THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016
AFTERNOON SESSION
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 1:15 p.m. Bob Campbell, President of the Union of Taxation Employees, presided the meeting and welcomed everyone. The session opened with the song Solidarity Forever in both French and English.
President Campbell asked the delegation to respect a moment of silence for members who have passed away since the last conference.
President Campbell went over the Harassment Policy and introduced the Complaint Administrators: Doug Gaetz, Annette Melanson and Shane O’Brien. He 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.
HOURS OF SESSION
M/S Melanee Jessup / Lynne Scott Cadieux
That the hours of session be as follows:
Thursday: 01:15 to 5:00
Friday: 09:00 to 11:45; 1:15 to 5:00
Saturday: 09:00 to 11:45; 1:15 to 5:00 or closure of business
MOTION CARRIED.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
(See attached agenda, participants list and Items submitted by the Local Presidents)
M/S Chris Beaton / Gesine Campbell
That the agenda be adopted with the following additional items:
Voluntary Assessment on Personal Time (Charlottetown)
Team Leader Reference Check (Ottawa TSO)
Perpetual Processes (Summerside)
Regional Staffing Process Quality of Hire (Edmonton)
Employment Insurance Sick Leave and ROE for Phoenix (Saint John)
Severance Pay for Term Employees - October 1st (Hamilton)
- MOTION CARRIED.
Points of Privilege
Brother Esslinger reported with sadness that Brother Wayne Barbeau, President of the Winnipeg Local lost his father earlier during the week.
Sister Gesine Campbell announced that there will be a 50/50 draw to collect money for the Bickers Against Child Abuse (BACA).
Linda Koenders invited the participants to a rally at 6 o’clock to support the "Take Back the Night March".
Allan Craig asked the participants if they would bring down their surplus toiletries from their bedroom such as shampoo, soap, etc… to be given to a Shelter in Ottawa.
All points were well taken by the President.
The CPR attendants were introduced as follows:
Jamie Batley Peterborough
Mike Chartrand Headquarters
Patrick Ferguson Regina
Linda Koenders Headquarters
Michelle Peterson Surrey TC
Steve vonMatt Lethbridge
David Girard LRO National Office
Greg Krokosh RVP Rocky Mountains
The following Life Members were welcomed followed by the new Local Presidents.
Brothers Kent MacDonald, Terry Dupuis, Bob Campbell and Sister Pamela Abbott.
New Local Presidents
Lisa Halbach Calgary
Jennifer Keays Ottawa East
Mario Potvin Chicoutimi
Ryan Harron Belleville
Wanda Clancy Barrie
Wayne Barbeau Winnipeg
Richard Weintrager Ottawa TC
Julie D’aoust Outaouais
OPENING REMARKS
President Campbell’s remarks were to state that it has been a rough period and that we have definitely shown the colours of UTE. We have held out longer than others have, we did the best that we could and the bargaining team took us as far as they could. It is with lots of emotion that he expressed his sincere appreciation to the participants and thanked the overall efforts put forward by the Locals, RVPs and the whole membership.
President Campbell informed the participants that a book and video were completed to underline the UTE 50th anniversary. Both the video and the book were prepared by the Workers History Museum and the video will be presented in the afternoon. A copy of both the video and the book were distributed to each local president.
With respect to national courses, he stressed the importance for locals to send the names of participants by the deadline and to speak with the potential individuals beforehand to ensure that they know that their name has been put forward to attend the course.
He reminded the local presidents to send in a resume of their discussion items beforehand to permit the National Office to be prepared to give the appropriate answer as much as possible.
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL BUSINESS
President Campbell reported briefly on some of the business conducted by the Executive Council earlier during the week. (For additional details, please refer to the Executive Council Minutes and Committee Reports of June 2016 that were sent earlier).
