MINUTES OF THE
PRESIDENTS’ CONFERENCE
April 2 – 4, 2009
THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2009
AFTERNOON SESSION
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at
Moment of silence for the 16 members
that passed away since the July 2008 Convention.
President Bannon went over the
Harassment Policy and introduced the Complaint Administrators, Brothers Cosimo
Crupi and Jean-Pierre Fraser and Sister Lyson Paquette. She introduced the
members of the staff from the National Office present in the room and then
asked the Local Presidents to introduce themselves. The members of the Executive Council were
then introduced.
The CPR attendants were as follows:
Janet Albinet, Susan Duncan, Doug Gaetz, Penny Kreamer, Jean-Yves Martel and
Barb Stewart.
HOURS OF SESSION
M/S/ Barb
Stewart/Jacques Lafontaine
That
the hours of session be as follows:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
MOTION CARRIED.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
(See attached agenda,
participants list and Items submitted by the Local Presidents)
M/S/ Gerard
Ennis/Val Vojnovic
That
the agenda be adopted as circulated with the following additions.
1. PSAC Pay Equity Payout (
2. Level of Education at the Call
Centers (Montréal)
3. Sunset Funding (Summerside)
4. UTE Calendar (
5. Staffing Recourse (
6. Defibrillators (Shawinigan-South)
7. Medical Cards (
MOTION
CARRIED.
OPENING REMARKS
President
Bannon welcomed all the participants to the April 2009 Presidents’ Conference
and spoke on the following issues. The report on Conflict / In-fighting 4
Workshops of Last September will be distributed this morning. There were 3 questions to be answered and all
the answers have been compiled. She
hopes that you will refer to this resource if necessary.
Some people had not made their
reservations to attend the upcoming PSAC Convention at the end of April. UTE caucus for all delegates and observers
will be held on Sunday, April 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon at the Convention
Centre in
Starting in January 2010 we will be
holding our Executive Council Meetings, Presidents’ Conferences and National
Conferences at the Fairmont Château Laurier.
A reminder will be sent in due course.
With respect to the passing of Bill
C-10, President Bannon commented that she was very proud of the work done by
the local, regional and national executives as well as by the members in
lobbying their MPs. As of November 2009,
members will get 1.5 % wage increase and the maximum for the next round of
negotiation will also be 1.5%. The PSAC has
been working on the papers to be filed in the court and they should be ready
within a week or two. There is a
precedent case involving the
The Executive
Council had a discussion on End-State earlier this week.
The
Ontario Government has harmonized the GST and PST and it would be administered
by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). UTE
will probably be getting more members in the Ontario Region. Additional information would be sent to al locals
when it becomes available.
Brother
Lalancette, responsible for Collective Bargaining, has worked with the PSAC on
the case of the term employees including the DA-CONs that are not salary
protected when their employment ends.
The PSAC is working on a document to that effect and we will provide
information to the locals when available.
A
presentation on Compensation will be given tomorrow by Claude Tremblay and
Karen Butcher from CRA, Compensation Headquarters Corporate. The Powerpoint presentation will be sent
electronically to all locals. Last
September, locals were asked to provide the National President a list of
compensation issues. In November, a
reminder was sent to all locals and responses were received from 19
locals. By January only 25 locals had
responded. We can’t operate with this
amount of responses. The only regions
where all locals had responded were Québec and
The
Council Retreat was held last January and three (3) priorities have been
identified for the next three (3) years:
1)
2)
Education: The Executive Committee will present recommendations to Council
Members next June for a roll-out in the fall.
3)
Strengthening the locals by involving them more by way of workshops and by
giving tools to build stronger locals.
We will send information to all locals.
President Bannon reported briefly on some
of the business conducted by the Executive
1.
Coffee breaks for terms and part time
employees resolved with headquarters
2.
Official Languages assigned to Sister
Bannon and Brother Mulvihill
3.
Sunset Funding: the definition will be
sent to the locals
4.
Successful Grievance on the button: "You’ll miss us
when we are gone"
5.
National EAP Conference dates
6.
National and Regional E.O. Conferences
dates
7.
8.
First Community Service Award to Sister
Brenda Skayman from
9.
Effective April 1st weekly
per diem increased to $90 and weekend $115.
