THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2012
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 and 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, Jamie vanSydenborgh, Christine McLennan and Lyson Paquette. 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.
The CPR attendants were presented as follows: Janet Albinet, Chris Aylward, Bob Campbell, Susan Duncan, Doug Gaetz, Denis Lalancette, Dave Lanthier, Kent MacDonald, Pierre Mulvihill, Shane O’Brien, and Alex Thon.
HOURS OF SESSION
m/s Brian Oldford/Marc Brière
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 05:00 or closure of business
MOTION CARRIED.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
(See attached agenda, participants list and Items submitted by the Local Presidents)
m/s Richard Hyatt/Sylvie Lahaie
That the agenda be adopted with the additional items.
Suspension IAD Investigations (Toronto East)
Support to Aveos Employees (Laval)
Service to Employees leaving for retirement (Shawinigan-South)
UTE Convention 2014 (Summerside)
Extension for Term Positions from External Pool (Kitchener)
Taxpayer Service Complaints re. Call Centres (Edmonton)
By outs re. Retirement (Halifax)
Regional Seating for UTE Presidents’ Conferences (Summerside)
MOTION CARRIED.
OPENING REMARKS
President Campbell : I will start my comments saying that we have been under attack from many sources. We have tried to answer, to be engaged and involved on numerous fronts with letters to the press and to the membership and also with campaigns. We have lots of fights coming up and we have to be prepared. We are very proud of what we did on March 1st. UTE continues to be a leader when the PSAC or any organization have asked us to stand up for the members and we have done that again. I thank you all. We had a good turnout even though the weather did not help. However, there is still a lot of work to do. We have to wake up the membership and make the members realize what the fight is about. We are heading into bargaining and we will be having problems with the propaganda of PIPSC saying that they gave up their severance pay because it will be legislated away anyway and they wanted to get something for their members. This is not based on facts. We have verified with sources and there is no mention anywhere that the government is going to legislate away severance.They want us to give it up and enter into concession bargaining. The group in this room is composed of leaders and we need to lead. We have to let the members know that the union is working hard and will be putting the hours in to get the best contract for the membership. The members will have to stand up and fight for their rights. We will be asking the membership to do more and it is not an easy thing to do.
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 March 2012).
Executive Council Meeting:
Adoption of the following items during the week:
- New Terms of Reference for the Technological Change Committee
- Recommendation to change the name of the equity group Visible Minority to Racially Visible and overspending for the EO Conferences guest speakers
- A Humanitarian Award to Jolaine Richardson from the Atlantic Region
- New Award of Merit – Health and Safety
- Donation of $2500 to Sister Robyn Benson for her campaign to the position of PSAC National President
- Adoption of the 2011 Audited Financial Statements
- Resolution to hold the 2014 Triennial Convention in Windsor Ontario
The following information was submitted:
- UTE Help Booklet for Local when a member passes
- Mental Health Conferences dates for 2013 (see the Health and Safety Committee report)
- Brother Morgan Gay from the PSAC will be replacing Gaby Levesque as our negotiator with CRA.
President Campbell mentioned the train derailment that occurred not long ago where three of our members were injured, while returning from a grievance training course in Niagara Falls. He indicated that our insurance policy covers accidental death and dismemberment only and that the PSAC has an insurance covering medical expenses and loss of wages. The Executive Council will be looking into putting something in place for the future. Our thoughts for a quick recovery are with them.
The UTE Caucus at the PSAC Convention will be held Sunday, April 29 at the Ottawa Congress Centre from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. UTE will have a hospitality suite from Sunday, April 29th to Friday, May 4th.
Pursuant to our By-laws, UTE delegates are to vote in favour of UTE resolutions brought forward to the PSAC Convention or abstain from voting.
President Campbell acknowledged that the membership is not happy in these difficult times and asked the delegation to act with respect when going to the microphone and during the convention itself.
Point of order - Robin Johnson, RVP for Greater Toronto Region
We have a get well card to pass around for Sister Veronica Eastman who was injured in the train derailment.
The point of order was well taken by the Chair.
President Campbell then introduced Sister Barb Stewart, former Local President of the Ottawa TSO Local 70030. Sister Barb brought an impressive kiosk and provided information on the Workers’ History Museum saying that the museum was founded in January 2011, and that it was dedicated to the development and preservation of workers, history and heritage in the NCR and Ottawa Valley. Their goal is to present, promote, interpret, and preserve workers’ history, heritage, and culture. The 50/50 draws will help achieve this goal. The amount collected was $826.50. Thank you all. For additional information please visit: info@workershistorymuseum.ca
REPORT OF THE UTE HONOURS & AWARDS COMMITTEE
President Campbell invited the Committee to the front. The Chair, Brother Jean-Pierre Fraser introduced the Co-Chairs, Sister Robin Johnson and Brother Denis Lalancette. Sister Dianne Rayner was absent. He mentioned the contribution of Sylvie Bastien from the National Office.
