SEIU has committed to freezing Local 14’s current dues rate for five years. If we join SEIU, members will continue to pay 1.35% union dues for five years, and then dues will rise to 2%. This is the difference of approximately $65 for every $10,000 that you earn.

Strike pay is $300/week. If the strike lasts longer than four weeks, it will increase to $350/week. Usually, strike pay increases every Convention to match the rise in the cost-of-living.

If we choose to join SEIU, all NSUPE positions will come to an end. However, all members are eligible to be elected on the negotiations committee or Branch-Local executive.

Currently, Local 14 members do not yet have a negotiations proposal nor an elected negotiations committee. The content of membership surveys and what members want to see in their bargaining proposals won’t change too much, if at all, given that our workplace issues remain the same. Within 10 days of Local 14 voting YES, SEIU commits to hosting a general meeting to elect a union negotiations committee, as well as map out a plan for bargaining on an expedited timeline. The elected committee will be our interim elected leadership in Local 14 until the conclusion of negotiations as a way to ensure strong unified union leadership. Once negotiations conclude, we will be able to elect our own Executive, implement Branch-Local by-laws. SEIU will immediately conduct stewards training.

If we join SEIU, our current Collective Agreement comes with us.

From SEIU’s researcher’s preliminary count, there are approximately 20,000 library workers across SEIU International. In Nova Scotia, SEIU represent library workers in public schools and academia, including at Acadia University and NS regional centres for education.

No. However, some SEIU members continue to directly contribute dues to the Union in lieu of paycheque deductions as a way to demonstrate their ongoing collective contributions to their co-workers.

Yes. In addition, SEIU has a staff arsenal of five legal professionals, including a peer-review committee which involves the support of a retired labour lawyer. SEIU regularly retains the law firm, Pink Larkin in Halifax for additional legal support as required.

No. SEIU does not charge initiation fees with the exception of certain Branch-Locals, including those where it is common in their sector. The autonomy of the Branch-Local is respected by SEIU in their decision to charge initiation fees.

Changing unions may cause a small delay to our negotiations – mostly due to the result of a slow Labour Board in NS. That said, in Nova Scotia, notice for bargaining can occur as early as 6 months before the expiration of a collective agreement. It will soon be a year since NSUPE has let our current collective agreement expire, and negotiations with HPL have still not begun. Changing unions isn’t to blame for chronically delayed bargaining timelines within Local 14. If there are any delays, it will more than offset the increase in bargaining power we will receive by joining SEIU. SEIU understands that many workers are desperate for wage increases and improvements to their conditions. SEIU will do everything to support us in facilitating an expeditious bargaining while helping us build strong majority engagement during this critical time.

Reach out to SEIU! SEIU wants to support workers and members in improving their lives and workplaces so that they never have to work multiple part-time jobs just to make ends meet.

Yes, it is possible for there to be a virtual option.

A democratic process for members to collectively choose between various unions was attempted twice, and thwarted both times by NSUPE. The first time was when the merger process failed. Then-representatives Art Bouman and Shelby Kennedy offered to explore other Unions for NSUPE to merge with. In response, NSUPE Executive Council swiftly impeached Shelby. A second attempt was made during the Local 14 general meeting in December, when rank-and-file members requested to create a working group to research other Unions. At the time, the Executive was supportive of the idea, but then a couple weeks later, they sent explicit notice that they would not be allocating any more time at meetings to discuss this matter and stated they made the decision to stay with NSUPE.

There are many reasons for this Article as a result of tried and tested strategies for building worker-power through bargaining and (the threat of) legal work-stoppage. At SEIU, members elect their own negotiation representatives who work hard to bargain the best deal they can for their co-workers. Revealing negotiation updates in advance of a ratification vote often leads to a de-escalation of membership-engagement, rather than an escalation during the only window of time that workers can yield legal strike action. Let’s be clear: no one wants to strike, ever. And it’s only possible for a Union to strike if given a majority mandate by its members. The simple reality is that the threat of legal strike-action is one of the most powerful tools in the workers’ arsenal for major improvements at work, and ultimately, to our lives.

SEIU works extremely hard to support its Branch-Locals to mobilize its members for the ratification vote because turning out a strong majority is crucial in the face of contract-rejection and possible strike-action. Historically, some of the best deals that workers and their unions have won are during negotiations that edges towards strike-action but narrowly avoids so.

No. Our HRM pension plan will not be affected, nor will our benefits plan. Any member who is currently on LTD will not be affected. That being said, SEIU operates a Benefits Trust fund which provides many of their members across the country with excellent insurance coverage. It is possible that Local 14’s benefits package could be improved by joining the SEIU Benefits Trust fund.

That’s not true. Like many Unions, SEIU is a member of the Canadian Labour Congress (also known as Canada’s house of organized Labour). The CLC has some rules and procedures in place to minimize workers from hopping between various labour unions, but if members have legitimate grievances for changing unions, the CLC can help to facilitate a transfer.

That is untrue. It is our union right, as protected in the Trade Union Act, that all members must be able to vote on their collective-agreement. All SEIU members are presented the tentative agreement, and all members get to cast a vote on whether to reject or accept the bargained contract.

There is a legal window to time to change unions called “the open period” which is the time between the expiry of a collective-agreement and until one is bargained. The current Local 14 contract expired almost a year ago, so the open period for us to change unions is right now. We legally can’t wait until after negotiations. Our upcoming round of negotiations is why we need to change unions now. HPL is bringing legal counsel for the first time to these negotiations and too much is at risk without a strong Union to support us.

Yes, SEIU Local 2 is proud to be an active participant of the international labour movement, including the labour movement here in Canada. SEIU is proud members of the Canadian Labour Congress, the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, and the Halifax-Dartmouth District Labour Council. SEIU regularly works with, collaborates, and are in-coalitions with other labour unions across Nova Scotia (such as when they fought against Bill 148), as well as in nationally and internationally.