The SCMMA board recommends an affiliation with the Society of United Professionals for several reasons. The first is that membership continues to grow and has reached a point where the resources needed are more than volunteers can manage or have the expertise for. This was considered as far back as 2011, when the membership was half the size, for the same reason.

Additionally, a Judge’s ruling in a recent arbitration for a member who was terminated “without cause” was in favour of SCMMA’s position. This ruling is monumental for SCMMA and will restrict the employer from terminating members without giving a reason and following fair mitigation. 

SCMMA needs on-the-ground help and a larger, more powerful ally to represent members going forward.

Additional benefits of this affiliation are the low dues structure compared to other unions and the cost of hiring staff, an arrangement to delay any increase until a renewed collective agreement contract is ratified, and the benefit of eliminating our Blue Cross debt repayment loan.

The affiliation proposal comes at a time when SCMMA is at a crossroads and change is needed. Along with IFPTE, the Society has already significantly helped SCMMA approach bargaining in a strong position, and SCMMA’s leadership is confident this is the right time and partner to move forward with.

As a Local under the Society structure, SCMMA members would maintain a high level of autonomy in membership representation, but gain access to a much larger pool of resources and support.

The Society has highly developed democratic structures, policies, and practices that ensure the organization runs according to the interests and values of the membership. SCMMA members and Society members are similar in our alignment on an approach to labour negotiations that focuses on solutions and problem-solving rather than creating conflict. The Society has a well-established reputation for negotiating strong collective agreements, and are often recognized for leading industry standards.

Increased Bargaining Support

During collective agreement renewals, Society bargaining units can access a $30 million Collective Agreement Renewal fund to ensure that they achieve the strongest possible agreement. The Society employs 30 highly experienced full-time staff engaged in labour relations, research, education and training, communications, government relations, organizing, IT support, and administration. Society bargaining units are assigned a Labour Relations Staff Officer who is a specialist in supporting and guiding employer interactions, negotiating agreements, and handling grievances.

• Research Support

Society local negotiations are supported by our staff Economist who prepares research and wage comparisons to make sure the union is able to push for fair compensation as well as agreements that strengthen both professional integrity and working conditions.

• Education for Bargaining Teams

The Society delivers in-house training programs for bargaining committees, ensuring that team members are well prepared to negotiate effectively. This includes workshops on interest-based bargaining, contract costing, communications strategies, and understanding complex legal and regulatory frameworks.

• Organizing Support

In addition to financial and research resources, locals can rely on the Society’s organizing department to build collective power at the workplace. Staff organizers assist in member engagement, internal mobilization, and strategic campaign planning to demonstrate solidarity and strengthen bargaining positions.

• Communications Support

Dedicated communications staff support bargaining teams by developing messaging for members, media, and the public. This helps locals manage narratives, counter employer misinformation, and maintain strong member solidarity during negotiations.

Specialized Knowledge

If you work in a professionally regulated field, like engineering, the Society has special expertise in understanding your representation. We represent many professionally regulated employees and understand the unique challenges of balancing professional standards, licensing requirements, and workplace rights.

Other Membership Benefits

Membership in the Society of United Professionals comes with more than strong workplace representation. Members enjoy a range of benefits designed to support their professional growth and personal well-being.

• Educational Opportunities

The Society offers ongoing training and educational programs to help members develop new skills, enhance their professional expertise, and stay current in their fields.

• Networking and Community

Members have access to conferences, workshops, and events that connect them with other professionals across sectors. These opportunities foster collaboration, mentorship, and the sharing of best practices.

• Member Discount Program

The Society’s discount program provides meaningful savings from select service providers. Members can access discounts on cell phone plans, internet and cable services, insurance products, and other everyday expenses.

Our available discounts contain many national chains like Budget Rental Car, Mark’s, Softmoc, Best Western, The Personal Insurance, and GoodLife Fitness which would be immediately accessible to SCMMA members. The program is managed by a Society Staff person who works with our members to secure local discounts to add to the program.

Together, these benefits ensure that membership in the Society not only strengthens your workplace, but also provides tangible value in your daily life.

Before joining IFPTE in 2019, the SCMMA Board reviewed potential affiliations. The top two options were IFPTE and the Society of United Professionals due to having similar memberships. The Board chose IFPTE at the time because dues were lower and the Society was then based solely in Ontario.

Membership in IFPTE has brought us significant support, including assistance in negotiations, steward training, strategic planning, and campaign development. Through IFPTE, we also built a relationship with the Society of United Professionals, IFPTE Local 160. In 2023, the IFPTE arranged bargaining training and communications support for us from the Society. An IFPTE representative is currently part of the bargaining team.

