Information on Upcoming Vote for Clerical/Administrative Professionals

In order to fulfill a requirement of the provincial government’s new Health Authorities Act and allow the NSGEU to have an opportunity to continue to represent you, we need to consolidate all Clerical/Administrative Professional locals into one.

NSGEU’s Clerical/Administrative Professionals are being asked to vote on creating one standalone local which would represent all of the clerical/administrative professionals working in acute health care. Because of the way their bylaws and Constitution are written, our legal counsel has advised us that Local 23 would be the best local to serve as this consolidated local.

We held a telephone town hall meeting on Tuesday, February 10th to discuss this proposed change, and plan to hold another meeting on Tuesday, February 17th. Here are some of the questions you’ve asked:

1. Why is the NSGEU holding this vote?

NSGEU Clerical and Administrative professionals have made it clear they want to stay with the NSGEU and the Union wants to continue its proud history of representing you. In order to do this, we must establish a new legal entity: an amalgamated clerical/administrative professional local. Our lawyers have advised us that Local 23 currently has the strongest set of bylaws in place, so it makes most sense to use this local as the new amalgamated local.

We need your support to make this new structure a reality. If you want to remain with NSGEU, vote “Yes” on the ballot!

2. If you’re already a member of Local 23, do you vote?

Yes. All current NSGEU members who are Clerical/Administrative Professionals in Locals 23, 246, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94 & 95 have the opportunity to vote.

3. How would this new local affect my union representation & collective agreement?

Until a new amalgamated local structure can be determined, your union representation and collective agreement will remain in place, unchanged.

4. How can I vote?

Starting Thursday, February 12th at 9 a.m., we will be holding an electronic vote. You will receive an email from us with a link to your ballot and Personal Identification Code (this a secure process and a secret ballot, so no one will ever know how you voted). The vote will remain open until Wednesday, February 18th at 5 p.m., so you have time to consider your choice.

Please let your coworkers who are also NSGEU Clerical/Administrative Professional members know so they can provide us with their email address.

You can also vote by phone (that information will be included in the email you receive on Thursday with the electronic ballot).

If you experience any problems voting electronically or by phone, you can call our electronic voting helpline – 902-424-4063 (1-877-556-7438) – which is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Thursday, February 12th to Wednesday, February 18th (excluding weekends and holidays).

5. How will my seniority be affected by moving into this new local?

The government’s legislation (Bill 1) requires all current Clerical/Administrative Professional workers to be combined, which means if you are currently an employee of any of the District Health Authorities, your seniority will be pooled with members from all of the other former district health authorities. This is as a result of the province creating a provincial health authority that will replace the current district health authorities effective April 1, 2015. If you are an employee at the IWK, your seniority should remain the same. Our vote and proposed new local structure does not change this.

6. What will happen to our benefits?

This new amalgamated local structure will have no impact on your benefits. All benefits, pay and collective agreement provisions will remain in place until a new contract for the Clerical unit is negotiated with your new employer through the collective bargaining process. This vote will help ensure the NSGEU can continue to represent you in bargaining, and help protect the benefits we’ve earned together throughout the years.

If you have further questions or concerns about this vote, and would like more information, please contact us by calling 902-424-4063 (toll-free 1-877-556-7438) or emailing inquiry@nsgeu.ca.