10.
Revision of Regional Budgets –
Amendment to Regulation 7
11.
The rebate cheque from
12.
The Bargaining Committee will provide
information on the next round of Bargaining
President Bannon invited the Honour and
Awards Committee to come up to the front.
The Chair, Brother Dupuis introduced the members of the Committee as
follows: Sisters Robin Johnson and Dianne Rayner and Brother Denis
Lalancette. Brother Dupuis reiterated
the fact that UTE has a Scholarship Award and that the deadline for applicants
to apply is June 15th. He
also went on talking about the
Sister Bannon announced that the
UTE/SEI Boobettes will have a draw during the week (gift baskets) to collect
money for the
Point of privilege –
Jean de Peiza, Greater Toronto
Sister
de Peiza announced that following the challenge from the Montreal Local to match
the amount that the UTE/SEI Boobettes had previously collected she has brought
with her a cheque in the amount of $500. from all the
Point
of privilege – John Drozd, Montreal
Brother
Drozd announced that together with the employer, a sale of roses event was
organized with success and that the activity generated an amount of
$226.00. The profit would be calculated
in the context of the 2008 Workplace Charitable Campaign and attributed to the
UTE/SEI Boobettes as part of the Weekend to End Breast Cancer. Also while selling the roses, residual change
from the sale was put aside and totaled up to $80. The Montreal Local gave $500
as well and challenged all locals to match the amount. The interest to help this cause was prompt
following an email from the Boobettes asking for the names of people in the
locals that had survived cancer or who were fighting cancer.
Point
of privilege – Louise Vallière,
Sister
Vallière explained that the family of Brother Denis Brunette from the
Montérégie Local was going through difficult times as his 2 year old
grand-child Vincent was suffering from a liver cancer. Although we know that we do not have a direct
say on the cure of the illness we can contribute to alleviate the family burden
by offering monetary help to cover many costs.
An envelope with Vincent’s picture together with a get well book for
signature will be circulating and she thanked the members in attendance for
their generosity.
Point
of privilege – Val Vojnovic,
Sister
Vojnovic announced that their local had given the UTE/SEI Boobettes a cheque in
the amount of $500. to match the challenge of the Montreal Local.
All
the points of privilege were well taken by the President.
Brother Campbell explained the rules
for the UTE Olympics that would take place on Thursday and Friday nights. He also explained the rules for the
newsletter contest.
President Bannon asked the Chair of the
Political Action Committee (PAC) to present their report. Brother Stein
introduced the members of the Committee, Brothers Cosimo Crupi and Brad
Feraday. Brother Stein thanked all
locals for their work in the campaign to lobby the Members of Parliament to try
to stop Bill C-10. He is hoping to have
some information soon from the PSAC action to file a Charter challenge to the Court for the free right
to bargaining. The issue is not
the wage roll-back itself but the breaking of a signed legal collective
agreement. The PAC Committee will be
meeting in the next few months to analyze the past campaign and to strategize
and consider some actions for November 1st.
Brother Brière from the Laval Local
asked permission to talk now on their item of Bill C-10 by asking what had been
done by the PSAC and by UTE following the passing of the Bill.
Brother Stein commented that UTE
contacted all the political leader parties by email and immediately contacted
the locals with information for them to distribute information right away. Sister Bannon contacted the CRA Minister 3
times and he never responded. She also
contacted all Senators and the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Sister Bannon is confident that the court
case will be successful as it was for the B.C. case.
Sister Bannon added that the PSAC was
not mandated by us to take actions. They
did what they had to do on their own.
They put information on their web site, issued pamphlets and press releases,
held rallies and demonstrations throughout the country and launched a lobbying
campaign on pay equity etc. Some of the Regional Offices offered their help to
our locals. They were made aware by
Sister Bannon that it was important that they let her know what actions they
were taking in order to have our locals helping them out if necessary.
Brother Feraday commented that not only
does this body need to work on a campaign or issue like this one but that it
has to empower the whole membership (including their families). We all gain experience and confidence with
all past political campaigns and we should learn from them.