The Chair presented Brother David Quist with the UTE Life Membership and the UTE Life Member ring.
President Campbell introduced Brother Morgan Gay, PSAC Negotiator who will replace Sister Gaby Levesque when negotiating with the CRA. Brother Gay introduced himself and gave some history of his past achievements as a negotiator. President Campbell offered a UTE shirt as a token of our appreciation.
Sister Annette Melanson gave some information on the workshops that were to be presented the next day in the afternoon.
REPORT OF THE UTE NATIONAL E.O. COMMITTEE
President Campbell invited the Committee to the front. The Chair, Sister Robin Johnson introduced the Co-Chair, Brother Jean-Pierre Fraser, Brother Erik Gagné, Technical Advisor, Jennifer Phillips, Women Representative, Bonnie Polchies, Aboriginal Representative and Debbie Willet, Disability Representative.
Sister Johnson gave the dates for the Regional Equal Opportunities Conferences:
April 20 – 21 Vancouver Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Greater Toronto
May 25 – 26 Montréal NCR, Atlantic, Montréal, Québec
June 22 – 23 Winnipeg Prairie, NEO, SWOThe National E.O. Conference will be held in Ottawa in October 2013. The actual dates will be confirmed later.
ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS
HALIFAX - 80003
1. Depth and Breadth Questionnaires
Is there a standard template and do we have control of what the employer creates?
Brother Khayat, Chair of the Staffing Committee answered that there is no standard template. The policy on staffing, which is under review, states that the choice of criteria for a competition is up to management. Some regions have taken the initiative to prepare their own questionnaire which has the advantage of creating a harmony among different offices and to have a consistency within the regions. The Committee asked that the locals send their issues to them because the employer is revising the questionnaires now.
Other locals gave their comments on the issue.
2. Canadian Federation of Independent Business
The Local asked what we will be doing after the Bank of Nova Scotia told us to go away after receiving our letter.
President Campbell answered that the same letter was sent to all PSAC Components and the CLC hoping that we will have a better impact going through the labour movement. We are continuing our campaign against CFIB. The UTE PAC Communication Committee will make a presentation on an action plan to help us go forward. Brother Aylward, First National Vice-president and Chair of the Finance Committee added that we have to be careful with our investments and where we will be moving our money. We are doing research on what is the best for us.
3. SunLife
The Local explained that physiotherapist clinics will not accept the card. What can we do?
President Campbell asked the local to send the details on the issue and we will pass it on to the PSAC.
HAMILTON – 00014
4. Scent Free Policy
The Local: Our union has been practicing a "scent free" environment for quite a long time now and it seems to work for us. However, in the workplace it is a problem. Hamilton has a few members that have made it known that they have health problems/issues around scents.The issue was part of the UMC agenda recently, but we were told by management that this was NOT a policy and NOT enforceable.
What can we do as a union to promote this issue? How far can we demand compliance?
Brother Aylward, Chair of the Health and Safety Committee commented that the issue had been raised with the employer and we will not get the CRA to institute a scent-free policy.
President Campbell suggested that they talk to the members to get some cooperation. It should be a standing agenda item on their UMC.
5. SP07s in Appeals
The Local: We currently have and work with job descriptions for SP04s, SP05s and SP06s as national job descriptions. We also found on our system a job description SP07 for GST/HST Appeals Officer. The Revenue Collections ROCCO job was re-classified to an SP07 and these officers assess director's liabilities that usually end up in appeals. Furthermore, there is no JD for an SP07 Income Tax and the employer is aware of the problem, but not working on a new JD.
Sister Cassidy, Labour Relations Officer replied that this was not discussed with the employer. The issue is that we do not know if director’s liability work is SP07 work. It is not because someone does one segment of the job that they are automatically entitled to a higher classification. She concluded saying that the issue of director’s liability is not a cause for re-classification of the job description.
BATHURST – 60006
6. Competencies – Observe and Attest
The Local asked what was done in other locals with respect to how many competencies can a team leader attest to.
It is a fact that team leaders can attest up to 9 competencies of the employee’s base profile. Specifically 80% of the employees have been observed in the office and everything works well.
