were necessary, we wanted to ensure the preservation of our members’ existing pension benefits. The counsel we retained engaged with the University’s pension plan administrators and not only protected our interests but was integral to devising a solution that maintained the flexibility and benefits of our pension with guarantees members would see no diminishment of benefit.
Following our recent Staff Benefits Committee meeting on Monday, November 6, the committee has now recommended that the proposed changes we helped craft be accepted and they have now been referred to the Board of Governors for approval. The plan amendments are expected to be implemented in 2024.
The University has provided contact information for the Pension Office should you have any questions about the plan change. However, if you would like to speak with someone from the AESES Business Office regarding this, contact our Labour Relations Officer, Lorne Hilton (lhilton@aeses.ca), who has been central to this process.
Thank you,
Chris McCann
AESES President
Extra, Extra: insideAESES Newsletter (June 2023)
Monday, June 5th, 2023
Welcome to June! Just like the blazing heat, another issue of insideAESES is coming at you!
Grab a nice cold beverage and take a few moments to cool down and read about:
- A message from AESES president Chris McCann
- AGM, Volunteers’ Appreciation Banquet, and Members’ Day Lunches recap
- Questions about break entitlements
- June 50 for 50 Contest
- New AESES appointments
- Ongoing union and member grievances
View the June issue and previous ones here.
Don’t forget the AESES 50th anniversary social is this Saturday, June 10. We only have a small number of tickets left available to purchase. Learn more at https://aeses.ca/social. Visit and follow our new Instagram account to see some of the silent auction prizes up for grabs!
International Women’s Day – March 8, 2023, Embracing Equity
Wednesday, March 8th, 2023
Today is a worldwide day to recognize and celebrate women’s and girls’ social, economic, cultural and political achievements, but it is also a time to raise awareness of the progress made toward achieving equality and the work that still needs to be done.
Did you know that International Women’s Day (IWD) dates back to the early 20th century?
The first IWD took place on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland when over a million men and women attended public events to show their support for women’s equal participation in society. Other countries joined in the following years.
The United Nations declared March 8, 1975, as International Women’s Day and it has been celebrated that day since.
AESES has participated in many different events over the years including dinners with the University of Manitoba’s President’s Office and guest speakers, trivia day and our last event held on March 8, 2020, with Leanne Shumka’s presentation on the topic of “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Female Canadian Labour Organizers.”
Celebrate today with your co-workers, mothers, daughters, and friends as we continue to embrace equity.
In Solidarity,
Gloria Saindon
Executive VP AESES
Confederation of Canadian Unions Affiliate Report – February 2023
Friday, February 17th, 2023
AESES thanks the Confederation of Canadian Unions for inviting us to Ottawa, Ontario, the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose culture and presence have nurtured this land for millennia. AESES members live and work on Treaty 1 Territory and Manitoba is located on the Treaty Territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, and Nehethowuk Nations and on the Homeland of the Red River Métis. We acknowledge northern Manitoba includes lands that were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
We respect the spirit and intent of Treaties and Treaty Making and remain committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration. The AESES Executive Council, represented by Chris McCann and myself, joined over one hundred university, community and Indigenous leaders to participate in the University of Manitoba’s (UM) Reconciliation Action Planning sessions in November. Collectively, we were asked to look at the colonial foundations and history of the University of Manitoba and to explore recommendations for fundamental changes to the structure of the organization, to acknowledge our history. and propose changes to move the institution into the future towards a goal of Mino-Pimatisiwin, or living the good life in a healthy balance with our land.
On Sunday, December 4th we held the Children’s Christmas party, the first in over two years! Over 400 parents and children were in attendance, despite a winter storm that kept some families away. Those in attendance enjoyed cookie decorating, clown entertainment, face painting, balloon animals and presents for the children. We had special guest appearances by Spiderman, kids’ entertainer Al Simmons and Santa Claus.
We kicked off the holiday season with an Open House in our new office building and union hall on December 9, which also marked the day of the very first gathering of six employees at a “study session” 50 years ago to discuss organizing a union. That group later filed their application to form a union on January 24th, 1973. This event was the first of many AESES has planned throughout our Golden Jubilee to recognize our 50th Anniversary. We plan to host several events with our membership and charitable fundraising activities including a big social party in June to which everyone from CCU is invited!
Chris McCann, VP UM-Bannatyne Melissa Blonjeaux and I met with UM President Michael Bennaroch and outgoing AVP-HR Darlene Smith on December 13 where among other items we discussed remote work for the future. We pointed out that while many members have the option of working two days per week at home that this is not uniformly applied to all members. The ability to work from home correlates to being in a higher paying position resulting in our lowest paid members often having less or no access to being able to work from home, and are therefore more likely to incur the increased costs of working on campus.
The AESES Executive Council has been asked to participate in UM’s five-year strategic planning process. This is the first time AESES has been directly invited. We will continue with regular high-level meetings between AESES and President Bennaroch roughly every six months like we have arranged with The University of Winnipeg (UW) President, Todd Mondor.
We were deeply saddened to report the passing of Paul Hazelton on December 25, 2022. Paul was at the original meeting to organize the union which became AESES over 50 years ago. He joined the Board as soon as we formed in May of 1973 and served on the Board continuously for the next 41 years until his retirement. Paul came to Canada in 1971 from Missouri and as a man of principle kept with him his “Handbook for Conscientious Objectors.” He earned a Ph.D. in Virology from UM in 1998. Paul played a part in managing the AESES 51-day strike in 1975, along with many other important roles including serving as President between 1975 – 1978. Paul was truly a distinguished member of AESES and served our union for over 50 years. Paul will be greatly missed.