Brother Brière commented that his
questions were from his local and that he had forgotten earlier to thank the
PAC Committee, the UTE Executive and all the locals for their work on this
campaign. He added that we can sometimes
be critical, but we can also acknowledge the good work that that has been
done. To the question of could we get
less than (the maximum) 1.5% in the next round of bargaining for the first
year, Brother Stein answered that it is possible as it is what bargaining is
about.
ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS
1.
Local: Any progress made, since the October 2008 President's Conference, on having polices and procedures in place for the implementation of Regulation XIX - Hazard Prevention Ergonomics and Regulation XX - Violence prevention in the Workplace? What is planned to complete the process?
Aylward: Chair of the UTE Health and Safety
Committee indicated that both Regulations have been reviewed by a working group
on which he sat representing the labour side of the committee. They have reviewed Regulation XIX and
prioritized the Job Hazard Analysis to which the 3 phases have now been
completed. The working group has also
established other groups within the organization that would also have JHA done,
including ergonomics. With respect to
Regulation XX the working group is working on it as well. Sister Bannon added that the OSH Committee
took the position that they will not wait for HRDC to come up with a report.
2. National UTE Financial Information (
M/ Lorne Roslinski /
Whereas the
National UTE Financial Statements presented to each UTE Executive Council
Meeting are no longer available on the website; and
Whereas the
National UTE Officers’ Recorded Expenses Spreadsheet presented to each
Executive Council Meeting is no longer available on the website; and
Whereas this
information is provided to each Local of UTE by the National Office of UTE; and
Whereas this
information is of interest to some members of UTE who are not Executive Members
of Locals.
Be it Resolved
that
the financial statements and National Officers’ Recorded Expenses Spreadsheet
of the National UTE be provided to any member in good standing of UTE on
request.
Rationale: For years, financial information
of the National UTE was available on the UTE website for the world to see. When the decision was made to not include
said financial information on the website, the rationale was such that the
finances of UTE should not be made available to the employer. The following is an excerpt from the UTE
Executive Council Minutes of Sept/05, specifically “Open Discussion” Item #13,
on September 16, 2005:
That the following reports not be made available on the web.
They will be sent electronically to the locals with the Council minutes.
Cumulative amount paid to national executive officers;
Outstanding advances as of August 31, 2005;
Outstanding advances over 90 days as of August 31, 2005;
Regional and Education Balances, September 8, 2005;
Detailed RVP Expense Sheet 2005
MOTION CARRIED ON A SHOW OF HANDS.
President Bannon ruled the resolution
out of order as a similar resolution had already been dealt with by the
Executive Council. This situation was brought to Executive Council and was
discussed at the September 2008 Executive Council. The Council reconfirmed its position that the
expense reports and financial information would be sent to the locals and will
not be posted on UTE web site.
The meeting recessed at 1700
hours.
The Conference was called to order at
Brother Campbell gave an update on the
Olympics saying that it went very well.
The scores were as follows: Québec,
Brother Campbell announced that 4 UTE
Suede Jaquets would be drawn Saturday at the end of session. They are the same model that the ones that
have been ordered for the PSAC Convention for all delegates and observers.
Sister Bannon presented a 25 year pin
to Brothers Terry Dupuis and Nick Stein for their great commitment to the union
movement and UTE.
3. Women’s Representation from PSAC’s
Regional Women Committees at PSAC National
Triennial Convention (JONQUIÈRE –
10004)
Local: Solicited support for
the resolution concerning representation by women from PSAC’s Regional Women’s
Committees at the 2009 PSAC National Triennial Convention.
Bannon: This resolution was presented to the
Constitution Committee with many other resolutions asking representation of
different groups ranging from 7 to 62 extra delegates at the PSAC
Convention. The Committee voted non-concurrence
on each one of the resolutions. UTE has
always voted no to election of delegates coming from elsewhere other than a
component. She added that this issue
could be discussed at our caucus in
4. Orientation Kit for New Members (
Local: We
would like to discuss the possibility of having the envelopes excluded or
removed before the packages are sent to us. We are finding it very time
consuming to remove the envelopes from the packages at the Local level.
If we leave them in, the members often take the cards, fill them out and send
them in using the envelope and bypassing the Local. The Local normally
returns the cards in bulk (not just one at a time) so we would not use these
envelopes. Excluding the envelopes would support sustainable development
and perhaps it would result in a cost savings. I think we should generate
discussion on the floor to see what other Locals think. I'd like to see
if this is worth considering.