Other locals commented that there was no consistency from one region to another depending on their staffing policy and the experience of the team leaders. Some team leaders asked that the employees write their own examples, while others say that they will write them for the employees. We should stand up to the employer and tell them to respect the process.
Brother Campbell answered that this issue has been brought to the attention of Cheryl Fraser many times and that we are trying to fix the situation, but has you know they passed legislation that gives them the right to do what they want with their staffing process. We are constantly talking to CRA on this issue. He asked the locals to send their concerns to the Staffing Committee and they will continue to bring it to their meetings with the employer.
7. PSAC Squirrel Campaign
The Local commented that they were not comfortable with the squirrel publicity.
Brother Campbell commented that it was a decision of the Alliance Executive Committee that hired a firm to come up with a campaign. They came up with the squirrel and some other messages. When it first came out it got a lot of coverage, but we have not heard much comment from the Components.
One local informed that the squirrel campaign was explained on facebook.
MONTREAL - 10008
8. Official Languages and Languages Testing – is this happening in other offices?
The Local has 3 complaints with the Official Languages Commission (OLC). 1) Language of work vs language of the client. The employer must demonstrate the necessity for an employee to write in the client language vs his own language in order for the client to be served equally in both official languages. 2) An employee was refused a level C because she spoke too slowly, with hesitation and showed a lack of confidence. In Montreal the statistics show that 100% of the Anglophones obtain the level C and only 30% of Francophones pass the test. 3) An employee working in an office designated bilingual must write in the language of the client i.e. Toronto a region designated unilingual, the employee must write or communicate in English. It is the employer’s responsibility to translate the note and make sure that it is available to the client in his mother tongue.
Brother Mulvihill, Labour Relations Officer in charge of the case commented that we have not received information yet on the complaint filed by the Montreal Local. He added that the results from the OLC are not made public, but we will make sure that the decision goes out to the locals. When the OLC made his statement, it was after a decision had come out called a "preliminary format" that was contrary to what the commissioner told the board. There was a preliminary decision that ruled in the same way we believe it should be and the commissioner was not aware of that when he spoke to the board.
Locals commented that in their regions this is affecting term employees and they will not complain because they are terms. Furthermore, in some Quebec locals they are looking in the possibility of opening unilingual English positions. Other locals are experiencing similar situations.
The meeting recessed at 1700 hours.
FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2012
MORNING SESSION
The Conference was called to order at 09:00 a.m. with President Campbell in the Chair.
President Campbell announced and wished happy birthday to Sisters Bonnie Polchies, Terry Ruyter and Rosa Fabiano and Brother Mike Montague.
ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS
MONTREAL - 10008
9. Pay (late pay)
The Local: we have a member that was advised of a pay recovery of $5700. We have asked for explanations and the ones received were not clear. We then filed a grievance. The case was brought to the attention of our RVP who acted on our concerns and now the member owes $0. Would the same decision be rendered for everyone in the same situation? We do not know why the member owes the money and furthermore, no apologies were offered. Is this happening in other offices?
Some locals had experienced the same problems and explained the situation for the National Office to raise the issues with CRA. Regular members do not know what to do. CRA should advise the members that this is coming.
President Campbell: we have not received any issues since December. Cheryl Fraser had sent a memo on that issue, but the managers do not follow the instructions of the policy. We will bring it up again nationally.
10. Sun Life (Abuse concerning forms to be completed – temporary disability)
The local postponed the item until Brother Infantino presentation of the next day.
Brother Infantino the next day answered that there were three parts to be filled in on the form: the Employer, Employee and the Employee’s Doctor. He added that he was on the Board of Management for the Disability Insurance Plan and he could recommend that they revisit the Employee’s part to make it easier to fill it in.
PETERBOROUGH – 00008
11. Liability issues when using CRA property for exercise classes
The Local explained that they had a situation where employees arranged to have a class during lunch time. When the employer found out that this was happening in the building they put a hold on this saying that they will look into the liability issues.
Many locals commented that they had a gym room, but was terminated because of liability issues.
Some locals are using meeting rooms on the premise and a waiver is signed by each employee.
It was asked by the locals that this issue of the well being of their employees be brought to Local CRA management.
12. Meeting with members on CRA time – code and wording used
The item was withdrawn with permission by the submitting local.
13. OSH inspection of parking lots
The item was withdrawn with permission by the submitting local.
BELLEVILLE – 00012
14. Combination of lunches and breaks to leave earlier etc.
The item was withdrawn with permission by the submitting local.
