Union of Taxation Employees
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
 Pacific Region Local 20027 

 

 
 

 

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Listed below are the 2007 Minutes of the Executive Council Meetings.

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Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

December 7, 2007

Present:   

 ·         Robert Hume, Sharon Cowie, John Prasad, Sharon Hargrove, Grant Inglis, Flo Hawker, Jamey Mills, Janet Graham, James Keng and Bruce Ogilvie       

Regrets:          

·         P. Gill

===========================================================    

1.      Meeting called to order at 3:10pm

2.      Motion to adopt Minutes as presented from previous Meeting.  Moved, seconded and  carried.

 

Old Business:

1.      Ripcords:  We need a volunteer to create and produce invitations for AGM.  Included on this must include our logo, date, time and location.  James has volunteered to take care of this.  We will order a quantity of 1200.

2.      Ratification Vote:  Collective Agreement was ratified.  Staff are asking when they will receive their retro pay and the employer has 90day from the date of signing which was December 3, 2007.  A motion was made to cover wages for executive members that took LWOP for the ratification vote to be paid by the local if the PSAC is not paying for it.  Moved/Seconded and carried.

3.      Promotional Items:  Jamey has volunteered to join the AGM Committee and assist Gill with the AGM and ordering promotional items.

  

Committee Updates:

·         Grievance – Committee met in October and drafted letters to applicants.

·         Bylaws – Grant clarified which items were forwarded from the Grievance Committee.  Bylaw changes must be to the printers by January 18th, 2008 to be posted by January 23, 2008.

·         Bargaining – nothing new.

·         Communications – nothing new.

·         EAP – nothing new.

·         EO – nothing new.

·         Finance/Treasurer’s Report  –  financials handed out at the meeting.

·         Harassment – nothing new.

·         OHS – nothing new at W. Pender, Central City has 3 new union reps on committee.

·         UMC –  no UMC’s until the New Year except for HR which is Monday, December 10th.

·         Political Action – nothing new.

·         Workforce Adjustment – nothing new.

·         Staffing – nothing new.

·         Social Committee/Honors and Awards – nothing new.

·         AGM –  defer to next meeting.

 

 New Business:

1.      UMI – There is a committee meeting on December 14, 2007 with Arlene.  Please email any concerns to Janet no later than Wednesday, December 12, 2007.

2.      AGM - Everyone needs to do their annual reports and email to both secretaries (Flo Hawker and Sharon Cowie) by January 11, 2008.  Flo and Sharon to do up the packages for the AGM.

3.      UMC - the minutes will be forwarded to all staff shortly.

4.      HR UMC- on Monday December 10, 2007.

5.      SP Presentations – Sinclair didn’t receive their presentations so Robert will be presenting next Thursday, December 13, 2007. 

Meeting adjourned at 5:05 pm.  Next meeting will be after work January 17, 2008 location tba.

 

 

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

November 22, 2007

Present:   

 ·         John Prasad, Sharon Hargrove,  James Keng, Janet Graham, Jamey Mills, Flo Hawker

Regrets:          

·         Sharon Cowie,  P. Gill, Tim Rose, Grant Inglis, Robert Hume, Bruce Ogilvie

===========================================================      

1.      Meeting called to order at 3:20 PM.

2.      Motion to adopt Minutes with corrections from previous Meeting (spelling).  Moved by Sharon H and seconded by Jamey.  Carried.

 Old Business: 

1.      By Law amendments.  Need update from Committee Chair ASAP on the meeting and the bylaw changes. 

2.      Director’s liability insurance.  Sharon H contacted her insurance company, it was recommended that the Local contact AON (Reed Stenhouse) insurance.  Sharon H will follow up with contact to the insurance company.  

Committee Updates:

·         Grievance –postpone to next meeting.

·         Bylaws – postpone to next meeting

·         Bargaining – postpone to next meeting

·         Communications – postpone to next meeting

·         EAP – postpone to next meeting

·         EO –report to be presented by Janet, Sharon C, and Robert.

·         Finance/Treasurer’s Report  – completed by Sharon H.

·         Harassment – postpone to next meeting.

·         OHS – postpone to next meeting.

·         UMC – postpone to next meeting.

·         Political Action – Jamey will provide more information at next meeting on local affiliation.

·         Workforce Adjustment - postpone to next meeting.

·         Staffing – postpone to next meeting.

·         Social Committee/Honors and Awards – Ripcords to be given with AGM invites.

·         AGM – postpone to next meeting.

·         UMI – postpone to next meeting.

 New Business:

1.      EO conference.  Attended by Janet, Sharon C, Tim, and Robert.  Highlights of the conference: interaction between different committees and plenty of workshops.  Janet attended the Mental Health workshop put on by CMHA.  Workshops were well attended and the attendance was well diverse.  Reports to follow by Sharon C, Robert and Janet.

2.      By Laws Committee: Flo will be in contact with Grant for the by law changes.  Flo will contact Grant by November 30, 2007 regarding Duties of Shop Stewards.  The bylaw committee will look at bylaw changes forwarded from the grievance committee. 

3.      Tim’s Resignation: Motion carried to accept Tim’s resignation, exception noted by James. 

4.      Ripcords: Motion to give Ripcords with invitations with 3 by 5 cards with local logo to AGM for our members by Sharon H., Seconded by Jamey.  Motion carried unanimously.

5.      Umi Sessions and PIPSC counterparts: Janet will contact Dan Jones to the UMI situation with regards to our respective members. Janet will be having a meeting on Dec.14 2007 with Dan Jones, Arlene White and Bob Smith, regarding the UMI process. 

6.      Financials: Sharon H. is waiting for reimbursement for conferences.  Sharon H will be completing adjustments for the audit.  Sharon H will be completing a preliminary budget for 2008.  There will be a budget meeting on January 3, 2008. Calendar reminder has been sent.