On January 16, the AESES office welcomed Leanne Shumka as the new Member Services Officer. Leanne brings with her many years of knowledge and experience working with the union as a Board Representative, as Vice-President UW on the Executive Council and other committees throughout the years. This new role will join our Labour Relations Team of Lorne Hilton and Colleen Thompson and will help with the increased issues and questions that are being experienced by members over the past two and a half years of this pandemic.
Laurie Morris, Past President of AESES, after 41 years at the UM is retiring this year and her last day in office was January 30. The Department of Philosophy held a retirement party on February 3rd where many friends and colleagues gathered to thank her for her dedicated service and wish her well for the future. Laurie’s last official day will be in April and she will remain on the AESES Board until then and will definitely be at the social in June!
Team AESES will be a part of the Coldest Night of the Year on February 25, raising funds for St. Boniface Street Links which works to end homelessness, reduce poverty and support crime prevention through social programs. You can support our walk by visiting aeses.ca/coldestnight or registering your own team at cnoy.org/ to walk and support programs in your community.
In Solidarity,
Gloria Saindon
Executive Vice-President, AESES
Finalized AESES-UM Collective Agreement is Available Online
Monday, January 16th, 2023
The new AESES-UM Collective Agreement (valid from April 6, 2019, to March 27, 2026) is available online in our Collective Agreements section.
If you have questions regarding the publication, please send a message to aeses@aeses.ca or call 204-949-5200.
Confederation of Canadian Unions Affiliate Report – October 2022
Tuesday, October 18th, 2022
AESES thanks the Confederation of Canadian Unions for inviting us to Vancouver, British Columbia, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Musqueam), Squamish), and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
AESES members live and work on Treaty 1 Territory and Manitoba is located on the Treaty Territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene Peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. We acknowledge northern Manitoba includes lands that were and are the ancestral lands of the Inuit.
We respect the spirit and intent of Treaties and Treaty Making and remain committed to working in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in the spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration.
Acknowledging this truth is important, yet only a small part of cultivating strong relationships with Indigenous communities.
People in Manitoba recently were made very aware of the consequences of those harms and mistakes of the past as the tragic events at James Smith Cree Nation unfolded. Over the four days where the suspects remained at large, everyone in the prairies received multiple emergency alert messages per day in case the suspects had fled to the neighbouring provinces.
This tragic event that occurred last month is an example of the harms and mistakes of the past. The Chief of James Smith Cree Nation has called for funding for on reserve addictions treatment centres. If we want to remain true to the words of our Land Acknowledgement statements we need to ensure we hear community leaders when they say need help with the harms caused by drug and alcohol addiction. When they tell us of potential solutions we need to support and amplify their message. We need to make sure everyone sees the connections from the harms of the past and the tragedies of today.
At The University of Winnipeg AESES Members have ratified a new contract with 88% of members voting in favour of acceptance. This contract included important financial gains that attempt to recognize the impact of inflation has had and importantly is structured in ways that includes increases that are specifically precluded by the Conservative Governments Public Service Sustainability Act. This shows that laws forcing “austerity” can be overcome with continued pressure and persistence. Let us make sure the lesson learned here is not that governments can force austerity but that when we challenge it, we can win.
Both Universities, even with the return to full, in person classes, are going forward with Flexible Work and Remote Work programs. Our members value the expansion of this way of working and AESES continues to monitor and advocate for our members that these policies are available fairly to all members.
This past Labour Day AESES President Chris McCann and Vice President (University of Winnipeg) Meagan Michaluk represented both AESES and the CCU at the Labour Day Parade. Hundreds of people representing many unions marched from our Legislature through Winnipeg’s downtown streets to a family picnic held in Vimy Ridge Memorial Park.
On September 25th, AESES was able to host our Volunteer Appreciation Brunch after a 3 year delay. We recognized members for their dedicated service to our union and presented pins for 5, 10 and 15 years of union service. We had the sad duty of recognizing the passing of long time board and executive member Keith Travis earlier this year and in 2020 AESES lost Past-President Wayne Pucci. He became active within our union shortly after AESES only strike in 1975 and served as President for 20 years until 1999. Both Wayne and Keith will be missed.
AESES will be celebrating 2023 with the 50th Anniversary of our initial certification as a bargaining unit. We have started preparing activities to recognize this milestone. On December 9 we will kick off the celebrations with a Holiday Open House at the Union Office. This date marks exactly 50 years from when workers organized “study sessions” and talks began about forming our union. We have several activities planned including a famous “Manitoba Social” on Saturday June 10th, 2023. We hope to see you there.
AESES wishes all our sisters and brothers at CCU Affiliates a fantastic fall and reminds you to take time for yourself. This pandemic still has its challenges and is still very present in our lives. We all deserve a chance to disconnect from work and enjoy time with our families and friends.
In Solidarity,
Gloria Saindon
Executive Vice-President, AESES
Questions regarding AESES-UM members’ pay rates and retroactive pay
Thursday, May 19th, 2022
The new rates for 2022-2023 are now in effect, as you may have seen on your upcoming pay stub for Friday, May 20, 2022. Now that these new rates are in effect, the University of Manitoba can begin calculating the retroactive pay going backwards from the date the new rates came into effect.
AESES cannot confirm when the retroactive pay (and parking fee reimbursement, if applicable) will be coming. It could arrive within the next couple of pay periods, depending on how long it takes the University to make the calculations for members. If you have a specific question or want more information, please contact the AESES Business Office.