15. External Recruitment
The Local: the employer has posted external SP05 and AU01 positions in the Toronto region with employer requesting AU qualifications for SP positions. Our understanding is that these offices have qualified internal candidates. What are we doing about this clear violation of the employer staffing guidelines and is this happening in other locals?
Some locals commented that they were extending the external pools. Now they are extending both internal and external pools. Others have external for SP5 and SP4 terms in collections.
Sister Cassidy, Labour Relations Officer commented that unfortunately CRA directives are not imperative. They should be looking internally before externally. The Audit Division uses external over internal. They devalue our PSAC members. She reiterated that members have to hammer the employer for the use of the internal list first. This issue should be on the locals UMC agendas and also sent to the Staffing Committee.
Some locals had positive experiences after talking to the employer.
TORONTO WEST – 00051
16. Accounts Receivable National Inventory (ARNI)
The Local: how have the other locals set up the human resource aspect of ARNI?
Some locals explained their structure being MG03s as Team Leaders, SP7 ROCCOs, bilingual Technical Advisors, SP05s, SP04s and SP06s as Technical Officers.
The SP06 role is going to be different from the SP07s and it is a new job that would be created. The SP05s would be able to compete for that job.
In some smaller offices the ARNI Officers are SP04s and SP05s they are doing the field calls.
Sister Cassidy clarified that ARNI is SP04s and SP05s Technical Advisors. SP05s do field work, SP06s new Enforcement Officers should not be in ARNI as it is a very specialized job and work load and SP07s ROCCOs should not be in ARNI. She asked that if the composition of the ARNI team is other than MG03, SP04 and SP05t that these issues be sent immediately to the Staffing Committee because this issue is on the agenda of the meeting early in April.
17. SP07 Resource Officer / Complex Case Officer in Aggressive Tax Planning (ATP)
The Local explained that CRA Headquarters put out a call for staffing these positions and requested that the offices solicit SP06s ROCCO Officers from Collections. SP06s were later reclassified to SP07s. Since the ATP Program was born, the job responsibilities have changed dramatically.The SP07 ATP Officer is totally different now from the SP07 regular ROCCO. We would like the National Office to review this job and to include this on the agenda in April when meeting with the employer.
Brother Campbell suggested to the local that they talk to Sister Cassidy and Brother Khayat at the break and give them the information for their upcoming meeting with the employer.
THUNDER BAY – 00020
18. Local Initiative to Drum up Interest in the Union
The Local: mostly the same people get involved in the union. We asked the employer permission to send an email to UTE members to prepare a 200 work essay on what they can do to help the local and get involved in the union.We had a committee to shorten the list to two essays. They were read out anonymously by a steward at the AGM in February and the attendees voted on them.The winner was Sister Rosa Fabiano who is with us today. Do other locals have best practices that they want to share?
Other locals have special pizza lunch to promote the union and speak about how it can help the members. They had 3 sessions of about 30 people attending in each. The lunch was a success.
The New Member Kit was used to include a slip of paper asking them their name, home email address and phone number. Every month members were sent something to that email tree whether it is a greeting for Valentine’s Day or information about the March 1st activities, etc… So far 125 email addresses have been gathered and more people are asking how they can get on the list.
We have negotiated with the employer some time off for a union day.
We have mandated the executive to meet in their divisions with young people and they managed to recruit young people. We have organized happy hours and lately about 200 people show up. Young people attract young people. This is a good way to attract youth.
We have a series of events through the year such as Christmas party, BBQs, we have membership discounts with Good Life Fitness Centres, and gifts that we can pass around.
We offer meals at AGMs, attendance prizes, cards during the holidays, chocolate and draws at Christmas.
We organize every year a wine and cheese and we invite PIPSC and the employer. The last time 135 people showed up. It keeps evolving every year. It is a great event and everyone is invited to participate (Saint John Local)
19. Local UMC’s
The Local: as a follow up to Linda Cassidy's presentation at the September Presidents' Conference how many locals are having regular meetings and were they able to incorporate the Terms of Reference?
Most locals answered yes they do have Local UMCs and the Terms of Reference are in place.
EDMONTON – 30025
20. Standardized Testing for Term Re-Hires
The Local: Currently the testing is being developed locally by SP04s on the Learning Team in the Call Centre to cover the "Knowledge" portion of the re-hire assessment process. There are questions on the validity of the tests as there can be multiple answers/references which can be provided by the testing candidate. We ask that a standardized test be created with a pre-determined set of answers. These tests should be standard for all Business Window agents (Personal Income Tax Agents), as they are based off materials used in our everyday workloads. How is it handled in other locals?