7.      Committee Updates: postpone to the next meeting except political action, EO, and finance, and social committees.

8.      Updates on the Ratification votes: the outcome will be coming on November 28, 2007.  

9.      Account Numbers: BN number has been approved and paperwork is coming.

10.    Ratification Vote: Time code 9100, Leave without pay.

11.    Promotional Items for AGM: defer to next meeting. 

12.    Next Meeting: December 7, 2007.  Calendar Invites have been sent. 3:00 PM in house.

 Meeting adjourned at 4:54pm.  Next meeting will be December 7, 2007 in house location TBA.

 

 

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

October 18, 2007

Present:

Sharon Hargrove, Sharon Cowie, Robert Hume, Janet Graham, Perminder Gill, Flo Hawker, Grant Inglis

Regrets:

Tim Rose, Jamey Mills, John Prasad, Bill Ogilvie, James Keng

  1. Meeting brought to order at 5:45P.M.
  2. Moved to adopt Minutes of prior meeting.   Seconded.  Carried.
  3. Business Arising from – UMI
    1. Five sessions have been delivered since the last Executive meeting.  Major time schedule adjustment as it is anticipated that with the follow-up sessions UMI will continue until possibly May of next year.
  4. Business Arising From:  Advanced Grievance Course
    1. Sharon Cowie, Robert Hume, Janet Graham and Perminder Gill attended the advanced course at the Richmond Inn.  Sharon and Janet both gave a report on the course.  The Local will have suggestions for the terms of reference.  Robert and Perminder also reported.
  5. Committee Updates:
    1. Bylaw Committee – Need to see if there are additional amendments to be made to the Bylaws as the changes are required to be posted prior to the Annual General Meeting.  A date will be set for the Executive to meet and discuss possible Bylaw changes.
    2. Bargaining – Plantgate on Monday.  Received help from the local PSAC office.  Executive members must step-up to the plate when plantgates are held. 
    3. Communitcations – everything is going fine.  Perminder located his strike folder.  He and Tim are going to try to update.the strike tree.  We need someone at Sinclair Centre to do the boards.  Marco has volunteered.
    4. EAP – Meeting at the end of the month regarding the introduction of referral agents.
    5. EO – No meeting in August.  On October 11th Sharon (Cowie) could not attend.  Sharon will be going to the EO in Ottawa next week.
    6. Finance – Treasurer’s report is up to the end of August.
    7. Harassment – Nothing to report
    8. OHS – Nothing to report
    9. UMC – Nothing to report
    10. Political Action – Nothing to report.  Plan to get the badge holders and wait till the end of the month
    11. Workforce Adjustment – Nothing to report
    12. Staffing – Nothing to report
    13. Social/Honours & Awards Committees – Nothing to report
    1. AGM – Meeting will be held February 6, 2008.  Betty will be invited.
       
  1. Appointment Without Competition:  non tax appointments in PM02, and MG03.  PM02’s and MG03’s done as a reclassification from Head Office.  Perminder is wanting to do research on staffing policies and HRDC job reclassifications.
     
  2. Area Council Vancouver:  Jamey Mills came to Janet and Sharon regarding the participation of the Local in the Area Council.  The participation requires the Local to pay several cents per member to be part of the Council.  Local does not wish to pursue this at this time.
     
  3. Presidents’ Conference:  We need to get the number of Rands reduced in our Local.  Sharon Cowie advised we have been working on this.  Many Executive members have been involved in trying to bring our membership list up-to-date.
     
  4. UTE Convention:  Perminder just sent something to Sigrid regarding the Convention.  Sigrid advised that currently there are enough people on committees but will need more closer to Convention.
     
  5. Gift for our auditor Warren:  Sharon Hargrove has asked Warren to do our books.  She feels that he should receive acknowledgement from the Local for the work he does as the auditor.  Motion was made to spend one hundred dollars so he can purchase whatever he is interested in.
     
  6. UTE contacts for Finance and Administration:  Perminder will forward a list of the current Local Directors and Executive to Tracey Pratt.  F & A wants Local Directors to attend Town Hall.
     

Meeting adjourned.

 

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

September 20, 2007

Present:   

·         Robert Hume, Sharon Cowie, John Prasad, Sharon Hargrove, Tim Rose,

Grant Inglis and P. Gill    

Regrets:          

·         Flo Hawker, Jamey Mills, Bruce Ogilvie, Janet Graham and James Keng.

===========================================================    

1.      Meeting called to order at 5:30 P.M.

2.      Motion to adopt Minutes as presented from previous Meeting.  Moved, seconded and  carried.

 

Old Business:

1.      EO Conference –the applications were sent to and have been received by the UTE National office.

 

Committee Updates:

·         Grievance – nothing new.

·         Bylaws – nothing new.

·         Bargaining – nothing new.

·         Communications – nothing new.

·         EAP – nothing new.

·         EO – nothing new.

·         Finance/Treasurer’s Report  – financials were not available, as the disc carrying the information has become corrupted.  Fortunately, backups to the financials are available.

·         Harassment – nothing new.

·         OHS –Robert’s report from the August 2007 National OHS meeting was presented to the executive.

·         UMC – The September 5, 2007 meeting with HR has been delayed.  A new date will be set in the near future.

·         Political Action – badge holders have arrived from UTE National.

·         Workforce Adjustment – nothing new.

·         Staffing – nothing new.

·         Social Committee/Honors and Awards – nothing new.

·         AGM – Gill and Tim will be starting to arrange for a venue to hold the AGM in the new year.

·         UMI –UMI sessions have started, and it is anticipated that the executive will be very busy over the course of the next several months.

New Business:

1.      Flyers from UTE National:  Gill reported that poor communication was received from the PSAC regarding the distribution of bargaining flyers that were to be distributed to the members.  He also reported that a conference call that was supposed to be done in conjunction with the PSAC was received at the last minute.  As a result, no member of the Vancouver Local was able to participate.  Finally, Gill stated that plant gates were supposed to have happened regarding bargaining.  Unfortunately, poor communication was received from the local PSAC office, and the plant gates were not done as a result of the poor communication.

2.      UMI sessions – The Sept. 11/12 and Sept. 18/19 sessions have already taken place.  For Sept. 25/26 Janet, Robert, Flo, Sharon C, Tim, Jamey and James have volunteered to attend.  For Oct. 2/3 Janet, Robert, Sharon H, Sharon C, John and James will be attending. 