Locals: After
discussions and on a show of hands, it was decided to eliminate the use of
envelopes.
5.
Local: How can we make
sure that End State Staffing will end management's use of
developmental opportunities? How did the discussions on grandfathering
competencies go at the National level? (Please note that members have been
in their positions long enough to have automatically certain competencies.) Is
this just to be covered via O&A?
Bannon: When we met with the Advisory Committee
on this issue, the closest we got to grandfathering was Observe and Attest.
6. Performance Reviews (
Local: Wanted to know if other
locals were having problems with Performance Reviews not being properly
reflected in reference checks for competitions. They have some that are totally
opposite to each other. This was mentioned at the Local UMC.
Locals: Three (3) locals commented that they
were experiencing similar problems including some cases while working on
overtime and that grievances were filed.
7. Compensation
Problems (
Withdrawn by the
submitting local.
8. Collection work review (OUTAOUAIS – 70035)
Local: Explained that PM2 and
PM3 are doing collection work review. They would like to know if other locals
are experiencing this situation and asked for advice.
Locals: Three locals did experience the same
situation. They have raised the problem
with the employer and it seems that this has stopped.
Bannon: Suggested that the issue be raised with
the employer as mentioned by the other locals.
Furthermore, if need be to put the issue on the agenda of the RUMC.
The Edmonton Local asked permission to
have the 3 next items 9, 10 and 11 dealt with through another avenue.
9. National Staffing Seminar and the Code
of Conduct and Ethics
10. RVP Involvement in Local Elections and
the Code of Conduct and Ethics
11. Investigation in
The
request of the submitting local was well received by the President.
12. UTE E-mail for Local Presidents (
Local: Commented that a
separate email for the Local Presidents would eliminate any privacy issues
relating to any ongoing complaints for a member. Not all of our
membership may wish their personal and confidential information available to
the Local.
Other
locals commented that this was a very good idea to have a separate site for the
Local Presidents. The information will
be sent only to the right people with confidentially. Cost should not be an issue.
Bannon: This will be discussed by the
Communications Committee.
13.
UTE National Web Site – Resolution (
M/S Ryan Harron / Robert Melka
Whereas - UTE has a national internet site;
and
Whereas - The internet is a modern and
effective form of communication and point of contact for our members.
Be it resolved that - UTE National President direct the
Communications Committee to undergo research into the feasibility of creating a
blog or chat forum on the UTE National web site, where members can communicate
with each other nationally; and
Be it further resolved
that - the
Communications Committee submits this report as a separate and distinct item
under their committee report at the June 2009 Executive Council meeting
for council review with a Committee Recommendation on whether or not it should
be implemented; and
Be it further resolved
that - Executive Council reviews and discusses this
report along with the Committee Recommendations at the June 2009 Council
Meeting and report the complete findings at the Fall 2009 Presidents’
Conference.
Locals welcomed the idea and expressed
some concerns that this would be opened to all members. They also mentioned that this resolution was
only asking for a feasibility study and to get the cost as well as the pros or
cons.
MOTION
CARRIED.
14. Update on DA-CONs (SUMMERSIDE – 90006)
Local: The item was withdrawn
by the submitting local as Sister Bannon spoke on this issue in her opening
remarks.
15. PSAC Deduction Arrears (SUMMERSIDE –
90006)
Local: They still have people who are getting
notified by the PSAC that they owe union dues arrears. The members are trying
to get an explanation to why it is happening and are finding this very difficult. How should they be proceeding with these
cases?
Bannon: Inform your RVP and provide all
information including the members I.D. and membership number.
Locals: Commented that PSAC will go back 1
year to collect the dues. The dues are
collected from new employees that have never paid dues since they started
employment or if they have been paying a flat rate of $40 which is later
calculated at the proper amount depending of the employee’s level.
Sister Bannon invited the Chair of the
Equal Opportunities Committee (E.O) Brother Shawn Bergeron to come up to the
front and report. Brother Bergeron
introduced the members of the committee present in the room Sister Robin
Johnson, Gesine Fuchs and Linda Cassidy.