There is no standardized test. We use our own form to determine if they meet the expectations of the work that they were hired to do.
The employer has developed the CAS Process to test the terms’ performance based on the job they are doing. The team leader will listen to their calls, test them and rank them according to how they performed on the test.
We are negotiating with management so we can approve the test before it is administrated to the employees.
We have no standardized testing for re-hires. It is rated on 4 or 5 criteria, productivity, quality, inventory control, EIR, dependability. They assigned a mark of 20 on each to a maximum of 100. They do not use the Y280 they used the T280 for terms.
The terms are asked to write a work sample test as a component of the re-hire list. Once on the re-hire list they are not required to test any further. It is not a pass or fail test. They are coached on the areas that they did not do well on.
21. Credit Checks re. Reliability Status being renewed
The Local: This has happened to a handful of members in our office, ranging from SP03 clerks to MG03 Team Leaders. We want to know if this is happening to other locals across the country. As well, we would like to know if this is an employer policy that has changed recently as it can adversely affect members when seeking financing i.e New Car/House. It could also provide the appearance that members have tax problems when this is not the case.
Locals from Prairies and Rocky Mountains talked about their experience and explained that when asked, the Director of Security answered that employees do not have to fill in the credit check as it is only for persons that request secret or secret plus status.
President Campbell commented that we have contacted CRA and they came back saying: a credit check could be conducted when an individual is being screened for reliability as a prerequisite for a confidential secret or top secret security clearance. Reading this, it seems that they are doing the check only for high level security. What you are telling us now is that they are doing it for everybody. We will do a follow up on this issue as we have just received this information on March 16th.
22. Accommodations
The Local: More and more we are getting resistance from the employer when requesting accommodations (with proper documentation from the Doctor). We would like to see if this phenomenon is happening in other locals as well.
When we are faced with this problem, we refer to the Canada Labour Code Regulations and the duty of the employer to establish a program of safety and it seems to change the employer’s position.
The same issue is happening in many regions.
We have filed a 4th level grievance on this issue and during the entire process the employer has used the contract as a shield for what is essentially a human rights duty to accommodate.
Managers should be trained on accommodation as it is the law.
It is a fact that when managers do not act on a request, we contact the Labour Relations Office and then the manager acts on the issue.
Management wants to have the file updated.
Use your right to refuse to work as it seems to be working well in our local.
Because of CRA Workplace Relations Officers change so often, there are delays in responding and it causes hardship to our members when they need an accommodation immediately.
Brother Aylward, Chair of the Health and Safety Committee commented that the Illness and Injury Policy states that all individual accommodation requests must be submitted in writing. This is important to have the necessary written information for when people are moving from one section to another. Brother Aylward cautioned the locals to be careful in using Section 128 the right to refuse dangerous work. They should get advice from a HRSDC Officer because they are the ones that would be making the ruling on whether or not there is danger. You can’t just remove yourself from the workplace and invoke your rights under Section 128 as you don’t have the right to do that.
OTHER TOPICS
President Campbell asked Brother MacDonald to give an update on the CLC Committee - Private Members’ Bill C-377. If passed, this bill will force all unions to release their financial records to CRA. This information will then be published on a website that is accessible to the public. The CLC has set up a committee to gather information and to determine the costs and ramifications if this bill were to become law. Brother Gordon has asked us to supply a participant who can provide clarification on CRA’s role and the cost impacts of this proposed bill to both the government and unions. Brother Kent MacDonald has been appointed to this committee and is working on gathering information. This bill could prove very costly to unions from the ground (local level) through to the national level. Our auditors have estimated that this change could result in a 33% increase in the cost of our audit.
Brother MacDonald commented that a letter including speaking notes from Kenneth Georgetti, President of CLC explaining what is happening was sent to all locals earlier during the week. We are asking you to bring also this issue to your MP when you meet to talk about the budget which is part of the campaign that the PSAC is working on.
Brother Arthur Carkner retired PSAC employee and former UTE member mentioned the display outside and a bilingual video that he hopes could be shown at the next Presidents’ Conference in September on Family Leave Project. The 20 minute documentary explores how feminists, unionists and political activists built a potent coalition, mobilized public opinion and achieved what many thought would be the impossible. He concluded saying that when people ask you what the union ever done for them, you can answer, they obtained paid maternity leave and other types of family leaves.
Brother Aylward informed the participants that the National Health and Safety Conference is scheduled for October 19th, 2012 in Ottawa and to help us prepare, the committee is developing a questionnaire that will be sent to all workplace committees and it is imperative that the questionnaire be completed and returned to us as we will be extracting from the questionnaire what it is that we will be doing for workshops at the conference. We are in discussions with the employer to allow time at work to complete the questionnaire. The theme of the conference is "How effective are We".