3.      Advanced Grievance Course – Janet, Robert, Sharon and Gill will be attending this course as previously agreed in the Spring.  The course will be in Richmond Oct. 12/13/14 at the Richmond Inn.

 

Meeting adjourned at 7:00 pm.  Next meeting will be October 18th after work, location tba.

 

 

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

August 16, 2007

 

Present:   

·         Robert Hume, Sharon Cowie, John Prasad, Sharon Hargrove, Tim Rose,

 James Keng, Janet Graham, Jamey Mills, Grant Inglis and Bruce Ogilvie                      

Regrets:          

·         Flo Hawker and P. Gill

===========================================================    

1.      Meeting called to order at 3:15 P.M.

2.      Motion to adopt Minutes with corrections from previous Meeting.  Moved by Tim and seconded by James.  Carried.

  

Old Business:

 1.      Strategic and Action Plans –The local officer training was done at the PSAC office last fall and Gill distributed the plans to the executive on previous occasions.  We would like to get members involved with the union.  Walk-abouts are planned for the fall but may be delayed due to UMI sessions.  James to liaise with the executive to get their work schedules.  He will compile a list of best times to do these walk-abouts. 

Committee Updates:

·         Grievance – nothing new.

·         Bylaws – nothing new.

·         Bargaining – check web sites and union boards for updates.

·         Communications – union boards up-to-date and lots of names have been added to the email tree.

·         EAP – no meeting as Pauline is away for the summer, EAP will be presenting “Life after CRA” at the retirement seminars.

·         EO – no July meeting and a reminder that Dress for Success campaign is coming up in September.

·         Finance/Treasurer’s Report  – financials were handed out prior to meeting.

·         Harassment – nothing new.

·         OHS – National conference next week, Central City has had a change of ownership so they are working out the protocol for fire drills, nothing at Sinclair and West Pender had an issue at the CSD counter.

·         UMC – no meetings in the last month, next meeting Sept. 5 at HR and agenda items are needed by August 31st.

·         Political Action – no meeting has been held yet.

·         Workforce Adjustment - there were recently GS and CR3 postings.

·         Staffing – there was a call to specific departments for acting positions in the Softwood Lumber Project, PM2 lateral opportunity with CPP/EI Rulings.

·         Social Committee/Honors and Awards – UTE ripcords have been ordered, just waiting for delivery, James will check with UTE National office

·         AGM – nothing new as it’s a project.

·         UMI –UMI will be starting in September and expected to run through to January 2008, the schedule is in the process of being set up. 

New Business:

1.      Acceptance of Agenda moved by Jamey and seconded by James.  Motion carried.

2.      UMI sessions – The Sept. 11th and 12th session is already confirmed.  For Sept. 18th and 19th Robert, Sharon C, John, Sharon H, Grant and Tim have volunteered to attend and Robert will take care of recruiting 3 members to also attend.  For Sept. 25th and 26th Janet, Robert, Sharon C, Jamey, Tim, James and Flo will be attending.  Robert will send the spreadsheet to Sharon C and all of the executive will send any dates this fall that they are not available so that the schedule can be made.

3.      Staffing Course – National course will be taking place in Ottawa Sept. 28th – 30th.  One person will be paid by National, Robert moved to send Grant, seconded by James and motion carried.  National office has asked for names and will select participants shortly.

4.      EO Conference – This conference will be held in Ottawa Oct. 25th – 28th with National paying for two participants.  Sharon H moved to send Sharon C, seconded by James, motion carried.  James moved to send an additional two participants paid by the local, seconded by Sharon C, motion carried.  A vote was done and Tim, Janet and Robert will also be attending.  Tim will submit applications and participants are to send their requests to Sharon C for booking of flights.  (Sharon C will send an email to the entire executive stating travel preferences required for future travel)

5.      Job action coordinator:  Janet confirmed that Sharon C volunteered with Gill as back-up, reminded Sharon to keep her in the loop.

6.      Cash counter policy change – Jamey asked the executive if they were all aware of this change, as he hadn’t seen any emails in the call site.  Everyone was aware and are keeping an eye on the situation

7.      Internet Banking – Sharon provided Gill’s information that we can have view access at no fee for bank statements.  Sharon C moved that we go ahead with this, seconded by Bruce, motion carried.

8.      Protocol on emails – If any executive member wants to send emails to National office please see Janet first as we must go through the proper channels.  Pamela also asked that her and Janet be copied on all emails.

9.      UTE Regional BBQ - maps and information were handed out to executive along with a reminder that the event was this Saturday in Langley. 

10.    Membership list – Sharon C reminded everyone that we need address updates papers from all staff and most of the rands have been signed up now.

11.    Labour Day Rally – Jamey was asking if UTE has anything special planned as the PSAC does.  There is nothing planned by UTE.

 

Meeting adjourned at 5:04pm.  Next meeting will be September 20th after work, location tba.

 

 

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

July 19, 2007

 Present:   

 ·         Robert Hume, Sharon Cowie, John Prasad, P. Gill, Sharon Hargrove, Tim Rose,

 James Keng 

Regrets:          

·         Janet Graham, Jamey Mills, Grant Inglis, Bruce Ogilvie, Flo Hawker

===========================================================    

1.      Meeting called to order at 5:40 P.M.

2.      Motion to adopt Minutes with corrections from previous Meeting.  Moved by Tim and seconded by Sharon H.  Carried.
 

Old Business:

 1.      Request for funding from Legion – This request is no longer being considered.

 2.      Strategic and Action Plans – As Janet was unable to make the meeting this item has been referred to the next meeting. 

3.      Coaster distribution – The Political Action Committee should have taken care of this and they need to review their committee updates.  The coasters were distributed by desk drop. 

4.      Volunteers for Strike Coordinator and back up – Sharon C volunteered to be Strike Coordinator with Gill as her back up.

5.      Collective Agreement Interpretation – this is no longer required.

 

Committee Updates:

Grievance

The next meeting will be held shortly and Robert has responded to the questions from applicants.