From Executive Council Minutes:
- UTE Executive Committee Report:
As per regulation 12, the Executive Committee approved the hiring in the National Office of Sister Connie Nunez to the permanent position of Bilingual Administrative Support. - The following recommendation from the Finance Committee was adopted.
Be it resolved that the Per Diem rates referred to in Regulation 13 be amended to the following:
$100.00 weekdays and $125.00 weekends with the following breakdown:
|
|
|
Weekday |
Weekend |
|
(a) |
Breakfast |
$23.00 |
$30.00 |
|
(b) |
Lunch |
$30.00 |
$40.00 |
|
(c) |
Dinner |
$47.00 |
$55.00 |
- The following recommendations from the Honours and Awards Committee were adopted.
A Godfroy Côté Award was approved. The name will be made available later.
Amendment to Regulation 24 to add: Certificates and awards for long service of 40 years or more (see the June minutes for full details).
The certificate for long service of 40 years or more is a document bearing an appropriate dedication.
The award should be one of the following: a pin, a ring or a watch. All awards issued must bear the UTE logo.
- Adoption of New Business Item 15 - Consultation/UMC CRA-UTE
Be it resolved that UTE returns to full consultation and full UMC’s at all levels;
Be it further resolved that this takes effect only if and when the agreement is signed; and
Be it further resolved that once the agreement if carried by the membership that the National President informs the Commissioner in writing that we are returning to full consultation and UMC’s at all levels.
- Adoption of New Business Item 16 – 2017 Convention Host Committee Budget.
REPORT OF THE UTE NATIONAL BARGAINING COMMITTEE
Sister Madonna Gardiner, Chair of the UTE Bargaining Committee introduced both the members of the bargaining team in attendance at the Presidents’ Conference (Morgan Gay, David-Alexandre Leblanc, Doug Gaetz, Daniel Camera, and Lyson Paquette) and those who were not in attendance (Robin Johnson and Pietro Masdea), as well as Dale Robinson, PSAC Mobilization Officer. She also thanked the members who were once part of the team, however, were no longer on the team, Denis Lalancette (retired), J. P. Fraser (retired), the late Sabri Khayat and Dawn Montgrant (on leave).
She thanked the participants for their work in helping the bargaining team achieve a tentative agreement that the team is unanimously recommending. Sister Madonna stressed the importance of the demonstrations of support and the impact it has on the bargaining team’s ability to negotiate a fair collective agreement and that it will be very important in our next round of bargaining, should this tentative agreement be ratified.
Brother Morgan took the opportunity to say a few words. He stated that it has been an honour to work with UTE for the past four years and to bargain this collective agreement. He added that it has been a struggle and difficult situations at moments and it could not have been successful without the people present in the room.
President Campbell had a special thank you for Sisters Lyson Paquette, Dale Robinson and Annette Melanson for their precious help throughout the whole process. He also went on to thank the team members absent this week for their great dedication, Brothers Denis Lalancette, Pietro Masdea and Jean-Pierre Fraser and Sister Robin Johnson.
President Campbell gave a UTE gift to Sister Dale and Brothers Morgan and David-Alexandre as a small token of appreciation.
The question period was followed by a standing ovation for the team.
Point of privilege – Gesine Campbell
The first 50/50 draw of the day collected $465.00. The winner was Selby Hewitt, President of the Toronto West local.
PRESENTATION – UTE 50th Anniversary
President Campbell introduced Sister Barb Steward, past Ottawa TSO Local President to say a few words about the video and the book. Sister Steward commented that this was a labour of love and hoped that everyone will enjoy watching the video and reading the UTE history book. She thanked UTE for the opportunity to work on this very important project.
The meeting recessed at 1700 hours.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016
MORNING SESSION
The meeting reconvened at 9h00 with President Campbell in the Chair.