Brother Lalancette announced that Thomas Muclair, NDP candidate took the 1st ballot with 33% of the vote at the NDP National Leadership Convention.
The regular meeting recessed at 1145 hours.
SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2012
MORNING SESSION
The Conference was called to order at 9:00 a.m. with President Campbell in the Chair.
GUEST SPEAKER
President Campbell introduced Brother James Infantino, PSAC Disability Insurance and Pension Officer. Brother Infantino went through his Powerpoint presentation on Hands OFF our pensions. He then answered a few questions from the participants. The presentation will be sent to all locals.
President Campbell presented Brother James with a gift as a token of appreciation.
Point of privilege – Doug Gaetz, Atlantic RVP
I asked permission to have Sister Melissa Hyde replacing Sister Madonna Gardiner who has been hospitalized.
The point of privilege is well taken by the Chair.
President Campbell asked the Labour Relations Officers to come up to the front and thanked them for their good work in doing the workshops yesterday afternoon.
Linda Cassidy – Ethical Investigations
Erik Gagné – Acting Pay / Job Content / Classification Grievances
Kent MacDonald – Staffing Recourse and Independent Third Party Reviews
Pierre Mulvihill – Grievance Files
Point of privilege – June Martin-Gendron
I would like to introduce Sister Ashlea Ducharme, Youth Representative from the Calgary Local who will sing for us. Ashlea attended a workshop sponsored by the PSAC called "Women at work" during the week of March 9, 2012 in Edmonton, Alberta. As part of the project work for this course, Ashlea wrote this song to raise awareness surrounding the issue of violence against aboriginal women. The lyrics are provided at the end of this document.
The point of privilege was well taken by the Chair.
REPORT OF THE UTE NATIONAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
President Campbell invited the Chair, Brother Adam Jackson to give an update. Brother Jackson introduced the members of the Committee; Brothers Jamie vanSydenborgh and Brad Feraday and Sister Annette Melanson. Brother Jackson presented an in-depth Powerpoint presentation and rollout of UTE new campaign called "Support Public Service Employees". The presentation will be sent out to all locals.
President Campbell added that we will be asking the locals do to more as it is an ongoing campaign. He asked the locals to send any suggestions to Brother Jackson and Sister Melanson as we will continue to build on this important issue.
President Campbell thanked Sister Susan Duncan for updating the website with the PAC Committee campaign information.
Point of privilege – Lorne Roslinski, RVP for the Rocky Mountains Region
I wish to thank Sister Ashlea Ducharme, Calgary Local for her song and video that can be seen on You Tube called Stolen Sister.
The point was well taken by the Chair.
ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS
REGINA – 40022
23. President’s Letter to Scotia Bank re. CFIB
The Local asked that President Campbell provides an update on the response to the letter.
President Campbell answered that a copy of the letter was sent to all locals and that the response from the bank will be sent next week to all locals.
He added that we are looking at options before moving out of the Bank of Nova Scotia.
HALIFAX - 80003
24. SP05 Tech Support Position & Staffing Committee
The Local explained that the SP05 Technical Support Position is a new job. As new jobs are created, shouldn’t we receive an update from the union? All we received is from the employer’s side. We used to receive information from the Staffing Committee, but not anymore.
Sister Cassidy answered that we have never sent synopsis of new jobs. The procedure is that we have an agreement with CRA that they will send the Staffing Committee new job descriptions and allow us a four week turnaround to review them and to send them back. If they are revising a current description, we have two weeks to get back comments to them. The new collection jobs that have been created never went to the Staffing Committee as it was contained information.
Brother Khayat, Chair of the Staffing Committee added that the Committee has never received detailed information on new jobs. That job belongs to the employer. Our role is limited to looking at the job description, giving our comments and ensuring that the description responds to the employer’s requirements that they have identified.
PETERBOROUGH – 00008
25. OHS Committee Meeting Attendees
The item was withdrawn with permission by the submitting local.
26. SP05 Acting Position for 2 years
The item was withdrawn with permission by the submitting local.
27. Collectors SP04 and SP05 doing work of SP03
The Locals explained the situation where SP04s and SP05s are asked to do SP03 work.
This is not happening in any other locals.
AFTERNOON SESSION
The meeting was called to order at 1:15 pm. with President Campbell in the Chair.
Point of privilege – Dawn Hardy, Summerside
We have a get well card to be signed for Sister Madonna Gardiner.