Bylaws

Nobody in attendance to report.

Bargaining

Nothing new to report.

Communications

All updates have been done and the email tree has started.

EAP

Referral agents have been announced by the employer.

EO

Aboriginal Awareness Week was a great success and Dress for Success is coming up in September.

Finance/Treasurer’s Report 

Financials were handed out prior to meeting.

Harassment

Nothing new.

OHS

John Marquis is the new management representative.

UMC

No meetings in the last month.

Political Action

Nobody in attendance to report.

Workforce Adjustment

Nothing new.

Staffing

Nothing new.

Social Committee/Honors and Award

John and James held their first meeting and we have decided to give UTE ripcords to all the members for Labors Day.  Moved by Sharon C, seconded by Sharon H, carried.

AGM

Nothing new as it’s a project.

UMI

Gill has been advised he is on the UMI committee for VTSO.
 

New Business:

1.      Upcoming campaign against the privatization (sale) of public buildings – Gill left a message fro Monica at PSAC, as she wants help from members working at those buildings concerned.  This is a Political Action Committee item and Gill will forward information to them.

2.      Article 15 Labor Disputes – Gill checked with the PSAC and was advised that we are not to cross any picket lines and management needs to re-locate staff for them to continue working.  We need to talk to picket captains at the Library Square site; James and Tim will make a visit tomorrow and speak tour floor rep there.

3.      Work Assessment Checklist – Sharon C gave a brief presentation as to what this is and we are questioning why they say the union supports this.

4.      Rand sign-up – Sharon C handed out rand lists to the different locations and asked the executive to ensure these staff members are signed up.

5.      Pamela’s update – Robert gave a brief update from Pamela, she asks that all resolutions be forwarded in a timely fashion; the Regional Grievance Seminar has been re-scheduled to October 12-14, 2007 (the location to be announced in August); the inter-regional conference has been confirmed with the Toronto Region at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, June 20-22, 2008; the bargaining committee has met with the employer working out administrative details and will meet for two weeks in September; there will be a call letter coming out soon for the National Staffing Course which will take place September 28-30, 2007 (names due to Pamela by August 17, 2007);  recently on a Supervisory Reference check for a competition there was a request to provide CAS printouts which the unions states in confidential to the employee and Team Leader as information shown could be misleading and damaging to a member as it is open to interpretation, Staff Relations, including Rod Quiney agreed that this information is confidential, Staff Relations will send another reminder to Managers advising them; another reminder about the use of the employers email for general items only not specific topics.

6.      Annual Picnic for executive members will be held August 18th in Langley.  Robert to send details to executive members, please bring your own meat and drink.

7.      Surrey Local request to Regional Vice President – they have requested that all Regional conferences should be held in union facilities; our local would like to also encourage use of union facilities for conferences whenever available.

8.      Sharon H requested that Gill not send her any union emails, Gill will take care of this

 

Meeting adjourned at 7:45pm.  Next meeting will be August 16th on site.

 

 

Executive Meeting Minutes

Local 20027, PSAC

Vancouver Tax Services Office

June 21, 2007

 

Present: 

Janet Graham, Grant Inglis, John Prasad, James Keng, Robert Hume, Tim Rose, Jamey Mills, Perminder Gill, Sharon Cowie, Florence Hawker, Sharon Hargrove

Regrets:

Bruce Ogilvie

 

Meeting called to order. 

  1. Minutes from previous meeting be adopted as amended.  M/S/C

  2. Business arising from:  Bonding – Sharon (H.) had no definite information on bonding costs.  She will have definite information by the next meeting.  Jamey will also look into the cost.  Brought forward for next meeting of the Executive. 

  3. Business arising from:  Legion application for funding – Robert was going to do research on why the Legion approached the Local, but had forgotten.  He will look into the matter. 

  4. Business arising from:  OSH Conference = Three people have shown interest in attending the conference.  Peter Barnes, Robert Hume, and Roseann McCoy will have their costs paid by National Office (UTE).  A question was asked about sending observers to the OSH Conference.  There will be no observers sent at this time. 

  5. Business arising from:  Strategic & Action Plans for negotiations.  Nothing has been set-up yet. 

Committee Updates:

Grievance Committee:

No meeting.  Applications for Shop Steward have been received.

Bylaws:

No report

Bargaining:

No report

Communications:

Gill (Perminder) and Tim have an email to send out to the members so the Local can start an email tree.  We need our members to join the tree.  Send your information to either Gill or Tim (both work at 1166 W. Pender St.)

EAP:

Nothing to report

Equal Opportunities:

Today is National Aboriginal Day

 Finance:

Sharon (H) advises that the Locals bank account is in great shape as are the Locals finances.

Harassment:

Sharon (H) advises nothing new.  She is waiting to hear about training.  Janet did bring forward the need to train more managers.

OSH (Occupational Safety and Health):

One employee at West Pender broke her hip at work.  Some employees at Central city were trapped in an elevator for at least an hour.

UMC (Union Management Committee):

Staffing was discussed.  A fair amount of changes are happening in Audit.  UMC Minutes will be out soon. 

Finance Committee:

Nothing further

Political Action Committee:

Nothing to report.

Workforce Adjustment Committee:

Nothing to report

Staffing:

Nothing to report at this time

Honours and Awards:

John is working on something for perhaps Labour Day.

Annual General Meeting:

Nothing at this time

  1. Recent Presidents Conference:  Minutes taken by Janet will be attached to these.

  2. UTE Convention 2008:  We need more volunteers to help at our Triennial Convention which will be held in Vancouver.  Convention Committees have been set-up.  Ask Executive members!  Conventions are a great place to meet our members from across Canada, and to see how the National Office functions.  It is a wonderful experience.

  3. Inter Regional Conference: There may be an Inter Regional Conference with Toronto but it will be in the Interior. 

  4. Regional Strike Coordinator from the Public Service Alliance of Canada will be Regina Brennan. 

  5. Job Action:   Our Local needs to get its phone tree up-to-date.  We also need to have the Rands signed-up by September.  We need a Strike Coordinator for our Local.  The Strike Coordinator has to keep the Local President informed.