President Campbell welcomed to the front the Convention Host Committee Chair, Sister Andrea Kaiser who unveiled the convention logo. She thanked all individuals that have participated in the contest and have sent in their suggestion for the logo. The winner is Brother Matt Christian from St. John’s Local 90001. The logo shows 10 bursts of fireworks that represent the 10 UTE regions as well as it underlines the Canada 150th anniversary as shown at the top of the 1st page of this document. She gave some information on the Fun Night saying that the event will be held at Ferme Rouge, a restaurant that showcases live music, accompanied by local hip servers/artists. The restaurant will be opened only for UTE that evening. She concluded by saying that for the 150th anniversary, Ottawa will be offering numerous sites to visit and activities to take part in during the whole convention.
REPORT OF THE UTE NATIONAL FINANCE COMMITTEE
Brother Brière, 1st National Vice-President introduced the committee co-chairs Brothers Doug Gaetz and Gary Esslinger and Brother David Webster, presidents’ representative member who was absent.
Brother Brière presented a Powerpoint document titled "Flying with Air Canada just got better". He gave the participants information on two discount options -the UTE Corporate Account, which is for regular day-to-day union business travel and the Promotional code for conventions and conferences. Related information was sent earlier by email on September 2nd to all locals and Executive Council members.
President Campbell thanked the committee for their great job in saving the membership money, as it will permit the component to provide more services to the members.
Point of privilege – Doug Gaetz
Brother Gaetz, RVP for the Atlantic Region and Chair of the Health and Safety Committee took the opportunity to say a few words on the upcoming PSAC National Health and Safety Conference. He explained that he was made aware that some members received a letter stating that they have not been selected as delegate or as observer to attend the conference. He contacted Brother Bob Jackson, AEC Officer responsible for the conference who was not aware of such a letter. Brother Jackson will investigate the matter and hopefully will get back to us before the end of our meeting on Saturday.
The point was well taken by the President.
PRESENTATION – Sister Donna Lackie, GSU
President Campbell introduced Sister Donna Lackie, National President, Government Services Union, who updated the participants on the Phoenix Pay Transformation System. This initiative was approved by the Treasury Board and it involved two components. The first one was the Pay Modernization project, which was the implementation of PeopleSoft Payroll software across all 101 departments and agencies. This is a product of a software company named Oracle and was proposed by IBM as part of their bid as solution integrator for the new pay systems. The Government customization of this software to meet its specific payroll needs was named PHOENIX.
The second part of this initiative involved the consolidation of pay services from 46 departments and agencies to a ‘single’ Public Service Pay Center in Miramichi… now known as the Pay Center.
The presentation led to a question period and Sister Lackie asked a few speakers to send her their specific issues and that she will bring them forward to the newly formed Treasury Board Senior Committee to address Phoenix pay issues.
The Powerpoint presentation will be sent to all locals and Executive Council Members.
Shortly after the presentation, Q&A on Phoenix were made available from the PSAC.
https://psacunion.ca/phoenix-faq-more (no longer available)
Point of privilege – Gesine Campbell
The second draw collected $465.00. The winner was Brother Gary Esslinger, RVP for the Prairie region.
The point was well taken by the President.
President Campbell announced that there would be workshops starting at 1h15. Sister Melanson informed the participants on the topics and locations of the workshops.
Revocation of Security Clearances with Brother Mathieu Juneau in the Adam room.
Grievance Files with Sister Lyson Paquette in the Quebec room.
Collective Agreement with Brother Ken MacDonald in the Ballroom.
Resolution Writing with Brother Shane O’Brien in the Laurier room.
The meeting recessed at 1145 hours.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2016
MORNING SESSION
The Conference was called to order at 9:00 a.m. with President Campbell in the Chair.
Election of TC Representative on the UTE National Bargaining Committee:
Two nominations were brought forward on the floor as follows:
Sister Pamela Abbott and Sister Sabrina Williams
Sister Sabrina Williams was the successful candidate.
m/s Lynne Scott Cadieux / Jennifer Keays
Motion to destroy the ballot.
MOTION CARRIED.
