Executive Meeting

October 24, 2006

In Attendance:  Floyd Knelsen, Martine Fillion, Joanne Berkhoven, Brenda Hooker, Deb Nilsen, Pamela Abbot, Sandy Stephens, Dominic Maguire

Meeting called to order at 5:16 p.m. 

1)                  Martine welcomed guests Sandy, Pamela and De

2)                  Review of previous meeting minutes

Minutes approved.  An update was given regarding the survey that was prepared at the last meeting.  The survey has been distributed to staff.  One person per floor has been appointed to collect the completed surveys.  Deadline for survey submission is Nov 6, 2006 – a few responses have already been received.  Martine thanked those who helped draft the survey.

3)                  Committee Reports

a.      EO:  Report not ready, Martine asked the report be presented in writing asap.

b.      OHS:  October OHS meeting was not held.  Next meeting is scheduled for November 2^nd.  In regards to the change of employee (union) chair, no local terms of reference were found.  The Canada Labour code recommends a term of no more than 2 years, however, this can be modified at the local level.  Heating in the Oxford Building has been an issue.  Meeting was held with building maintenance person and the OHS committee.  Will do written report for next meeting.  Martine asked if Floyd has heard about the upcoming OHS conference yet.  He stated he had not, the decision is to be made next week.

c.      Staffing:  No formal report.  One of the senior managers in our TSO has been advising Martine when term employees are being let go, the other has not been doing so.  A lot is happening and it’s time to pay attention to “rumours”.  Please advise Martine if you hear staffing issues so she can deal with immediately.  If issues aren’t addressed as soon as possible, it’s often too late to do anything sometime in the future.  A discussion ensued on the ability to bring terms back on without having to do a formal process – certain factors have to be present to do so.  Mention was made that staffing is the biggest issue noted in the survey results that have been submitted to date.  As well, we need to inform/educate our union members the importance of performance reviews in processes.  Any issues should be dealt with proactively and our union members need to “own” their performance and be responsible for their actions.

d.      EAP:  Sandy gave written report (attached).  Sandy has been tasked with updating the address list of our union members.  She mentioned that she has 5 of the 6 pages completed.  The spreadsheet is being updated and revamped so that it will be easier to do these updates in the future.  Martine thanked Sandy for her work.  Sandy also stated she will be attending the EAP National Conference on November 24^th.

e.      Education:  PSAC course (TUB) cancelled as there was not sufficient interest to do.  Discussion ensued on the difficulties of finding applications on the PSAC website.  Sandy stated she’s had difficulties, the system is not user friendly and she will advise the webmaster.

f.        WFA:  Status quo – numbers have been given to Martine by senior management, at this point in time our members are ok.  This could change in the future, so we need to let her know of any issues we see.

g.      Grievance Committee:  The official committee has not been set up yet.  Martine stressed the importance of getting this committee up and running.  Pamela asked about our local by-laws.  We don’t have any.  She then reviewed the duties of the grievance committee.  The committee members review grievances to determine the correct contract section used and that there actually is basis for the grievance.  She stated that in most cases, the grievance committee consists of the chief shop steward, the president and the vice president.  The chief steward’s job is to assist stewards with grievances, not do all the work, and to keep a file bank (inventory) of the grievances so she or he knows where any given grievance stands at any given time.  Pamela discussed the history.  In the past, a steward could be handling a grievance, however, no other executive member would be aware until it came time for a hearing.  This was creating issues as there was no “file” to be found.  The new policy is that a committee should be formed to review the grievances for correctness, validity, etc. and this information is then stored so that in the event the grievance proceeds up the levels, a copy of all the steps undertaken to date can be made for the executive member that will represent the griever at the hearing.  Pamela further mentioned that in some offices now, no grievance goes ahead until the grievance committee has given approval to proceed.  The committee also ensures consistency, validity, and assists the steward gather facts, etc.   Pamela reminded us that a grievance is a legal document, so proper training and processing is imperative.

h.      Recognition Committee:  A request was made asking if the union helps with retirement gifts for its members.  A query to other locals indicated some do a gift capped at $75.00.  Discussion ensued on what criteria would be, ie:  must be “retiring”, not just leaving, years of service as a basis, how to set up, etc.  It was suggested that an ad hoc committee be set up to discuss how this could work so that the issue can be brought up at the AGM for the members input.

4)                  Treasurer’s Report

Bank account currently has $13,100 with $1,800 outstanding amounts to be paid.  So have approximately $11,000 on hand.  Dominic suggested that this is a good time to look at getting a laptop for the union executive to use as there is cash at hand.  He suggested the purchase occur after October 31^st so the expense will occur in the next fiscal year.  The purchase was approved at the last AGM.  Discussion ensued – Dominic will start looking at costs, etc. based on what we need and will present his findings at the next meeting.

5)                  Roundtable: 

Joanne - will get minutes from the UMI teleconference she took part on regarding WFA as there are some impacts for members in our TSO.

Brenda – some concerns over possible issue regarding “designations” for auditors (CA, CMA, CGA).  She will get clarification for the next meeting.

Brenda – would like to see a president’s report from Martine and a report on the staffing course attended by Dominic.  They agreed to get reports together by Monday to attach to these minutes.

Pamela – discussed UMI, what it is, what it will look like.  Basically it puts a process in place that allows union and management to discuss issues openly at either parties request to do so.  It will mean both union and management are accountable to each other and to their respective members.  A steering committee has been formed for the region.  This committee will be selecting 10 managers, 5 UTE reps and 5 PIPSC reps to take the “train the trainer” sessions.  All 20 “trainers” will be approved by both the management and union steering committee members.  More information will be forthcoming once the training sessions are set up.

6)                  Next Meeting:  November 21^st.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:05 p.m.