  6. Travel Policy – Apparently the employers travel policy is not being equitably administered.

  7. Septembers Presidents Conference: A motion was made to send four observers to Presidents Conference.  There will be two new Executive members and two experienced Executive members.  Motion M/S/C.  Jamey Mills and Bruce Ogilvie will attend.  Florence Hawker and Tim Rose will also attend.

  8. Political Action:  Coasters to be handed-out in July.  Sharon Cowie will do information slips.  Flo will contact National Office for more coasters! 

  9. Website:  Perminder will see that the website is updated.  Meeting adjourned.
     

Report submitted by Janet Graham:

 

Regional Presidents Meeting

June 5, 2007

  

BARGAINING – First meeting with Employer is on July 1st/07 

We have to keep the boards up to date with ALL info – as well, we have coasters to give out to employees.

 UTE CONVENTION 

-          We have to get more members involved and they need to contact Sigrid.

-          The Convention Committees meet in may next year and the convention book will not be out until June.

-          Interregional with Toronto – If we have one would be in June, tentative dates are:  June 21st and 22nd, Location still needs to be worked out.

 UMI

 PIPS has come back and “Training for Trainers” happens June 20th to the 22nd.  This is also a management training session.

 Regional Strike Coordinator will be Regina Brennan from the PSAC.

 JOB ACTION

 We need to have all phone trees completed and members signed up by September.  As well this will also be for how many delegates we will have for convention.

We will also need to have a Strike Coordinator for our Local as well as a ‘backup’ / Assistant Coordinator.

 TRAVEL POLICY – NJC

 We need to look at the new policy that came out in 2006, find out if anyone in Audit and Collections are not being paid at the new rates.  If they are not, they need to write to the Commissioner and request that they be paid fairly.

 

 

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

May 17, 2007

Present:   

  • Robert Hume, Bruce Ogilvie, Janet Graham, Sharon Cowie, Flo Hawker, John Prasad, P. Gill, Sharon Hargrove                    

Regrets:      

  • Tim Rose

Absent:

  • Jamey Mills, Grant Inglis

===========================================================    

1.      Meeting called to order at 5:50 P.M.

2.      Motion to adopt Minutes from previous Meeting.  M/S/C.

 

Old Business:

1.      Bonding – No update on Bonding of Local Officers.  Referred to next meeting.

2.      Vacant Director’s Position – Two people are interested in the Director’s Position.  James Keng of Trust Compliance, and Marco Michelacci.  Motion to elect a Director.  M/S/C.  Ballots were passed out.  James Keng elected as new Director.  Motion to destroy ballots.  M/S/C

3.      Director’s Roles – there was a general discussion before the meeting got under way.

4.      Term Committee Meeting and Study - Interesting little package.  How to treat a term employee equitably when they join CRA.  We want to inform our term employees that there is nothing in our negotiated agreement that guarantees them full time.

Committee Updates:

·         Grievance – Met at the Cactus Club. Met to adjust timelines.  A copy of the minutes was given to each Executive member.  Details of grievances are confidential between grievor and the presenter of the grievance.  Motion on poster for Shop Stewards & Terms of Reference.  M/S/C

·         Bylaws – Nothing new to report

·         Bargaining – Nothing new to report

·         Communications - Gill says there was a problem with the email system but he feels he has resolved the issue

·         EAP – Referral Agents

·         EO – Sharon C says the EO Committee has received a lot of funding for training about mental health in the workplace.  There are funds available for presentations.

·         Finance  – Sharon H advises Anna Nash will become involved in our financial statements and perhaps assist Sharon in learning more computer skills

·         Harassment – Will the committee be involved in overseeing the training of management in dealing with harassment.

·         OHS – National OHS Conference to be held in August. 

·         UMC – Deadline June 21st.  Any Executive member wanting to attend must let Janet know.  The deadline is June 1.

·         Treasurer’s Report – August dues should be September’s.  Sharon H has made corrections as required.  Bank accounts are doing well.  Treasurer advises no way to get the statements to the Executive a week before the meeting.  She will check to see if we can receive an online statement.

·         Political Action – Jamey and Bruce plan on getting involved in CLC.

·         Workforce Adjustment – Nothing new

·         Staffing – Nothing new

·         Honors and Awards – Draft something regarding donations to special events, i.e. Public Service Week etc

·         AGM – Nothing to report

5.      Revised Committee List – Gil has emailed a copy to each of the executive and it will be posted on all boards.

 

New Business: 

1.      Regional Grievance Conference/Training – Local is allowed two delegates who have to have taken the previous grievance training.  Will be held June 8, 9 and 10th at the Hampton Inn in Langley.  The Region pays for delegates.  Janet and Robert will be attending.  The Local is allowed two observers.  Motion to have two observers/participants.  Gill and Sharon to attend course in Langley. M/S/C

2.      Funding Request – There was a funding request from the Legion.  Robert received the solicitation.  Robert will investigate further and advise the Executive.

3.      Bargaining – Although our Local had a campaign to have our members submit demands for bargaining none were received.  Our Regional Vice President expressed her distress over the lack of participation by our Local.  Our RVP feels with over one thousand members we should have had some bargaining demands. 

4.     Membership sign-up – Executive members should be signing-up the Rands, and obtaining change of addresses.  We need a copy of our most current membership list.  Motion to have Gill and Sharon take up to a day LWOP for updating of the return mail.  M/S/C.

5.     Strategic and Action Plans – Gill asked where we are in completing this task and Janet will try to have a plan set for the next meeting.

6.     UMI – Gill asked for confirmation that PIPSC is back in UMI and yes they are although they have pulled out of the UMC meetings.

 

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.  Next meeting will be June 21st on site.

 

 

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

April 19, 2007 

Attending:   

·         Sharon Cowie, Janet Graham, P. Gill, Grant Inglis, Jamey Mills, Bruce Ogilvie, Sharon Hargrove            

Regrets:          

·         Flo Hawker, John Prasad, Tim Rose, Robert Hume

 ===========================================================    

1.      Meeting called to order at 3:15P.M.

 2.      Motion to adopt Minutes from previous Meeting with corrections.  Moved by Sharon/Seconded by Grant/Carried.

 Old Business:

 1.      Grant attended the HR UMC but hasn’t received the minutes yet.  It was a brief meeting where they discussed the Terms of Reference.