Point of privilege – Doug Gaetz
We received a memo from Brother Bob Jackson confirming that there will be 40 seats for observers to the 2016 PSAC National Health and Safety Conference. Observers will be responsible for all costs associated to their participation at the conference. Observer seats allocation will be based on a first come, first served basis.
The point was well taken by the President.
ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS
SAINT JOHN – 60005
1. Bargaining Communications Strategy (or lack of)
The Local would appreciate with the upcoming next round of bargaining if the local presidents could be informed before the members of what is going on. The president feels that she has failed her executive by not being the one to inform her members. She suggested that informative emails could be prepared ahead of time and sent to the local presidents for them to inform the local executives and members of their local. The local thanked the bargaining team for all the hard work they do.
2. Discipline: Preferential Treatment
The Local commented that in the near future we will be going back to bargaining and they would like this issue brought up to Human Resources. Members are getting 10 or 20 discipline days, while before they were advised verbally on actions they were not supposed to do etc…
The President commented that both Sister Melanson and Brother O’Brien had conversations with management on this topic. We are of the view that discipline sanctions should be dealt with on a case by case basis and every case should be treated as being unique. There used to be a level of tolerance within CRA and now it is gone. We will continue to hammer Human Resources on this recurrent issue he concluded.
OTTAWA HEADQUATERS – 70000
1. Ad-Hoc Structure Committees
The Local would like a committee be put in place to look at local structures. They explained that some buildings have 3 locals and that it was difficult to manage and very frustrating at times. Is this happening in other regions?
Other locals from the National Capital Region supported this initiative of forming a committee and added that the challenges were not only for accessibility to members in need, but also limiting executive members’ ability to most efficiently service their members.
The President acknowledged that there is a major problem. In the HQ Local alone, there are 19 buildings to manage and it is quite a task. We will look at the structure. We will talk to the RVP and the Local Presidents in the NCR and decide from there what action will be taken. He stated that if possible this initiative would be done by December of this year.
2. Retroactive Pay on LWOP for Union Activities
The Local asked if they would get retro acting pay automatically for the past 4 years.
The President answered that there is a resolution of record stating that UTE will discontinue the practice of calculating all retroactive cheques for members for union leave without pay, unless requested by the member. He added that the request must include their SIN and be sent to the National Office. A note on that respect will be sent shortly to all locals.
3. Salary Protection
This item was withdrawn by the mover.
4. Post Mortem: Best Practices
The Local referred to the fact that recently they were facing possible strike actions and that many knowledgeable activists have retired, leaving younger members struggling with no or little experience etc. They did have training from PSAC, but it was difficult and stressful to get ready for a possible strike. Can a bank of information be set up to help on a go-forward basis for future strike actions and be better prepared?
The President welcomed this issue and informed the participants that Sister Gardiner was mandated to gather information for the preparation of a Help Book. He asked the locals to please send to Sister Gardiner any information on what worked well or did not work well. He stated that regional offices had different instructions for the members during ratification votes. This issue will be brought to the next NBoD early October. We will also be talking with the PSAC in order to be better prepared for the next time.
Many positive comments were made on the floor on the initiative of preparing a Help Book.
HALIFAX – 80003
1. Email Account Renewal
The local commented that they would like to be notified when the account is due to expire. A notice should be sent advising that our password would be expiring in a few days.
Brother Brière, 1st NVP answered that he will be looking into this issue with Brother Thon, Information Technology Officer and will advise the locals accordingly. In the meantime, each individual should, for example, indicate in their calendar that their password is to expire shortly. It is to be noted that expiration noticed do not appear on tablets or cellular phones.
2. Collective Bargaining: A road map for the next round
The Local commented, as others have mentioned earlier, we should be more prepared for the next round of bargaining.
The President agreed and reiterated that the Help Book will be a very useful tool and the information will be shared with the PSAC to improve communication.
3. Area Councils
The Local brought forward this item to know how many Area Councils were up and running and how many of our locals were involved in Area Councils.
