Convention Call

To:      Executive Council
           Alternate Regional Vice-Presidents
           Local Presidents
           Labour Relations Officers

Greetings:

In accordance with By-Law 9, Sections 2, 3 and 4, your Executive Council decided to convene the Seventeenth Triennial National Convention in Ottawa, Ontario from Wednesday, July 19 to Saturday, July 22, 2017.  The Westin Hotel has been selected as Convention Headquarters.  The Convention Committees will meet prior to the Convention at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa from April 28 to April 30, 2017.

1. REPRESENTATION AT CONVENTION

By-Law 9, Section 5 - For the purpose of representation at a Convention, each Local shall be entitled to one (1) delegate with full voting rights for each block of two hundred (200) members in good standing or fraction of this number during the calendar year preceding the Convention taking into account the month during which the number of members has been the highest for each UTE Local.  Hence, the month may be different depending on the Local.  Every delegate shall be a member in good standing of the Local.

For the purpose of replacing delegates at Convention, submit to the National Office the name and ranking of the alternate delegates.  Every alternate delegate shall be a member in good standing of the Local.

Convention Committees (By-Laws, Finance, Collective Bargaining and General) will meet in Ottawa as noted above.  Each Local in accordance with Regulation 4 will be able to send a delegate to one of the Committees. All delegates attending the Committees must be delegates at Convention.

As soon as we receive membership data for all 12 months of 2016, we will advise all Locals of their delegate and paid observer entitlement.  It should be by the end of February 2017.

February 28, 2017 – Delegates to Convention Committees

Locals must provide to the National Office through their RVP by *February 28, 2017, the names of their Convention Committee delegates.  At the same time, please indicate what Committee they would like to sit on, as well as, their second choice of Committee.  You should note that these individuals must be Convention delegates*This deadline also applies to Convention Committee observers.

March 11, 2017 – Delegates and observers to Convention

Locals must provide to the National Office by March 11, 2017 the names and Registration certificates of all their Convention delegates and observersObservers should be ranked in order of priority to determine replacement of delegate(s) if necessary.  The ranking must be identified at the top right corner of the blue form.

Registration for Convention will take place at the Westin Hotel, Tuesday, July 18, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 19 with the opening session of Convention commencing at 9:00 a.m.

March 11, 2017 - Credentials

Credential Certificates (identified by colour), in sufficient quantity to provide them for each delegate (green) and observer (blue) to the Convention, will be mailed next week.  These certificates must be signed by the President and Secretary of the Local and sent either by mail, hand delivered or scanned and e-mailed.  They must be RECEIVED in the National Office by March 11, 2017.  There is no late registration for delegates or observers.

While you are not limited to the number of observers that you may submit, we remind you that observers will be accepted on a first come basis and also subject to space limitation on the Convention floor. In the past, some Locals have named an excess number of observers in order to have contingency plans should some observers be unable to attend. On the forms provided, there will be an area for you to advise of hotel accommodations required. Please note that Locals are responsible for the hotel expenses for their observers and therefore, accommodations should only be requested for those observers whom the Locals truly intend to send to Convention. Should those observers who the Locals have identified as needing rooms be unable to attend, another named observer may be substituted for the reserved room.

However, any observers who submit their credential after this date shall be treated as a "guest" and be subject to space availability as well as a late registration fee of $100.00.  In addition, while reasonable measures will be taken to accommodate all Convention participants, observers who registered late may not be guaranteed hotel accommodations, a Convention kit, a Host Committee gift bag, a banquet ticket or other such related amenities or services.

2. TRANSPORTATION, TRAVEL AND WAGES - DELEGATES

Most delegates from Locals are expected to travel to Ottawa on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 and to return home on Sunday, July 23, 2017.  Expenses such as loss of wages, hotel accommodation and per diems will only be paid for the authorized period.  Exceptions will be identified on an individual basis by the President.

All delegates will be individually responsible for payment of their own room charges, applicable taxes and incidental charges at the time of check-out. A credit card or full payment for the room nights, plus taxes and a One Hundred ($100) Dollar cash deposit for each delegate’s room reserved for incidental charges is required.  The deposit will be refunded upon check out.  Delegates wishing to have their expense claim reimbursed before leaving, must provide a zero ($0) balance receipt prior to 12:00 noon Friday, July 21.

By-Law 9, Section 7 - Travelling expenses of delegates, named by a Local, shall be paid by UTE in accordance with Regulation.

Note:  Delegates will be responsible for arranging their own transportation to and from the Convention.

By-Law 9, Section 8 - The cost of rooms and meals of the delegates at Conventions and all loss of salaries incurred as a result of attendance at the Convention shall be paid by UTE at the rate and under conditions determined by the Executive Council. Delegates missing a session of the Convention shall not be reimbursed for loss of salary for the period absent unless the Executive Council, after reviewing the circumstances, decides to authorize payment.

By-Law 9, Section 9 – All member of the Executive Council shall be considered a delegate and entitled to attend Conventions with full voting rights as provided in By-Law 9, Section 5. Their expenses, including traveling expenses, shall be paid by UTE.  Regional Vice-Presidents shall be considered delegates from the region they represent.  The President and Vice-Presidents shall be considered delegates from the region in which they resided immediately prior to their initial election to the national position.