 2.      Grant went over the Resolutions of Record that he drafted, there were some minor changes in the wording and Gil will be revising the Committee List.  Resolution 1 was moved by Grant, seconded by Gil and carried.  Resolution 2 was moved by Grant and seconded by Bruce and carried.

 3.        Sharon H made a motion “The Local shall reimburse any reasonable, additional transportation costs to attend Executive meetings (additional costs are those exceeding normal expenses incurred to attend workplace/duties).   Seconded by Bruce and carried.

 4.      Sharon C handed out a document showing the differences of what each airfare covers and then she made a motion “The local shall re-imburse airfare based on “Tango Plus” whenever possible for union business travel”.  This was seconded by Jamey and carried.

 

Committee Updates:

·         Jamey spoke on the Political Action -In late march I attended a BC Federation of Labour Youth Committee/Canadian Federation of Students rally and petition signing at Commercial and Broadway. The intent of the petition was increasing BC's minimum wage to $10/hour. There has not been an increase in the provincial minimum wage since 2001 and this campaign's focus is getting working people above the poverty line and abolishing the $6/hour training wage. The event was a great success and NDP labour critics have been pushing the topic lately. (I have some "$10 Now!" buttons should you know anyone that wants one). Further petition signings will be happening soon and I will probably be looking for some volunteers to assist.

·         Sharon advised the executive that the Grievance Committee is next meeting May 3rd to review the shop steward applications.

·         The Bylaw Committee has not met yet but Janet did mention that they worked on Bylaws at the President’s Conference and we are doing well.  Some basic guidelines have been sent out from National.

·         F&A UMC was attended by Janet and they discussed WFA and said that most staff have or will be looked after, they also discussed the Terms of Reference as they were done with CUEDA and our local has some suggested changes.  Regarding the “HUB and SPOKE”, they are working on a solution to the problems so stay tuned for further details.

 

5.      Sharon H briefly went over the financials and pointed out one small change to March.

6.      Bonding of some of the executive has been referred to next meeting.

7.      UMI update from Gil:  the session for April 11th and 12th was postponed due to availability of the Director and also now that PIPSC is back on board they had to be trained.  We are now waiting to hear when the sessions will be re-scheduled for.

8.      Director Vacancy – this has been referred to the next meeting.

9.      Janet mentioned that the issue for client confidentiality while on the phones at the counter is being looked into by A/D Ken Kerr.

 

New Business: 

1.      There is going to be a Regional Presidents 2 day meeting to be held June 4th.  The Presidents will be meeting with Rod Quiney and then have their meeting with the 1st Vice Presidents also in attendance.  There will also be upcoming training on mental health issues.

2.      Janet was at the Presidents conference and there is now a new local in Winnipeg (it is the compensation area).  The first Bargaining meeting with the employer will be held on July 4th and the new rules for strikes are in effect now.

3.      Jamey mentioned that there is an event taking place at Bear Creek Park in Surrey for the National Day of Mourning.

4.      Directors Roles – this has been referred to the next meeting. 

5.      The request for funding from CSD was discussed and there was a motion by Gill: “The local shall donate $250.00 to the VTSO Client Services Division, through it’s Spirit and Communications Committee, for its 2007 Annual Employee Appreciation Night provided that appropriate recognition is given to the Union.”, it was seconded by Grant.  Carried. 

(As a motioner cannot vote against a motion they put forward the automatic motioner would be Janet as she brought the agenda item forward on behalf of John as he was unable to attend the meeting.)

6.      Term Committee Study and meeting – this was referred to the next meeting.

 

Meeting adjourned at 5:10pm.  Next meeting will be May 17th (location to be announced).

 

 

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

March 15, 2007

 

Present: 

Grant Inglis, Perminder Gill, Sharon Cowie, Janet Graham, Robert Hume, Sharon Hargrove, Tim Rose, Florence Hawker, John Prasad, Jamey Mills

 

Regrets:

Bruce Ogilvie

 

Meeting called to order.

 

  1. Minutes from previous meeting be adopted with correction to BIN which should be B/N.  Moved to adopt minutes as corrected.    M/S/C
  2. Business arising From:  B/N – Tim received the form from UTE National Office for the B/N.  He will follow-up
  3. Business arising from:  Bonding – Sharon Hargrove will follow-up on the costs of bonding.  Tim will assist her
  4. Business arising from:  Travel/Education Conferences – Costing of trips, etc. Sharon Cowie, and Flo will work on this. 
  5. Committees – Perminder passed around the updated list of Local Committees from the AGM.  Discussion was held regarding committees. 
    1. All committees will report as necessary.
    2. Grievance Committee will provide general information on grievances dealt with.  Copies of grievance files must be maintained. 
    3. Grant will review and formulate Gill’s committee ideas and formulate a motion to be sent to Executive members. 
  6. Bargaining Demands – Notice is on the Union Boards and on the website.  If members are interested in submitting bargaining demands let the Local Executive know now.  Has to be in before March 31, 2007 before a 5:P.M.  Tim will canvas members, and Grant will collect the bargaining demands.  There is a bargaining submission form on the UTE website.
  7. A discussion was held about the Employee Assistance Program Survey, and Regional Offices plan for requesting submissions from those interested in becoming referral agents.  The Union of Taxation Employees does not support the use of referral agents preferring to rely on professional counsellors. 
  8. March Presidents Conference (in Ottawa) – The Local missed the deadline for sending observers.  New Executive members should be attending these Conferences. 
  9. UMI – April 11th and 12th there will be 10 Union representatives and ten managers. 
  10. VTSO Union/Management Consultation –
    1. ACS/SP Best Practices be done uniformly across the board
    2. EAP Concerns re referral agents and the fact that the Local is not happy.  The Local will be advised of those who are interested in becoming referral agents.
    3. CSD – lack of confidentiality at the front counter due to phones being too close together.  Janet will take the phone issue to the Presidents Conference.
  11. Standing Item –
    1. Staffing/WFA – through Human Resources and Finance and Administration
    2. ESS/MSS – is not compatible for persons with disabilities
  12. HR UMC – Deferred to the next meeting as Grant Inglis attended the meeting at Human Resources.
  13. There has interest expressed by members who would like to join the Executive Committee.  James Keng has expressed interest.  Marco would like to rejoin the Executive.  It is left to the discretion of the Executive as to whether or not the empty Director’s position will be filled.