On a show of hands, approximately 2/3 of the locals are involved and half are running well.
The President asked how many locals were having problems with funding. A few local presidents raised their hands.
KITCHENER – 00015
1. Phoenix System Update
The item was withdrawn by the mover.
2. Electronic Voting: Ratification Votes
The Local commented that this was an important topic for their members. Someone should explain to the members that the mechanism of electronic voting is more complicated than they seem to think. It would be useful if the National Office would send some information in that regard.
The President explained that we do not have the authority to vote electronically. It is a complicated process. The PSAC is working on this issue. There will be resolutions going to the PSAC Convention in 2018 to have a debate on this issue.
One local drew attention to the fact that with electronic voting, we will be missing the opportunity to explain the bargaining process to the members. Their comment was very well received by the participants.
Many locals were of the view that we have to be very careful with this issue of electronic voting. Face to face contact cannot be replaced by webinars etc.
3. Electronic Expense Claims
The local would like to be able to use electronic expense claims.
Brother Brière explained that they are available on our website under locals/forms/expense claim forms. He added that direct deposit of expense claims is not available.
OTTAWA TECHNOLOGY CENTRE – 70030
1. UTE Committees
The Local stated that they have looked at their By-Laws and they are of the view that they are missing on opportunities. Their By-Laws allow them to establish standing committees that involve the general membership and allow them to bring members along. The local does have a few committees in place to ensure that the local is doing what it is supposed to do as an organization in line with national directives. They also have a guidebook to encourage the alignment of objectives. The local wanted to hear from other locals on that aspect.
A few locals advised that they have different committees that work very well in their office such as grievance, political action, rands, to name only a few.
The President stated that local committees are very important and could have a good impact on locals’ wellbeing. These committees are good opportunities to get members involved. He stressed the fact that it is very important that locals have a Grievance Committee to keep track on how the members are being represented from start to finish. Most importantly, if the grievance leads to a duty to represent complaint. The National Office is receiving more and more complaints about locals not representing members, not filing grievances, missing deadlines etc. We have staff members working on an electronic grievance register that we hope will be ready very soon.
Local staffing committee members should be aware of everything that is going on, especially with recruiting from outside of CRA. They should hammer management each and every time they do not follow the rules.
He also stressed the importance of having a joint UMA Committee in every local to solve problems at the lowest level. Showing respect to our local executives is paramount for UTE members to do their job. We cannot leave management to act on their own.
2. Strike Protocols
The Local shared that they had a very good strike protocol in place and good dialogues with the Assistant Commissioner, Directors, etc. and wanted to hear from the floor their comments and experiences on this issue.
Many locals went to the microphones to share their experiences for the past months. Most locals have a good protocol in place and good relationships with management.
Other locals would not sign a strike protocol, nor would advise management on the local strike activities. They would rather demonstrate to the employer what it is that the employees can do to keep their rights and show their solidarity.
The President commented that the reason the locals were asked to put in place protocols was to show management that we were ready for a possible strike. Management was not prepared at all for our actions. He added that his personal view on strike actions is to stop management from working.
3. Leave with or without Pay for other Reasons - Article 54.01
The Local would like Brother O’Brien to elaborate on this topic, given the panicked reaction of Diane Lorenzato to the second ratification vote.
Brother O’Brien, Senior Labour Relations Officer commented that it was interesting that she granted leave under Article 54.01. To answer the question of the Brother, this will not set a precedent he said. Nevertheless, as being the primarily interpreter of Labour Relations Legislation, she should not have granted leave under that article. There is a clause in the collective agreement that states that: you cannot rely on a general clause to achieve what was already considered and excluded from a specific clause. She broke the primary rule of collective agreement interpretation.
4. Two Year Acting Lists
The Local referred to Brother MacDonald’s response on this topic during the last Presidents’ Conference of last March when he confirmed that the acting assignments should only be for a duration of one (1) year. The Local would like to know if anybody did challenge the employer on that time frame of 1 year.