The point was well taken by the President
ELECTIONS TO FINANCE STANDING COMMITTEE
Position: Presidents’ Representative of the UTE Standing Finance Committee
Nominees: Robert Hume, Cosimo Crupi and Randy McKeown
Robert Hume was elected.
m/s Marc Brière/Colleen Wice
That the ballot be destroyed.
MOTION CARRIED.
Point of privilege – Derek Johannson (Penticton)
I would like to inform that the employer put out a tender for the Guard Service contract for TSOs and it has been awarded to the Corps Of Commissionaires effective April 1st . There is a provision in the new contract for "after hours call outs" which is part of my job description as a SP05 Security Officer. In my opinion this is contracting out.
Two locals commented that the Corps of Commissionaires reported that they felt that the guards should be part of the tender. The locals are concerned that they may want to replace the guards with Commissionaires.
President Campbell commented that he has checked yesterday afternoon and could not get information from CRA. He added that they should be filing a grievance if this is the case. Sister Abbott will get some information on the issue and we will pass it on.
The point of privilege was well taken by the Chair.
REPORT OF THE UTE NATIONAL BARGAINING COMMITTEE
Brother Lalancette, Chair of the UTE Bargaining Committee, introduced the other members of the Committee being Sister Dawn Hardy and Pietro Masdea Presidents’ Representatives, Brother Jean-Pierre Fraser, Co-chair and Sister Lyson Paquette, Technical Advisor.
Brother Lalancette announced that Brother Hugh McGoldrick from Headquarters was the successful winner of the contest to find a slogan : "Our Agreement our Future". Brother McGoldrick will receive a gift certificate from our UTE Store.
The Committee gave a Powerpoint presentation on its objectives as follows:
The explanation of the bargaining process
The pre-bargaining work of the National Office
The role of the Locals and the PSACThe presentation will be sent to all locals next week.
ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS
TORONTO EAST – 00001
28. Suspension IAD Investigation
The Local explained that one member was suspended before the end of the investigation. She is working but without access to the main frame. She is not eligible for unemployment insurance, welfare, etc. and this causes hardship. Is this happening nationally?
Other locals commented that this is how it is handled in their region. Members are put under administrative suspension without pay.
There is no consistency, some members work from home, some others in the office without access to the main frame, others were not allowed to come to the office at all. One member decided to resign.
LAVAL - 10028
29. Support to Aveos Employees - Laval
m/s Marc Brière/John Drozd
Whereas the Air Canada Public Participation Act stipulates that Air Canada must maintain aircraft heavy maintenance facilities or have such work performed at facilities located in Winnipeg, Mississauga and Montreal; and
Whereas Air Canada has, while restructuring, sold its aircraft maintenance division to Aveos Fleet Performance Inc.; and
Whereas Air Canada has retained the services of Aveos Fleet Performance Inc. to do the maintenance of its aircrafts, in order to comply with its obligations under the Air Canada Public Participation Act; and
Whereas Air Canada has decided to pull this work from these facilities and to seek alternative suppliers, Aveos has subsequently ceased operations affecting 1,785 highly skilled workers in Montreal, 412 in Winnipeg and 356 in Vancouver, therefore contravening to the Act; and
Whereas the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) has always shown solidarity with the difficulties being lived by other workers of various sectors across Canada.
Be it resolved that the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), to show its support to the Aveos Fleet Performance Inc. workers, takes a clear position, which could potentially lead to a boycott, against the Air Canada company; and
Be it further resolved that the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) encourages, in the shortest possible time, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), and its affiliated Elements, to adopt the same position.
MOTION CARRIED.
SHAWINIGAN-SOUTH – 10005
30. Service to Employee leaving for retirement – Shawinigan-South
The Local explained that when members are ready for retirement they have many documents to fill in and they are transferred from one section to another to obtain the information. At the local level, we do not have the tools and the expertise to help these members adequately. We have talked to the National President for him to bring this issue to the Commissioner. We would like all locals to talk to the employer about this and all
RVPs to talk to their Assistant Commissioners to get proper help and advice when people are planning their retirement. Also please ask that the retirement seminar be held earlier than 2 years to retirement as it does not give enough time to get your financial house in order.
President Campbell reiterated that it should be brought locally by the locals at their UMC, regionally by the RVPs and he will talk to the Commissioner.
You should take advantage of (APSAR) and talk to Brother Michel Chevalier. He could speak at your AGM and give you great information.