Brother Bergeron read a letter of complaint from Sister Sharon Fletcher
who talked about the committee’s logo, the rainbow, which according to her does
not represent diversity, equity groups and equal opportunities. Sister Fletcher was advised by the committee
that this issue would not be discussed at the next EOC meeting as it was not
the priority of the committee as they were preparing the upcoming regional
conferences. Brother Bergeron stated
that he was very deeply disappointed by the letter as it attacks the committee
and previous members that have worked on the committee. He explained that the logo was created by
previous members that dealt with equity issues representing all groups.
Sister Bannon commented that normally
this matter would not have been addressed at this meeting, but since the letter
was sent out and some people in the room had already received a copy, we were
being pro-active in talking about it openly.
She concluded explaining that only the Convention, the Executive Council,
the Executive Committee or the National President can provide agenda items to
any of the UTE Standing Committees.
The committee answered a few questions
from the participants.
16. CPRI/T5018 - Contract Payment Reporting
Initiative (SUMMERSIDE - 90006)
Local: CPRI/T5018 workload –
At the Summerside TC, the employer changed the classification level for this
workload and it resulted in a higher classification. Is it the case for the other TC’s?
Bannon: The Atlantic Region only.
17.
Indeterminate/permanent
employees at 30 hours a week versus 37 ½ hours (MONTRÉAL – 10008)
Local: Why aren’t the
indeterminate employees in Call Centres staffed at 37 ½ hours as they work 37 ½
most of the time? And what would the national do about that?
Bannon: Locals with a schedule work of 30 hours:
Hamilton,
18. Bill
C-10 (
Local: Would like the locals
to be consulted before the PAC Committee makes their recommendations to the Executive
Council emanating from the campaign to stop Bill C-10 to permit the locals to
bring forward their suggestions and ideas for future actions or/and campaign.
Bannon: Locals that may have any suggestions are
requested to send them directly to the PAC Committee.
19. Employee well-being at the office (
Local: Has been trying for
quiet some times to get a room to permit the employees to have a place where
they can go and relax either by having yoga or tai-chi classes etc. The
response from management has always been negative for security reasons. The local would like to have comments from
other locals on the issue.
Other
Locals commented on the facilities they have:
A
room set up for yoga and other activities.
A
fitness centre was turned down because of safety, liability, cost and
maintenance issues.
EAP
Committees working very well on this issue.
A
sitting and reading quiet area.
Weight
Watchers meetings and evaluation.
Showers
and an area for bikes.
No
quiet place to go and relax.
Full-equipped
gymnasium and showers.
Bannon : Suggested that locals bring this issue to their EAP or Health
and Safety Committee and that the approach should strictly be about the wellness
aspect of the issue and that they should have management joint them and use the
facilities.
The meeting was called to order at
Point of
privilege – Jacques Lafontaine
Brother Lafontaine and Sister Louise
Vallière were very proud to announce that they have collected $831.00 from the
participants for Vincent Brunette.
Brother Denis Brunette thanked the participants for their generosity
this week and for the phone calls of support,
visits and emails that he and his
family have received over the past weeks.
It is with gestures like these ones that we can continue and be
optimistic. Brother Denis invited everyone
to visit the site on Facebook called: "Une
pensée pour Vincent" where they
will see the generosity of people. Once
again thank you.
The
points of privilege were well taken by the President.
President Bannon invited the Chair of
the Employee Assistance Program Committee (EAP) Brother
·
A questionnaire will be sent and we will
request that the EAP Local Representatives fill in the information.
·
To provide before the end of this conference,
the structure of their EAP Advisory Committee.
·
An EAP Consultation Group across
·
The date for the EAP National Conference is
November 19-21, 2010.
The committee answered a few questions
from the participants.
20. Follow-up of
Local: Would like an update on the
subject.
Bannon: Asked the submitting local to wait until
the next day for the presentation on this issue from Brother MacDonald.
21. National Inventory of Trust Account
Compliance (NITAC) (
Local: Commented
on the absence of information between the announcement from the CRA and the
implementation a few weeks before the new year.
They also voiced their concerns on the large increase of the English National
Inventories for bilingual positions. UTE
will have to monitor this situation very closely.