The President reiterated Brother MacDonald’s statement at the last conference stating that the legislation is clear and stipulates 1 year.
A local did take the challenge with the employer that if an employee has been acting more than two years he or she should be funded permanently. The employer agreed, but added that he would not do anything about it.
The President recognized that it is a challenge for small locals and the issue would be discussed when consultation resumes.
The submitting local thanked all the participants for sharing their views and concerns on their discussion items.
Point of privilege – Gesine Campbell
The last 50/50 draw totalized the amount of $513.00 for a grand total of $1,442.00. The last winner was Katherine Vokurka, observer from the St. John’s TSO Local.
The point was well taken by the President.
The meeting recessed at 1145 hours.
AFTERNOON SESSION
The meeting was called to order at 1:15 pm. with President Campbell in the Chair.
Point of privilege – Madonna Gardiner
Sister Madonna Gardiner, Second National Vice-president announced that, for personal reasons, she will not be reoffering for the position of 2nd National VP at the next Convention.
The point was well taken by the President.
SHERBROOKE – 10007
1. Grandfathering Rule and the Pro Rata Pension Calculation
The Local shared a situation where they have a member that lost her established rights as of the summer 2012 when she reduced her work week to 22.5 hours. She was already pro-rated according to her pension statement before 2012, as she had lowered her weekly hours to 35 hours in 1999. The local sent a request to have her hours reinstated to 30 hours and that the time be taken from her vacation bank.
The Brother gave some information as follows from a Public Works Canada document: The term grandfathered (as in "grandfather" provision) is used to indicate that specific employees have certain established rights with respect to their employment or pension status prior to the legislative changes which have been implemented.
For all employees taken on strength (TOS) prior to July 4, 1994: effective July 4, 1994, they retain the employment and eligibility status (grandfather protection) that applied to them immediately prior to July 4, 1994.
Full-time Grandfather Protection – Average Assigned Work Week (AWW) of 30 or more hours per week at July 4, 1994: Employees working an average AWW of 30 hours or more per week on or before July 4, 1994 continue to be considered full-time for pension purposes, and retain their grandfather protection unless their hours of work go below 30 hours per week or there is a break in their service of more than one year.
Brother O’Brien, SLRO commented that there has been a similar situation in Toronto and a grievance was filed to allege discrimination based on family status as the member was caring for a dependent sick child. We were successful in having the employer changing her pay records. However, it is the responsibility of the members to get familiar with the Superannuation Act and contact compensation advisors or human resources as the employer won’t take responsibility unless maybe if members can prove they were misinformed by the pension center.
NORTH B.C. & Yukon – 20002
1. Pension and Benefits regarding Term members
The Local shared that one of their members was let go after 4 years and 5 months in March 2015 and took the pension package benefits. He was just re-hired and informed by way of letter that if he leaves before a period of six (6) years or if his term is not extended this will impact his benefits.
SURREY T.C. – 20029
1. Performance Improvement Plans
The Local is concerned by the fact that managers are not adhering to the procedures on performance management and not allowing union representation to terms and determinate employees during meetings. They have talked to management, but nothing has changed.
It is happening in other regions as well. Term employees won’t grieve because they are scared of the consequences.
Management was asked that when team leaders are doing a performance improvement plan, especially with term employees, to be able to get them successful in the re-hire process. The answer was that they are working on that and hopefully things will improve in the future.
O’Brien, SLRO stated that this is a performance management problem and members should grieve stating that the employer failed to adhere to his own performance management policy.
The President suggested to the Communication Committee to work in collaboration with a staff advisor to have some information on this topic included in our next newsletter.
2. Duty to Accommodate
The Local reported that there is a lack of union representation and the employees are not always given the option to have the union present or involved. Management will not inform the members that the union should be involved in the process.