 

Meeting adjourned.

 

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

February 15, 2007

 

Present: 

Grant Inglis, Bruce Ogilive, Perminder Gill, Tim Rose, Robert Hume, Sharon Cowie, Janet Graham, Florence Hawker, John Prasad, Sharon Hargrove 

Regrets:

Jamey Mills 

Meeting called to order.

1.  Minutes from previous meeting be adopted as read.  M/S/C

2.  Business arising From:  BIN – Communication from our National Office with the conditions.  If the Local signs the form National Office will open a payroll account for us.  Discussion held.  Motion to have a BIN.  M/S/C

3.  A review was held regarding the possibility of bonding the signing authorities of the Local.  Motion to look into the cost of posting bonds.  M/S/C

4.  UMI – 10 Union and 10 management.  First session presented to Client Services.  Purpose is to have open communication between the Union and management.  The UMI presentation is a joint Union/Management presentation.

5.  Resignation of a new UTE Director – Any member of the Local Executive who resigns must do so in writing.  Janet received the written resignation of new Director Guy Belanger.  The Executive accepted his resignation with regret.

6.  Discussion was held about the Locals committees and the involvement of the Executive as committee members.

7.  Travel – Education & Conferences – Perminder Gill will formulate a motion and submit it to the next Executive Meeting.

8.  Conference and Convention Trip Arrangements – Tim brought-up Executive members going on conferences and conventions.  Tim thought we had a central person who booked our travel.  Discussion was held on travel arrangements and reports to members.  Flo and Sharon will do research on travel costs (seat selection, booking charges/changes).

9.  Costs of Conferences and Conventions to the Local – Robert proposed breaking-down the cost so the Local members can understand the costs.

10.  Shop Steward Training – Robert proposed a grievance committee meeting to discuss the training.

11.  Grievance Committee Update – Perhaps a general report can be done as grievances are private and confidential.

12.  Transportation Costs to and from Executive Meetings – Executive members who incur additional travel expenses (i.e. additional fare from Central City to Vancouver) should submit an expense claim for accumulated travel costs to Sharon Hargrove.

13.  Sharon Cowie spoke of last fall when we were going to establish a rotation schedule to attend the Union/Management Consultation Meetings.  Janet said she did ask for someone to attend with her.  Janet will advise when she is notified of meetings as she doesn’t always receive a schedule from management.  Usually it is short notice.  Bruce asked if we should not be asking employees for input.

14.  Collective Agreements – Bruce brought-up the distribution of Collective Agreements or the lack of distribution.  Members should approach their team leader if they want a copy of the agreement if they want a printed copy otherwise the agreement is online.

15.  Financials will be discussed at the next meeting.

16.  There appeared to be a conflict over the posting of UTE material on the Union bulletin board on the 12th floor.  This appears to have been resolved.

 

Meeting adjourned.

 

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Annual General Meeting

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Holiday Inn Express Metrotown

February 1, 2007

 

Guests: 

Regional Vice President Pacific Region Pamela Abbott; Alternate RVP Pacific Regional

Public Service Alliance of Canada Vancouver Representative Monica Urrutia, 

President Surrey Taxation Centre Johann Ackermann;

President Burnaby/Fraser Tax Services Office Hilde Sellmeyer;

1st Vice President Terry Ruyter;

Surrey Local Officer Jeremy Amor

 

Executive Local 20027:

President Janet Graham; 1st Vice President Robert Hume; 2nd Vice President Grant Inglis; 1st Secretary Florence Hawker; 2nd Secretary Sharon Cowie; Treasurer Sharon Hargrove; Directors Perminder Gill; Tim Rose, John Prasad; Marco Michelacci

 

The meeting was called to order at 6:P.M. 

Gill announced the clipboards going around for members to sign-up for the email tree, and committees. 

Janet introduced the guests and the Executive of the Local.   

  1. Janet called for approval of the Agenda.  Moved by Bill Corden.  Seconded John Barbieri.  M/S/C
  2. Motion made to add an item regarding the approval of a $500 donation towards the cost of the Steve Charlton Memorial Golf Tournament.  Moved by Bill Corden.  Seconded John Barbieri.  M/S/C. Item added to the agenda as Item No. 9.
  3. Motion to adopt Minutes of the 2006 Annual General Meeting.  Moved by Bruce Ogilvie.  Seconded by  Roseann McCoy. M/S/C
  4. Motion to adopt the Reports as a whole but not including the Financial Statements or Proposed Budget.  Moved by A. Bhaloo. Seconded M. Cart.  M/S/C
  5. Monica Urrutia stepped forward to handle the elections of the Local. 

Doors were ordered to be tiled. 

                                                              i.      Nomination for President called three times.

1.      Janet Graham nominated by Lysette Dyon.  Seconded by Michael Kaiser.  Janet elected by acclamation

Nomination for 2nd Vice President called three times.

Grant Inglis nominated by Rosanne McCoy.  Seconded by Valle Schiavonne.  Grant elected by acclamation

Nomination for 2nd Secretary called three times.

Sharon Cowie nominated by M. Hannah.  Seconded by Connie Jeffrey.  Sharon elected by acclamation.

Nomination for 3 Directors for two-year terms.

Jamey Mills nominated by A. Bhaloo.  Seconded by Bruce Ogilvie. 

Bruce Ogilvie nominated by M. Somani.  Seconded by Jamey Mills

Perminder Gill nominated by Flo Hawker.  Seconded by S. Kinga

John Prasad nominated by James Rook.  Seconded by Steven Fung.

Marco Michelacci was nominated but declined.

