On August 21, National President David Neufeld joined Local President, Jena Russell, in visiting two work sites which belong to USJE Local 70125. This was the first time that President Neufeld had visited the USJE members at the Supreme Court of Canada and Court Administrative Services located in Ottawa.
The visits started at the Supreme Court of Canada where 20 members joined the USJE representatives for a lunch time meeting. Local President Russell and President Neufeld took the opportunity to share information about USJE and PSAC and how the unions work together to represent the members. The union representatives also explained how members can get involved in the union, receive union training and how to stay in touch via social media, monthly union newsletters and our USJE website.
Members were very interested to hear how the collective bargaining process works and what to expect in this next round of bargaining. President Neufeld shared details regarding USJE’s own national strike fund (approved in 2023 at the USJE Triennial Convention) and how it will assist in supporting our members in future rounds of bargaining.
President Neufeld and Local President Russell would like to thank the USJE members at the Supreme Court of Canada for their warm welcome, their questions and their expressed interest to meet again in the future. USJE also wishes to thank Labour Relations at the SCC for their support of holding this meeting with our members.
In the afternoon, President Neufeld and Local President Russell attended to the Court Administrative Services located at 90 Sparks Street. This site tour involved the union representatives visiting members in three different registries: the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Court Martial Appeal Court.
President Neufeld and Local President Russell were able to speak to many members during the course of the tour. President Neufeld took the opportunity to learn more about the important work that USJE members perform in supporting court services and to answer any questions members may have about the ongoing work of our union.
Many of the members met during the tour identified that they have only been with the Court Administrative Services for a short period of time. These members expressed their appreciation for the visit and for information on how to connect with the union. Several members expressed interest in having a future meeting where they could be more fully briefed on the activities and campaigns of USJE.
President Neufeld and Local President Russell want to thank the management at the Court Administrative Services for allowing them the opportunity to conduct the site visit and to speak directly with the members.
It should be noted that both the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court Administrative Services are part of the judicial branch of government in Canada and are independent from the federal departments and the executive branch. For administrative and budgetary purposes, they both interact with the Minister of Justice but retain full operational and judicial independence.
Currently, there are approximately 420 USJE members who work for the Court Administrative Services (across the country) and 80 USJE members who work at the Supreme Court of Canada. USJE is very proud of the very important work they perform in supporting the national courts in Canada.