3.  TRANSPORTATION, TRAVEL AND WAGES – OBSERVERS

All observers from Locals paid by UTE are expected to travel to Ottawa on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 and to return home on Sunday, July 23, 2017.  Expenses such as loss of wages and per diems will only be paid for the six-day period.

By-Laws 9, Section 12 - UTE shall pay the transportation costs in accordance with By-Law 9, Section 7 for one (1) observer per Local in order to attend the Convention. 

By-Law 9, Section 13 - UTE shall pay the transportation cost in accordance with By-Law 9, Section 7 as well as accommodation costs, loss of wages and per diem for one (1) observer to the UTE Convention from each Local having two hundred (200) or less members in good standing.

Each observer paid by UTE missing a session of the Convention shall not be reimbursed expenses for the period of absence unless the Executive Council, after reviewing the circumstances, decides to authorize payment.

LOCALS WILL BE ENTITLED TO ONE OBSERVER UNDER SECTION 12 OR SECTION 13 BUT NOT BOTH.

4. ELECTIONS

By-Law 11, Section 8 - Election to any office shall be by simple majority vote of the total votes cast.  Where only two (2) nominees remain, or where only two (2) nominees are standing for election for the same office and a tie vote results, the Chairperson of the Nominations Committee will declare no ballot and a new vote be taken immediately. 

5.  AMENDMENT TO BY-LAWS

By-Law 15, Section 1 - These By-Laws may be amended at any Convention by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the votes cast. 

6.   ACCOMMODATION ($199.00 + 13% HST + 3% DMF)

All hotel accommodations will be made by the National Office.  Any delegate or observer requiring other than standard accommodation should indicate so using the credential form under special requirements, it being understood that anything over and above standard accommodation will be at the delegate's or observer's own expense.  The room rate for standard accommodations is $199.00 plus tax and destination marketing fee from single to double occupancy. This rate will be available from July 15th to July 25th inclusively. An amount of $40.00 will be charged per extra adult in the guest room.

7. CONVENTION RESOLUTIONS – March 11, 2017

Convention resolutions are a means by which the membership can offer suggestions and ideas on matters which affect or are of concern to them.  Resolutions that are applicable only to UTE come into effect when they are adopted during our Convention unless otherwise stated. Resolutions that require some action by the PSAC are referred to their next Convention for consideration.  Adopted resolutions establish official policies for the guidance of and/or instruction to the governing bodies of the organization.

THE DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF CONVENTION RESOLUTIONS FOR INCLUSION IN THE OFFICIAL AGENDA FOR CONSIDERATION AT THE JULY 2017 CONVENTION IS MARCH 11, 2017.

As many Local Executive Officers may find this a new experience, the following are suggested as guidelines for the preparation and submission of resolutions:

  1. Appoint a Convention Resolutions Committee of three to five members.  More than this number may be unwieldy.
  1. Instruct all Executives and members to submit resolutions to the Committee. The Committee should also be encouraged to submit resolutions of its own. Allow the Committee sufficient time to prepare its report.
  1. Establish a date for a general meeting to study the Committee's report and any additional resolutions.
  1. The membership should be given ample opportunity to debate each resolution and to endorse, amend or reject same.
  1. Each resolution adopted by the meeting is to be submitted to the National Office by March 11, 2017.
  1. Depending on the size and activities of any given Local, it may be more suitable or expedient to appoint several Committees to deal with the individual subject matters and have each Committee report to the membership meeting.

A resolution should be concise and deal with one matter only.  A maximum of 150 words is a good rule to follow.  The WHEREAS clause(s) is used as an introduction and explanation of the subject matter and the BE IT RESOLVED clause is the "meat" of the resolution; it should specify the objective of the resolution.

  • Each resolution must be clearly written on a separate form.  It is recommended to use a computer or print clearly in capital letters.        
  • Amendments to By-Laws and Regulations must be clearly identified either in bold, italic or in some other manner clearly signifying the change.

Examples of resolutions (pink copy) for your guidance and blank resolution forms will also be mailed.  Each resolution should be numbered and the total number being submitted indicated e.g. No. 2 of 5.  All Locals must submit the enclosed (yellow) certificate which specifies the number of resolutions your Local is submitting.

We ask you to use only the attached suggested format when submitting your resolutions and not to use the two (2) columns format presented at Convention.

The Local President may submit the scanned  resolution documents by e-mail to Pierrette Labrie: labriep@ute-sei.org.

Note: The deadline for receipt of all resolutions is March 11, 2017.

Remember that your delegates should be prepared to understand and provide the rationale for your resolutions at the Convention Committees and/or the Convention.

8. CONVENTION REGISTRATION

Each delegate and registered observers are required to pay a Convention registration fee of $50.00 by Friday, June 9, 2017.  Cheques should be made payable to: Union of Taxation Employees and mailed to Pierrette Labrie, at the National Office, along with the names of the delegate(s) and/or observer(s) for whom the registration is payable.

Any registration fee received after June 9, 2017, will be subject to the Late Registration Fee of $100.00.

In Solidarity,

Robert Campbell's signature
Bob Campbell
National President

Encl. 5
c.c.: National Office Staff