SUMMERSIDE – 90006
31. UTE Convention 2014
The Local expressed their concerned about the city that was chosen Windsor over Ottawa for the next National Convention. If we would have chosen Ottawa we would have saved $120,000 and this means a lot to the members. We have an issue with holding the convention in a Casino Hotel (smoking property) as it is not appropriate. In Ottawa, we would have to be split the group into two hotels because of the smoking issue, but by 2014 the chances are that there will be no smoking allowed in any hotel. In Windsor, there is a bunch of restaurants located at a fair walking distance away and this may not be appropriate for some members when the weather can be very hot and humid in July. Transportation may be an issue as Air Canada is only providing Dash 8 service from Toronto to Windsor. There are only 5 flights per day dropping to 4 on Saturdays and Sundays making it difficult to get in and out. It has been 28 years since the convention was held in Ottawa and this would be a good opportunity for members to see what we do in Ottawa. On the issue of helping the economy in Windsor, many people would probably go shopping to Detroit as that is where the good shopping is. The Local asked Council to reconsider Ottawa as the City for our next convention.
The President commented that these concerns were expressed during the Council meeting. Our mandate is to find a place to conduct the business of the convention not to provide a place for vacation before and after convention. To reverse the decision made by Council we would need 2 RVPs that voted in favour of Windsor to change their mind and move a resolution to reconsider including new information at the next Council Meeting.
KITCHENER - 00015
32. Extension for Terms Position from External Pool
The item was withdrawn with permission by the submitting local.
EDMONTON – 30025
33. Taxpayer Services Complaints in Call Centres
The Local explained that when representing our members for taxpayer services complaints, the policy states that we are supposed to resolve the issue with the taxpayer directly. In Call Centres we are not allowed to dial out and when the conversation is terminated, the taxpayers have no direct way to get back to the person that they spoke to. Therefore the issue gets escalated to the supervisor manager. The employer expects us to remember calls that came in weeks before. We would like the National Office to look into this matter as it is very unfair and hard for the members to defend themselves adequately.
Other Call Centres did experience the same situation where the employer expected the agents to remember hundreds of calls that came in.
The President advised that the UTE Ad-Hoc Call Centre Committee will be looking into this. The next meeting is scheduled for June and we will report by September.
HALIFAX – 80003
34. Buy Outs
The Local commented that members are asking if there would be any buy-outs. Could we put something in writing on our web to the effect that there won’t be any by-outs?
President Campbell answered that it could not be done because of next week’s budget.
Brother MacDonald, LRO advisor on the WFA Committee referred to the 90s where people got the Transitional Support Measures out of the WFA in the Collective Agreement. He added that we can’t say too much as we still have the severance in our collective agreement. We have many members that have over 25 years of service and when these jobs are gone these individuals will be entitled to severance and a TSM. At this time we can’t say that there won’t be any buy-outs.He informed that President Campbell will be meeting early April and hopefully will have more information.
SUMMERSIDE- 90006
35. Regional Seating for UTE President Conference (Summerside)
The Local: Can we rearrange to have the whole region seating in the same section instead of some seats on the other side of the row?
President Campbell answered that this could be revised at the June Council.
CLOSING REMARKS
President Campbell’s closing remarks were to thank the interpreters, the technical team, the staff back in the office that do a lot of work and the ones that are here during the conference. Thanks to the Labour Relations Officers for the job they do and the workshops they have put together this week. Thanks to Pierrette, Annette and Shane for organizing the conference. He also thanked the activists and people in the field for their great involvement and work. He went on saying that we have been attacked so much on many sides that if we don’t work together we won’t make it. We can’t let that happen. We have locals that are fighting! We do not have time for that as we have so much work in front of us. We have to work together. We are heading to the PSAC Convention and we have to join together with them because it is the membership that is being hurt by what we do.
He concluded wishing everyone a safe trip home.
The meeting adjourned at 5h00 p.m.
Stolen Sister
Song written by Ashlea Ducharme
Calgary Local
Did you read the news today?
No, not the front page
Couple of lines hidden deep inside
Like a secret one tries to hide
I find a story that makes me cry
I sit still, I close my eyes
I feel the anger begin to rise
If she were your friend, mother
Sister or child, wouldn’t you want it
On the front page
The life someone could just take away
How could you take it away?
Stolen Sister I cry for you and
All the things you never knew
All of the things you’ll never do
Stolen sister I cry for you
I may never know or understand
How someone can claim a life at their hand
And throw it away without a second glance
Her story is over, there is no second chance
Stolen Sister I cry for you
And all the things you never knew
All of the things you’ll never do
Stolen sister I cry for you