March 25, 2009

7th Floor, RAC Boardroom

333 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver, BC

 

PRESENT

 

Management

Union

Salma Bhaloo, Director

Janet Graham - President, VTSO Local

Terry O’Connor, A/Assistant Director, Administration

Robert Hume – 1st Vice President, VTSO Local

Brenda Hermann, Assistant Director, Real Property

David Miller - President, Penticton Local

Robyn McDowell, A/Assistant Director,

Knowledge and Research

Johann Ackermann- President, Surrey TC Local

Tracey Pratt, Assistant Director, Finance

Wayne Little – President, VITSO Local

Mary-Anne Walz, Manager, Corporate Support

Terry Ruyter – President, BFTSO Local

Bonnie Kurtis, Human Resources     

Kurt Munger - President, NBC&Y Local

Chris Ventura, Scribe

Sarah Redd – President, Kelowna Local

 

 

Absent

 

Kully Mann, Assistant Director, Security

 

                                   

Chair: Salma Bhaloo, Director, Finance & Administration

 

 

STANDING ITEMS

 

WFA Update

 

Finance and Administration does not currently have any PSAC employees in WFA status.  The Union and Management agreed to leave this as a standing agenda item.

 

 

UMI Update

 

Terry O’Connor and Robert Hume participated in a regional UMI committee and advised that more information is forthcoming.

 

Janet Graham noted that communication regarding UMI needs to continue in spite of delays to Phase II.  A suggestion was made that management deliver Phase I training to any new MGs.  Salma Bhaloo agreed to action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staffing Update

 

The management team provided staffing updates in their respective areas, as follows:

 

SP04 - internal process, Administrative Assistants, at placement stage

SP04 - Financial Services Agent, one indeterminate appointment made from existing (external) pool

SP02 - external process, Mail and General Services Technician, Prince George, completed

SP05 - A/T Officer, almost complete

SP06 - internal process, Project Leader, almost complete

SP06 - expression letter, E-Business officer, in progress

MG01 - internal process, Team Leader Administration/Accommodations for the lower mainland, in progress

 

 

 

NEW ITEMS

 

Union orientation sessions for seasonal staff – Johann Ackermann

The Union expressed concern that Union orientation sessions had not yet been offered to seasonal staff.  Johann Ackermann and Terry O’Connor discussed the issue and made plans to offer a session in the near future.  Terry agreed to making it part of the new hire orientation session; this also applies to harassment orientation for season staff as noted below.

 

Harassment sessions for seasonal staff – Johann Ackermann

Johann indicated that the Staff in Order of Attachment will need the training.  Packages will be given to the new hires (seasonal employees) and Terry agreed to make harassment training part of the new hire orientation session.

 

Hazardous material situations – Johann Ackermann

Regarding the lock down in the STC Mailroom on Feb. 23, 2009, Johann Ackermann advised that the Manager, Mail Operations and EAP were not in attendance for the debrief.  Salma advised that the incident is managed by the STC.  However, Salma agreed that since the Manager, Mail Operations was away on the day of the incident the Acting Manager should have attended.  Tracey Pratt advised that Alan Adair was the Acting Manager for the mailroom on that day, and he was in attendance.

 

The union also provided feedback that the emergency food supply in the mailroom needed to be replenished and Terry O’Connor advised that this was underway and that it would be monitored for the future. Terry also advised that since running water has been installed in the mailroom juices would no longer be stocked.

 

Salma expressed that the health and safety of the staff is the number one priority and as such, she encouraged the Union to continue to provide this feedback whether it be on an informal basis through a telephone call to the appropriate management representative, or as presented at this local UMC meeting. 

 

 

Update on Migration to End State PQP Staffing Process and the F&A action plan – Tracey Pratt

 

The Agency is migrating to end-state staffing as of March 31, 2010. In support of this, F&A has developed a migration to end state staffing plan which Tracey Pratt provided an overview on.

 

A discussion between Union and Management ensued clarifying what ‘end-state staffing’ meant.  The onus is on Staff to ensure their own readiness to participate in end-state staffing processes.  Staff are responsible to ensure they possess the required competencies in their competency to apply on future selection processes. Tracey Pratt advised that she will be conducting town halls with F&A staff in the region to have similar discussions and answer questions.

 

The F&A Action Plan and the F&A Competency Matrix (a list of all positions in F&A and the competencies required for each position) will be posted in the F&A Website.

 

An issue was brought up that some term employees in the Mailroom/Order of Attachment areas do not have user ID’s, which makes them unable to apply for any competition being offered by CRA.  Action item:

Terry O’Connor agreed to look into this.

 

 

 

F&A workshop entitled “Preparing for a Process” – Robyn McDowell

 

“Preparing for a Process” workshop will be offered to staff (not mandatory).  This workshop was locally developed to help F&A Staff “to be more successful” in selection processes.  The emphasis is on getting screened in to a competition, writing resumes, participating in interviews, writing up depth and breadth experiences, and receiving individual feedback.

 

A pilot project workshop was delivered on March 19, 2009 that was well received.  The process is now being refined and when completed, it will be offered to all F&A employees and soon after, it will be offered to F&A Staff in the outlying areas.  The targeted roll out will be tentatively May or June 2009.  F&A also has incorporated the CBHRM Champion (Tracey Pratt) as a guest speaker to talk about competencies and end state migration.

 

The union provided positive feedback on this initiative.  Management extended an invite for local Union Representative(s) in each office to participate.

 

 

 

 

Round Table

 

There were no round table items to add to the minutes.

 

Next Meeting

 

Janet Graham volunteered to chair the next meeting which will be held in mid-June.

 

Salma advised that the regional office would be moving to 1188 West Georgia at the end of April.  She offered to provide a tour to the Union Representatives that attend in person when they attend the next UMC meeting.