Abbott: Chair of the Technological Change
Committee explained that the role of the committee is to look at possible job
loss and other impacts to our members with this tech change. The information received from the employer
was referred to the Staffing Committee and the WFA Committee.
Other locals
commented that they have received constant updates from management over the
past few months and were told that no job will be lost following this
change. Some locals have received
training recently on what some of the changes would be. Even though the workload is allocated at the
national level, it is still a regional decision on how the work will be
divided.
Bannon: The national working group that had
regional representatives working on this project did distribute updating
information in regard to this process and every office should have received it
and this information should have been shared with people that work in Trust
Compliance. There would be 3
inventories: 1 English, 1 French and 1 bilingual. The distribution of work would be attributed
by the position the employee is holding.
(i.e. if the employee holds a bilingual position he/she will then draw
from the bilingual pool, etc).
Bannon: Let us know of any additional
information that you may have on the issue.
COMPENSATION PRESENTATION FROM
President Bannon introduced and
welcomed Claude Tremblay and Karen Butcher from the
The meeting recessed at 1700 hours.
The Conference was called to order at
Sister Bannon mentioned that she had
received a phone call the night before from Brother Brunette’s daughter Karine
thanking us very much for our gesture and the support that we have demonstrated
to her and her family. We have giving
her hope and caring thoughts to move on.
Brother
Campbell gave an update of the egg race held the night before as follows:
Montréal
and Prairie: 6 points
NCR,
Pacific and N&E Ontario: 10 points
The
results on the writing of the newsletter ‘Why you should go to an Annual
General Meeting (AGM)’ would be made known later in the day.
22. Deadline
for output of the Minutes of the National Committees (
Local : The time allowed to send out the minutes of the
National Committees is too long. The
changes are put in place before the publication of the minutes.
Bannon : The Employer produces the minutes. We do try to send them as fast as possible
but some times it just impossible to do so.
23. Local Officers Advanced
Training (LOAT) (
Local: Would like to know who should
attend from the executive?
Could a course be given
to more than 1 local?
Bannon: Only the top 5 local executives may
attend; the Local President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and the Chief
Steward. This was decided by the
Executive Council in February 2006.
The course
could be given to a region if enough people or to a few regions to add up to a
maximum of 25 participants. The money
would come out of the regional budget or education budget.
24. Follow-up on Call Centre Committee (
Local: Asked for an update.
He
and Brother MacDonald did have a meeting with Judy Cosby – CRA F&A, Ken Cierpicki – CRA F&A, Bonnie
Lehman – CRA Labour Relations on March 24th to discuss the concerns
of the union in regards to the Forms Call Centre. We are waiting for some
feedback from the CRA in regards to our meeting from November 26th. The
employer so far seems to be listening to our concerns.
The
committee will be meeting with Claude Tremblay next week and all issues will be
brought forward (i.e. the staffing, compensation, the ratio, the hours for the
terms issues etc.
25. PSAC Pay Equity Payout (
Local: Wanted clarification on
the negotiation with Treasury Board and the $4000 lump sum that was paid to
some members. How does this situation
relate to Pay Equity?
Bannon: We were not involved at all in this
issue. We will contact the PSAC and get
back to the locals.
26.
Level of Education in Call Centres (
Local: What
are the education standards or levels in other Call Centres?
Locals: It is
grade 12 but some offices are hiring people with university degrees.
Bannon: This
issue needs to be dealt by the locals and then with their RVP.
27. Sunset
Funding (SUMMERSIDE – 90006)
Local: Shared
what they were told by management that when they have projects, they bring in
majority of terms and also indeterminate employees to staff these
projects. If they have a project in the
business division, they take indeterminates from Rebates to work on these
projects in the Business Division.
Bannon: The
definition Sunset Funding is generally used when the funding for a particular
program, initiative or activity is not part of the organization’s ongoing base
funding but is approved only for a specific period of time after which this
funding is no longer available to the organization. We will have this definition translated and
sent to locals next week.
28. UTE
CALENDARS (
Local: Suggested
that the UTE calendars be done annually and produce with a different color.
Bannon: The
purpose of having them printed with the 2 years is to help save trees. We will not change our colors which are red,
black and grey.
Locals: Commented
that the fonts used were too small compared to the PSAC ones.
