SGEU suspends 17 members, takes most to labour board over ‘disruption’

The Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board has turned down an attempt by the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union (SGEU) to block a group of dissident members from attending upcoming ratification meetings across the province.

On Monday, the SGEU took the group of correctional officers to the board for interim relief of what it considers chaotic, intimidating behaviour against union leadership at a trio of ratification meetings in Regina last month.

According to Crystal Norbeck, the SGEU’s lawyer, the group’s actions at meetings have made some members “fearful to attend.” Examples of the actions include allegedly asking repetitive questions, yelling, swearing and wearing T-shirts with SGEU president Bob Bymoen’s face on it and the words “Not My President.”

The group has also impeded a vote on a memorandum of understanding toward a new collective agreement, Norbeck claimed.

The board ultimately dismissed the union’s interim application Monday, siding with the group. Another portion of the SGEU’s case, in relation to unfair labour practices, is set to be heard next month.

While the group considers the board’s decision a win, Arlen Nickel, a correctional officer and former chief shop steward at the Regina Provincial Correctional Centre (RPCC), said it doesn’t do much.

The court hearing comes on the heels of the SGEU suspending 17 correctional officers from the union last week. The union had already banned the group’s members from participating in any union activity, or from acting in any appointed or elected union position.

It also barred the members from accessing any SGEU property or building until a full internal investigation of their actions is complete.

“We’re still suspended regardless, so we can’t go (to any of the upcoming ratification meetings) anyway,” Nickel said.

Each of the dissident members, including Nickel, was notified of their suspension in a letter obtained by 980 CJME from Bymoen on Oct. 31. The letter outlines that the suspension stems from complaints raised with the SGEU provincial council against the members of the group in relation to their actions at the three ratification meetings.

In court Monday, Norbeck accused the members of creating a “threatening and hostile volatile atmosphere at meetings.” But Benji Hazen, a 10-year correctional officer at Regina’s provincial jail, disagrees. He allegedly attended all the meetings.

Hazen calls the interactions with other SGEU members at these meetings “tense” but he said “it was calm.”

Hazen maintains he and others from the group in attendance were merely trying to “ask the right questions” about pensions, a potential strike and reform of the bargaining committee to better inform their fellow union members.

But he claimed the committee skipped over their questions, which is when tensions would rise.

“Yes, there were some raised voices when it comes to the questions being asked (to the negotiating committee), but there was a lot of noise within the area; there was voting going on,” Hazen said.

“If the people that we’re paying to represent us aren’t on the same page and they don’t have the same message, how are we supposed to feel confident in making an informed decision?”

But Lori Bossaer, acting chair of the Public Service/Government Employment negotiating committee, didn’t see it that way.

“I can speak to one of the meetings. I had to remove three people from the audience to bring them into a private room to do the presentation because of the disruption this group caused,” she remembered.

“These meetings are set up for everyone to come and ask questions regarding the tentative agreement. When (the members of the group) stormed the meeting that day, I had to remove three people who wanted the presentation and do that privately.

“It’s the T-shirts (with Bymoen’s face on it), it’s the behaviour. You’re not allowed to have any kind of smear campaign; that’s in (the SGEU) constitution. So it started off with that, and continued with the behaviour.”

When it comes to the T-shirts, Hazen said it wasn’t meant to be offensive.

“It’s a statement; we don’t recognize (Bymoen) as our president. That’s all it is,” he said, noting it stems from a recent incident between Bymoen and another union member.

“I can go and vote for my prime minister with a shirt that says, ‘Justin Trudeau is not my prime minister’ and still go and vote. I just don’t understand.”

Nickel expects Monday’s court hearing and the recent suspensions to have a lasting impact on all SGEU members.

“This has scared a lot of members. If you speak out against your union, your union will take you to court,” he said. “Unions have fought for free speech and a right to protest and these rights for years — decades. And now, we have a union that’s trying to silence, intimidate and completely dismantle their own membership.”