May 6 – RVP Carol Osborne visited the Grand Falls-Windsor and Corner Brook Parole Offices for her annual Visit to Local 90098 in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Grand Falls-Windsor is a sub-Parole Office to St. John’s, NL, where there is just one Parole Officer covering a vast area of the province. Tamara Penton is the current Parole Officer supervising offenders from Springdale Junction to Clarenville/Bonavista, which represents a substantial part of the island. The meeting between Local President Janice Doyle, RVP Osborne and Ms. Penton clarified the realities and workload of Parole Officers who work in remote sites within the CSC. Ms. Penton comes to CSC from the Province and was welcomed as a CSC employee and as a USJE member. Her pride for the work she is doing for CSC and her enthusiasm were obvious and quite overwhelming.
On May 7, the Local held its Annual General Membership Meeting, relayed in a hybrid format as the Local encompasses all of Newfoundland and Labrador.
President Doyle and RVP Osborne provided an update on the Local and National activities within USJE. Members were reminded to provide their personal emails to ensure they are receiving the updates from both the PSAC and USJE. Members were also encouraged to follow the websites and social media for any updates; specifically for bargaining as this process has recently begun, with our Collective Agreement due to expire in June.
RVP Osborne spoke of the RCMP Campaign and underlined the growing concerns in Alberta and the maintenance of its contract with the RCMP. She reminded participants that the 2nd USJE Equity Conference will be held on May 27-30 in Halifax, NS.
RVP Osborne encouraged members to listen to USJE’s podcast, “the Union Safety Net” available on most platforms. She advised that there is an episode coming out in May, which is focused on the important work CRs do in which she directly participated. RVP Osborne spoke briefly on the work the USJE Equity Committee is doing on behalf of the CR members within our departments.
And finally, members were advised of the upcoming Townhalls with the USJE National President, David Neufeld, which will be held virtual on May 14 & 15. Members can register on the USJE website.
Once again, RVP Osborne was greatly touched by the incredible sense of community and warmth of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. She extends her most profound thanks for the hospitality and wishes to express her immense pride in representing them.