Some
locals are not getting enough.
We
could have an electronic version to help save trees.
Point of privilege – Chris Aylward
Brother Rejean Roy was presented as
the king of UMI as he attended recently his 50th UMI session.
29. Staffing Recourse (
Local: Shared that
Cassidy: Labour Officer reiterated what the local
had just explained and asked that if any locals have similar cases to let their
RVP and LRO know so actions can be taken on this issue.
Locals: Other locals are experiencing similar
situations.
30. Defibrillators (SHAWINIGAN-SOUTH 10005)
Local: Explained
first that the defibrillator was a black box with only one button to push and 2
electrodes that you place on the person in respiratory arrest and that it is
very easy to operate and that it can save lives. The local has prepared a file on the
necessity to have defibrillators in offices and it was presented to the
employer in 2004. The Employer was
waiting from a study result in 2005 and since then no recommendation has been
put forward to that effect. The local is
still working on that issue and won’t let go as it is a very important issue.
In certain regions, firefighters, arenas, shopping centers are equipped with
defibrillators. The local will make
another presentation to the employer with all the new elements that they have
put together. They concluded saying that
it was time for the Agency to provide them in offices. They asked what UTE national is doing on this
issue.
Aylward: Chair of
the Health and Safety Committee commented that this issue has been talked about
for several years with the Agency at the Policy Committee level. The position of the Agency was originally
that they could not have defibrillators because they did not have a medical
practitioner within the Agency and they had to have one within the Agency. The committee has given them a huge amount of
information on this issue showing how beneficial defibrillators were. UTE’s
position is that we need them in the workplace and will continue working toward
this achievement. Brother Aylward took
the opportunity to ask that any additional information be sent to the Health
and Safety Committee at the National Office.
A
local suggested that UTE National Office should have one and that it be brought
to all their functions.
Other
locals commented on the issue along the same line as above.
31. Medical
Cards (
Local: Asked
for an update on the issue.
Bannon: The
latest information is on the PSAC Web Site and our UTE newsletter.
President Bannon asked the Chair of the
Workforce Adjustment Committee (WFA) to report.
Brother Stein introduced the members of the committee present in the
room. Sisters Pamela Abbott and Sylvie
Lahaie and Brother Kent MacDonald, Technical Advisor.
The
committee has received an updated listing of all affected employees and will be
sending this list to the RVPs for verification with the locals. We are pleased
to report that the number of affected employees has been greatly reduced and
thanked the RVPs and locals for their work in this. However, there are still
too many members who have been in affected status for over one year and we ask
that the RVPs and locals stay vigilant in this area and get rationale as to why
these affected members have not received placement(s).
Unfortunately
it appears there may be some affected members who cannot be placed in one
region and the committee is working with the applicable RVPs and the employer.
The
committee is also requesting that minutes of Regional WFA Committees be
forwarded to them and the minutes of Local WFA Committees be sent to them
through the RVPS.
Brother
MacDonald gave an update on the MOU of the ACS Classification Grievances saying
that there are 6 SP job descriptions grievances in the system that went to
adjudication and that the PSAC will be working on. On the MOU Classification Grievances, the
list of the 44 work descriptions ‘covering all incumbents’ that would be
grieved was sent to the locals last week.
The Employer advised that the presentation of these 44 grievances would
probably be starting in 2010 for approximately 4 years. UTE has an agreement with the PSAC that since
they do not have the resources to speed up the process, UTE will work on these
44 grievances. Brother O’Brien, Senior Labour Officer is working with the CRA
to get some dates this year and get the process started. When a presentation is made, an email from
the National Office will be sent to the locals to inform them of what is going
on. We hope to end the grievance
presentations in 2011.
This
covered the Shawinigan-South item that was added on the Agenda at the beginning
of the conference.
Brother Campbell gave an update on the
Olympics’ results and thanked everybody for their participation and enthusiasm.
Québec, Rocky Mountains and
Montréal and Prairie: 6 points
Northern & Western Ontario and
NCR: 12 points for third place
The winners of the article contest
were the Atlantic Region followed by the Pacific and NCR.