O’Brien, SLRO stated that CRA has many policies dealing with duty to accommodate and certainly has one that speaks to the involvement of the union. Duty to accommodate should be a collaborative involvement. There are references on the CRA Infozone and in their own Illness and Injury policy.
The President suggested that this topic would make another good article for our newsletter. He added that RVPs should be made aware of this situations.
TORONTO EAST – 00001
1. Strike Action Budgets
The Local commented that at the strike training, they were advised by the PSAC Regional Representative to prepare a budget and that certain expenses would be reimbursed. After the fact, the PSAC informed them that they did not have the money.
A similar situation happened in Ottawa.
The President answered that this was not acceptable and advised the locals involved to talk to their REVP and keep him informed.
2. Bridging Students into Permanent Positions
The Local found out that there were students that were bridged into terms or even to permanent positions. They want to know if this is happening in other regions.
Many locals went to the microphones to share their situations.
In light of the information received, the President urged all the locals to find out what is happening in their office with the hiring of students. How many students there are, how many they intend to hire and to what position they will be bridged into. The information must be reported to their RVP by October 7th.
CHARLOTTETOWN
1. Voluntary Assessment on Personal Time
The Local asked why would members be asked to put in personal time without pay to assess internal employees.
O’Brien, SLRO explained that this situation started in the early 1990s in Sudbury and Winnipeg. A complaint was filed by Sudbury with the Public Service Commission with no result. There is an Article in the collective agreement on personal selection leave saying that the employer should grant leave with pay. We have asked the CRA to reiterate this in writing to the field, and they declined, but they agreed to discourage this practice and they will only use it when it is absolutely necessary.
The President stated that this issue will be brought to the CRA again.
OTTAWA TAX SERVICES - 70010
1. Team Leader Reference Check for MGs
The Local referred to a 4-page document in preparation for the reference check where Team Leaders are asked to review the assessment criteria for the following qualifications: reliability and effective interpersonal interaction. Taking into consideration the definition list, how would you describe or characterize the candidate reliability? Please provide 3 examples for as many of the above 10 indications as you can recall and are you aware of specific areas that could be developed by the candidate in relation to this qualification? Please provide examples etc. It seems that the TLs are writing the test in order for the employees to get the job. The local believes that this should not be part of the TL job.
The President asked that the information be sent to the RVP and the Chair of Staffing Committee.
SUMMERSIDE - 90006
1. External Perpetual Processes
The Local explained that External Perpetual Processes, as management calls them, were posted recently in their office. They have an expiry date such as, for example, June or August 2017 and they can be used whenever they need to fill a position. Is this current practice in other offices?
It is happening in other regions as well such as B.C., Ontario and Rocky Mountains.
O’Brien, SLRO answered that he had heard of this from another region, but not from Summerside. A pilot was running in Winnipeg without the union being notified. There are regular staffing meetings and the issue is being raised every time with management. A meeting is scheduled to take place next week where this matter will be brought up.
EDMONTON - 30025
1. Regional Staffing Processes - Quality of Hire
The Local explained that, according to management, external processes are the same as internal ones. However, the requirements are different because the process does say that if you are an internal candidate, you must meet job requirements. There is a discrepancy between what is expected from the public and from our members. Our members are asked to take an unsupervised internet test prepared by the Public Service Commission. Why should our members have to take an exam?
It is happening elsewhere within the region. Locals were told that this process is to get the best candidate for the job. We believe that it is a way to disregard candidates that the employer does not want for the job.
The President commented that when we return to consultation, the National Staffing Committee will be very busy with all the issues going on right now.
SAINT JOHN - 60005
1. E.I. Sick Leave and ROE for Phoenix
The item was withdrawn by the mover.
HAMILTON - 00014
1. Severance Pay for Term Employees - October 1st
The Local explained that their term employees have been extended to October 31st in order to qualify to get a severance pay cheque. The local wanted to know if the employees have to work past October 31st to get one week of severance pay.