Since 2019, the Society has expanded beyond Ontario, now representing members located in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. When SCMMA requested a solidarity loan to repay our Blue Cross debt, discussions naturally turned to other ways we could work together, including affiliation.

After reviewing our history and options, the SCMMA Board strongly believes that joining the Society is the next logical step to increase our power and credibility in the workplace. The Society is a well-resourced union with values aligned to ours, a strong record of collective bargaining, and proven public advocacy. We have already seen their commitment through the interest-free loan they extended to us when we needed help with our Blue Cross debt.

Our current negotiations could approach an impasse. We are committed to defending Article 16.2 to ensure our members cannot be fired without cause, and to winning wage increases that reflect the true value of our work. By joining the Society of United Professionals, we will have the resources, experience, and solidarity needed to secure these protections and achieve the gains our members deserve.

If SCMMA members choose to join the Society, they will become members of the Society of United Professionals and the Society will become their legal bargaining agent. The choice of bargaining agent is an internal matter to SCMMA members and is yours to make alone. There will be no change or alteration to the makeup of the SCMMA bargaining unit or your membership in IFPTE.

SCMMA can continue to operate with local autonomy while experiencing the benefits of a larger entity such as the Society. You will elect your own workplace representatives and work with other Society elected representatives and professional staff to continue bargaining as well as overseeing the administration of your current collective agreement.

SCMMA members will gain access to a range of resources that strengthen both bargaining and advocacy. This includes access to the Society’s financial resources, such as dedicated funds that support collective bargaining and member mobilization, as well as funds that can be directed toward donations, sponsorships, and community initiatives. These resources ensure that SCMMA members are not only well supported at the bargaining table but also able to contribute meaningfully to broader professional, social, and community causes.

For more information about the Society, check out: Introduction to the Society of United Professionals

For more information about how SCMMA members will benefit from Society membership, check out:

• Why is the Society a good fit for SCMMA? and
• Will my union dues increase by joining?

The Society has an active organizing program and is committed to growing our membership. For most of our history, our efforts have been concentrated within Ontario.

We are now at a point where we want to be well-positioned to pursue organizing opportunities beyond Ontario, and we see Saskatchewan as a strong fit. This is driven in part by Saskatchewan's recent commitment to expanding its energy sector through investments in nuclear power, and in part by the valuable expertise that the SCMMA’s executive and members would contribute to our organizing strength.

As a Local of the Society of United Professionals, SCMMA will continue to set our own priorities and manage our relationship with the City of Saskatoon. At the same time, we are closely aligned with the Society in our approach to union representation and collective bargaining.

The Society is known for a distinctive bargaining style that emphasizes solutions over conflict. Like SCMMA, Society members are dedicated professionals who want their workplaces to thrive through strong, effective union representation.

Many Society members work in environments where other groups are represented by unions such as CUPE, and, like us, many hold supervisory roles over unionized staff. While committed to collaboration with the broader labour movement, the Society stands out as a union run by and for professional employees. It has a proven record of negotiating strong agreements, leading industry standards, and earning the respect of both its members and their employers.

Under the Society structure, SCMMA would become its own Local. Each Society Local has the right to negotiate and manage its operations, in accordance with the Constitution, Bylaws, policies and procedures to best serve their members. In doing so, each Local acts fairly autonomously, with the common objective to increase benefits, opportunities and rights for the union membership as a whole.

Society Locals are assigned a Labour Relations Staff Officer who is a specialist in supporting and guiding employer interactions, agreement negotiations, and grievance handling. The Society also provides a comprehensive training program for Local elected representatives, including bargaining teams. Often Locals will work with the Society Researcher, Organizer, external relations, and communications staff on specific issues or to support their negotiations. However, it is the Locals and their elected representatives who hold decision-making responsibilities.

Check out the complete doc: Introduction to the Society of United Professionals

Each local, regardless of the number of members they have, elects one Local Vice President (LVP). Underneath the LVP are similarly elected Unit Directors (UDs) and Delegates. Delegates report to UDs, UDs report to LVPs. One UD might have three delegates who report to them, and each delegate may have 30-40 members for and to whom they are responsible. A delegate is a member who is elected by a group of fellow members (called a “Delegate Group”). The delegate structure in the Society is very similar to SCMMA’s stewards system.

Each local establishes their own Local Committee made up of the LVP and UDs. Locals can also include their Delegates in their Local Committees. The Local Committee would act in the same way the SCMMA Board acts to manage the day-to-day of the local and administration of the collective agreement.