The remaining candidates agreed to stand for election and, in reverse order, each candidate spoke for three minutes.  Ballot was held. 

During the voting, draws were held for door prizes. 

  1. Sharon Hargrove brought the Financials to the floor and requested a motion be put forward that the Financials be accepted.  Moved by Bill Corden.  Seconded by John Barbieri.  M/S/C
  2. Sharon Hargrove proposed the Budget be adopted as presented. 

Moved by Jamey Mills.  Seconded by Bill Corden.  M/S/C

  1. Results of the vote for the three Directors were announced: 

Elected:  Jamey Mills; Bruce Ogilvie; Perminder Gill

  1. Monica stepped forward for the nomination for two 1-year Director terms. 

                                                              i.      Nomination for two 1 year Director positions:

1.      John Prasad nominated by J. Bourque. Seconded by Steven Fung. 

2.      Guy Belanger nominated by Margaret Sloan.  Seconded by Sharon Hargrove. 

                                                            ii.      End of nominations and both candidates elected by acclamation. 

Monica requested that a motion be made that the ballots be destroyed. 

Moved by Roseann McCoy.  Seconded by Tim Rose.

  1. Sharon Hargrove resumed the discussion on the Financials and the Budget.  Anna Nash asked if it was not common to have a discussion prior to voting on the acceptance of the Financials and the Budget.  RVP Pamela Abbott apologized for being distracted and advised that Anna was correct.  Anna requested to be recorded as against the Budget.
  2. Janet thanked Perminder Gill and Tim Rose for their hard work regarding the organization of both the location and of the packages for the Annual General Meeting.  They did an exemplary job.  Janet also thanked Monica Urrutia for providing additional door prizes for our Annual General Meeting.
  3. RVP Pamela Abbott spoke and addressed National President Betty Bannon’s absence from our AGM due to prior commitments.  Pamela spoke on Workforce Adjustment as it affects our co-workers most recently 150+ at Summerside, PEI.  There are 1200 affected employees across Canada.  Our ADM Rod Quiney is proactive in finding jobs for our Region’s affected employees.  Pamela also spoke about the scholarships available for our members’ children to attend higher education.  She also advised members can put in their address change at our National website www.ute-sei.org .  This will enable members to receive the Unions’ newsletter. 
  4. Pamela spoke about the changes in our National Committees.  Due to two of our Regional Vice Presidents, Linda Cassidy, and Kent MacDonald, taking positions in our Unions’ national office committee responsibilities’ have been reassigned.  Linda and Kent have committed to seeing the SP project through to its conclusion.  Pamela is on the Bargaining Committee along with Sabri Khayat who is the Chairperson.  The Bargaining Committee will be sending out a request for bargaining demands (improvements on our Collective Agreement).  The deadline for bargaining demands is March 31, 2007.
  5. Pamela also addressed the new job descriptions – SP – Our Local’s contacts regarding SP are Robert Hume, and Tim Rose.  The management contact is Judy Hunt.  The points on the SP job descriptions we received should not have been included.  In addition the information regarding filing grievances contained in the recently handed-out SP job descriptions is incorrect.  The grievance deadline is not until late this fall.
  6. Bill Corden spoke on the benefits derived from the Local providing the five hundred dollars for last years Steve Charlton Memorial Golf Tournament.  He asked that the Local once again provide a like amount for 2007.  M/S/C 

 The Annual General Meeting was adjourned.

 

<TOP>

Union of Taxation Employees, PSAC

Local 20027

Vancouver Tax Services Office

Adopted Executive Minutes

January 18, 2007

Attending:   

·         Janet Graham, P. Gill, Grant Inglis, Marco Michelacci, Tim Rose,                           

Regrets:          

·         Robert Hume, Sharon Cowie, Sharon Hargrove, Flo Hawker, John Prasad

Absent:

-          Elizabeth Parsons

===========================================================    

1.      Meeting called to order.

2.      Motion to adopt previous Minutes as amended.  M/S/C

3.      Business Arising from previous Minutes:  Item #4 - Tim provided an update on the Business Number (BN) for the Local – a letter was received from Donna Nitz but this correspondence was not sufficient for the local to apply for a BN.

4.      Gill provided the AGM packages to be reviewed by Directors for any errors and omissions.  Janet thanked Gill and Tim for the great job done by both to have it available on time.  The entire AGM packages will be posted to the union boards prior to the AGM. 

5.      The financials as presented in the AGM package were discussed and unanimously accepted.  M/S/C 

6.      Gill requested for some clarification on the amended Bylaws.  Grant explained that the rationale for some of the changes were to reduce redundancies.  

7.      Union-Management Initiative (UMI) – Janet provided an update on this program.  PIPSC has withdrawn from this initiative but UTE will continue to support it.  Gill is involved with making presentations for this and he may need to attend 45 presentations starting in the first week of February.  Non-executive UTE members will also be involved  

8.      Gill discussed procedures involving responses requested via email.  Where an email response is requested, these should be addressed directly to Janet.  

9.      Janet explained that more UTE Members are needed to be involved in committees and projects.  A reminder was made that Local Directors are expected to be involved in at least 2 committees. 

10.    Janet explained that the recent “A Day is a Day” issue has had the outcome through an MOU with the employer.  Where personal leave is concerned, a day is 7 ½ hours regardless of the member’s circumstances.  Therefore, any credit adjustments for members who benefited with more than the 7 ½ hours should see them processed in CAS in December 2006.  The specific date or CAS field affected by this adjustment has not been specified.  This adjustment could arise from leaves back to April 2002 and up to December 2004 including Leave With or Without Pay and Personal Leave.  If members cannot resolve any discrepancies with their Team Leaders, they are instructed to approach their Union Representatives.  This discrepancy should not be more than 5 hours and only affects a small minority of members. 

11.    Due to the success of the Golf Tournament in 2006, the Executive Council has been asked for a Donation once again.  Janet proposed to extend the authority to membership to vote upon at the upcoming AGM as to whether a $500 donation to the 2007 Golf Tournament should be made. 

12.    Meeting adjourned at 7:20pm

 

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