Sister Gardiner, Chair of the Bargaining Committee responded that as long as they are on strength as of October 31st, they are eligible for their severance.
The President cautioned the locals that if this is brought up to management, chances are that the Hamilton Local may well lose this accommodation.
Point of privilege – Kent MacDonald, Life Member
Brother MacDonald took the opportunity to make a reference to the UTE 50th anniversary video that we saw during the week and to the long years of service ranging from 20 to 40 some years of some of the activists in the room. He went on saying that it was in 1986 that he went to his first Annual General Meeting and was elected President of his local. He then became RVP for his region in 1989 until 2007, and then to his current position as Labour Relations Officer. He went on saying that we all know the importance of unions in society and the sacrifices that people in the room made, not just for the betterment of our membership, but also for the society as a whole. Unions keep the right wing grounded. We all wonder sometimes if our children are getting that message, do they understand what we are doing and fighting for and do they respect what we do as unionists? He got his answer this summer and Brother Campbell got to hear that answer and asked if my son would let us hear that answer at this Presidents’ conference, to recognize the 25th anniversary of the 1991 strike. His first son was born in August 1991- one month before the general strike shown earlier in the video. Brother MacDonald introduced his son Ryan who wrote a song called ‘Strike Sound’. Lyrics attached.
Point of privilege – Ashley Green, St. John’s T.C.
Sister Green thanked Brother MacDonald and his son for the song and she thanked all the members for their actions this year. It is because of that general strike twenty-five years ago that she was able to avoid another strike last month. It is because of unions mobilization that she can take a maternity leave and enjoy the privilege of spending time with her little boy. It is a privilege and honour to be part of this union.
Point of privilege – Theresa Greenough, Surrey T.C.
Sister Greenough announced that it was Sister Janet Graham’s last conference. She thanked her for her years of service and dedication to the membership in Vancouver. She stated that this was a new beginning for Sister Graham and expressed our love for her.
Point of privilege – Jérôme Martel, RVP Québec Region
Brother Martel thanked Ryan MacDonald for the nice song he wrote. On a funny note, he mentioned that he is raising his 4-year-old son by trying to pass on his union values of equity and equality and to fight for his rights. However, he said he must be careful with this as last week, his son had two grievances on the go because he refused to buy him candies.
The points were well taken by the President.
As it is the custom, President Campbell announced who was running for office next year at convention. To date, two people have come forward - Brother Marc Brière for the position of National President and Brother Doug Gaetz for the position of 1st National Vice-President.
CLOSING REMARKS
President Campbell thanked everyone and asked them to be proud of themselves and travel home safely.
The meeting adjourned at 4 p.m.
STRIKE SOUND
Written by : Ryan MacDonald
Performed by : The Honest Heart Collective
Hey Mack, we’ve been here before
but I can’t imagine when
frontlines & picket signs
but the cheques aren’t coming in
and you just had that kid
back on August 10th
and thirty-five bucks a day
well it’ll barely pay the rent.
But we’ll look out for each other
And keep our ears to the ground
Cause we’ll be listening to that old strike sound
Someone crossed the line today
I guess they don’t understand
the word “solidarity”
or better days for a fellow man
well it takes time and broken locks
we’ll make ‘em sweat
till we’re better off
and trust me Mack
everything in the worlds gonna be okay
Cause, Revolution sparks the change
We’ll look out for each other
And keep our ears to the ground
Cause we’ll be listening to that old strike sound
We’ll be hearing that old strike sound. Yeah.
Brothers in arms
& Sisters at hand
trying to make our way to the promised land
they can’t stop us from reaching it.
And we’ll look out for each other
And keep our ears to the ground
Cause we’ll be listening to that old strike sound
And we’ll look out for each other
And keep our ears to the ground
Cause we’ll be listening to that old strike sound
We’ll be hearing that old strike sound
Trust me they’ll hear that Old Strike Sound
That Old Strike Sound.