Each Local Vice President is a voting member of the Society’s Executive Board. Generally, the LVP, has signing authority for local decisions, and is the escalation point for all elected members (Delegates and Unit Directors) in their Local. LVPs generally lead collective agreement negotiations and the overall relationship with their members’ employer.

Locals are represented on the Society Board based on the number of members in their Local.

If SCMMA members choose to become members of the Society, SCMMA’s current Board and elected members structure would change to the Society structure. We will have one Local Vice President, 1-2 Unit Directors, and 11 - 15 Delegates.

Check out the Society Structure and Governance Overview section of the Intro to the Society document for more detailed information.

Yes. If SCMMA joins the Society, your dues will increase from 0.44% to 1% up to a cap of $25.55/week (the maximum dues rate).

There are no additional fees associated with joining the Society or being a member of the Society. Union dues are tax deductible.

Also, special provisions have been negotiated with the Society where:

1. The dues increase will not take effect until a new collective agreement has been successfully ratified with the City of Saskatoon.  
2. The Blue Cross levy of $25/pay will no longer be your individual responsibility and will be covered by your union dues. On January 1, 2026 any deductions for your new Sun Life benefits will be based on the coverage option you choose, which could be zero if you select the base option, which will be paid by the employer.
3. Membership fees for organizations we wish to be a part of such as the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and Saskatoon District Labour Council, will be covered at no additional cost to members.

Example based on $85,000 salary (SCMMA 7):

* To be adjusted for any salary increase negotiated in the new collective bargaining agreement.

Dues are democratically decided upon by the membership of the Society. As per the Society Constitution and Bylaws, the maximum dues rate will increase each April 1 by the weighted average of the economic increases the Society negotiated for its members during the fiscal year prior to each April 1. The maximum dues rate for fiscal year 2025 is $25.55/week. This dues formula was set through and can only be amended by a constitutional referendum supported by two-thirds of members that vote.

No.

If SCMMA joins the Society, your collective agreement will remain the same until you conclude negotiations and ratify your next agreement.

SCMMA members will always set the bargaining priorities and elected SCMMA members will always negotiate the collective agreement with the support of Society staff like your Labour Relations Staff Officer. As is the case now, only SCMMA members will vote on whether to ratify a renegotiated collective agreement.

SCMMA will continue to be named SCMMA until such time that you decide to change it, or the Society membership (you included!) decide to adopt a specific naming convention. You would no longer be IFPTE Local 222, as the Society is IFPTE Local 160.

SCMMA members will be given the opportunity to participate in a membership referendum. For a referendum to be successful, more than 50% of the SCMMA members who cast ballots must vote in favour of joining the Society. This vote will occur online with an individual Simply Voting link for each member from October 20 to 21, 2025. If the results are in favour of merging with the Society, there is a transition committee and detailed plan ready to go for a quick and easy process.

An affiliation agreement is a contract between two unions that outlines the details of how one union will join the other. Typically, this contract manages all terms and conditions relating to the affiliation like assets, dues, staff support, affiliation process, and termination rights.

Many templates for union affiliation agreements are in circulation. Our affiliation agreement will be discussed and signed by the SCMMA Executive and the Society Executive.

The process to leave the Society will be outlined in the affiliation agreement. Typically, you leave the union the same way you join. In the case of SCMMA, the process will likely include a membership representation vote.

The Society of United Professionals is an autonomous local union. While the Society negotiates collective agreements, supports members in their workplaces, and directs its own operations, it is also part of a larger labour family through its affiliation with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE). The IFPTE is a continental union that represents over 90,000 professional, technical, and administrative workers across Canada and the United States. By being IFPTE Local 160, the Society maintains full control over its own affairs while also benefiting from the solidarity, resources, and political influence that come with belonging to an international federation.

Yes. The Society of United Professionals is Local 160 of the IFPTE, therefore SCMMA will continue to be a part of the IFPTE family through your membership with the Society.

The biggest changes are probably going to be seen by SCMMA elected representatives:

• Learn and follow Society processes and policies. This will impact things like budgeting, titles of elected members, and familiarization of duties.
• SCMMA Local Executive Committee will participate in an annual budgeting activity that all Society Locals participate in. The Local budgets are approved by the Society Board and managed by the Local Executive Committees.
• Training will be provided by Society staff for members of the bargaining team and our stewards. 
• SCMMA will have access to professional resources and consistency year to year, including being assigned a Labour Relations Staff Representative located in Saskatoon.

To most members, SCMMA will look very similar to how it looks now:

• SCMMA Stewards and Board will continue to be the first line of support for members with issues and grievances.
• SCMMA will continue to hold quarterly member meetings and steward meetings (aka SCMMA Connect).
• Members will continue to receive updates from the SCMMA Board regarding bargaining and Local news.