Sister Cassidy presented the ladies
from the UTE/SEI Boobettes who will be running in June: Sisters Lyson Paquette,
Sylvie Bastien, Michèle Laplante-Brière, Susan Duncan, Gesine Fuchs and
herself. The ladies who will volunteer
throughout the day are Nicole St-Aubin and Carmen Armstrong. She went on to thank all the people who had
contributed one way or another to the success of collecting $3, 450 during the
week-end for a grand total of $12, 125.15.
A CD on the UTE/SEI Boobettes from
last year’s walk will be sent to all locals shortly.
The winners of the draws are as
follows:
Randy Mckeown (
President Bannon asked the Chair of the Bargaining
Committee, Brother Denis Lalancette to introduce the members of the committee:
Brothers Jean-Pierre Fraser, Dave Miller and Sister Dawn Hardy (absent) and
Lyson Paquette, Technical Advisor on the Committee. Brother Lalancette reported on the following:
·
There might be a workshop on bargaining
at the next Presidents’ Conference September 2009.
·
Following a resolution to Council, the
Bargaining Committee and LROs - under the supervision of the Executive Council -
would be able to submit bargaining demands with respect to national issues.
·
With respect to Convention Resolution 203 on
why certain resolutions are not selected for the bargaining table, the
committee would work on that issue with the National Office. The September workshop will probably cover
that issue.
·
The bargaining demands ongoing process has
been modified to permit the committee to determine to which articles the
bargaining demands received from the locals are referring.
·
Each local will be able to submit a maximum
of 10 bargaining demands for the committee to determine the priorities.
·
The committee has prepared a "Schedule
of Events" for the next bargaining process that would
be sent to all locals next week.
The committee answered a few questions
from the participants.
President Bannon asked the Chair of the
Health and Safety to report on the Job Hazard Analysis for the field
workers. Brother Aylward introduced the
other members of the committee, Brother
·
The
3 phase process has been completed and we have a report from Resource
Environmental Associates on the JHA along with recommendations.
·
Brother
Aylward is sitting on the inter-branch working group that includes people from
Heath and Safety, Compliance Programs Branch, Taxpayers Services and Debt
Management to review the recommendations of the final report.
·
Their
mandate is to report to the National H&S Policy Committee at the next
meeting of September 10th before our next Presidents’ Conference.
·
April
28th would be the National Day of Mourning. There are posters and pamphlets available for
the locals to bring back with them.
DISCUSSION ITEM
Workshop on Internal Union Conflict /
In-Fighting from September 2008
The report
was made available to the participants for them to comment on the outcome of
the workshop that was held last September 2008.
The few
locals that went to the microphone had positive and good comments.
Brother Wenzel
will send to Sister Labrie at the National Office the contact information of
the spokesperson that gave a seminar on Retirement to which he attended.
Following are
suggestions from the locals on future workshops that could be held:
Retirement:
paper work, benefits etc
Norms and
Rules on work space in the workplace (shift work with many people using the same
working space)
Insurance and Pension (James Infantino)
Staffing
Process
Progressive
return to work after an accident or illness
Parliament
Structure
Mental Health
in the Workplace
Understanding
the Management of the Pension Fund
Duty to
Accommodation - Compensation Fatigue
Long Term
Disability Letter
Discuss what
is done to get member at
Bargaining
Rules of
Order
Resolution
Writing
By-Laws and
Regulations Interpretation
Dealing with
the Medias (PSAC has a booklet on the subject)
Performance
Reviews
UTE Profile
within the Community
Draw of 4
suede jackets:
Monique Dery,
Shawinigan-South
Gerard
Kirkhman,
Janet Albinet,
Madonna Gardiner,
President Bannon started her closing
remarks by saying that the purpose of the Olympics is to bring people together
and the importance that we all work together locally, regionally and nationally
for the members. She pointed out that
what is needed nationally from the locals is that they answer questionnaires
and provide information. She stressed
that when the locals are asked to provide information on a topic as important
as Compensation, the responses are expected to be received from our 55 locals,
not only 29 of them, and that grievance
files have to be sent to the National Office in a timely manner. She concluded saying that there is no time
for fighting, that people have to be honest and show goodwill to other people
and that it is important to show integrity and the credibility of our
organization.
President Bannon wished everyone a safe
trip home.
The meeting adjourned at: 3:30 p.m.