Minutes of the Presidents' Conference September 24 - 26, 2015

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015
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.

Points of Privilege

Mike Chartrand – Headquarters

An envelope will be passed to collect money to help the family of Lisa O’Connor who unexpectedly passed away last week at the age of 38.  Lisa was a single mother of two teenage children.

Linda Koenders – Headquarters

Invitation was launched to the participants to an evening march in solidarity to bring awareness to violence particularly against women.  The rally was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at the Minto Park.

Melanee Jessup - Kitchener

Their local treasurer is a cancer survivor and the local brought bracelets for sale at $2 each to help promote breast cancer research.

Alan Craig – Ottawa East

A request is made to everybody to bring down the toiletries from their room as we did in the past for a shelter in Ottawa.

Donna Shalla – Ottawa TSO

A message is sent to the crowd that a 50/50 draw will be held in the next few days to support the Easter Seal Society.

All points were well take by the President.

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.

The CPR attendants were presented as follows: Janet Albinet, Bob Campbell, Susan Duncan, Doug Gaetz, Denis Lalancette, Kent MacDonald, Shane O’Brien, and Alex Thon.

New Local Presidents

Josée Verret –  Québec
Jean-René Gagné – Rouyn-Noranda
Glenn Murphy – Sidney
Ginger Cole – Summerside
Céline Germain – Montréal
Dave Harel – Thunder Bay (replacing Cosimo Crupi)
Cory Thornton – Barrie

HOURS OF SESSION

M/S                 Brad Feraday / Gabriel Bourdon

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     Gabriel Bourdon / Vicki-Lynn Smith

That the agenda be adopted with the following additional items:

Duty to Accommodate – Ottawa East
Medical Marijuana – Headquarters
Changes to Study Time – Saint John, New Brunswick
Business Service Reports – Surrey TC
Employee Performance Review – Northern BC & Yukon
Membership Excel List – Surrey TC

• MOTION CARRIED.

OPENING REMARKS

President Campbell started his remarks welcoming everyone and expressing his sincere appreciation to the locals and executive members for what they do.  He commented that it has been a very frustrating period at the local level especially since last May when the Commissioner decided to break all protocols and communicate directly with the membership.  However, we have to be very proud of the members and executives of UTE, he said, because they have not believed what was communicated to them by CRA.  We have received support from the membership by way of letters and also during our site visits to the locals.  We are supporting our bargaining team in getting the best contract they possibly can obtain for our members.  He emphasized the fact that October 19 was very important and that all members should exercise their right to vote and defeat this government.  The members must be informed that if this government is re-elected, their pension, severance pay, sick leave, public services will be lost.  No matter the result, on the 20^th Brother Campbell will be issuing a communiqué to address the membership. 

The new grievance tracking system is in place and when all the testing is done it will be made available to the locals, hopefully early in the New Year. There will be a grievance campaign to put the pressure on CRA to return to negotiations.  He asked everyone to file grievances.  The National Office is working on the wording and it will be provided to locals shortly.

UTE is heading toward its 50^th Anniversary and the National Office is looking for ideas on how we could recognize this anniversary, such as t-shirts, a new logo etc... All information should be sent to the RVPs.  Sister Barb Stewart from the History Museum and her team are working on a video and a book to commemorate and celebrate our anniversary year.

There will be at the end of session on Saturday a few draws for gifts, including two donations of $500.00 from AGR Insurance.

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 September 2015 that were sent earlier).

From Executive Council Minutes:

Regulation 26 was amended.  The Finance Committee reviewed the over expenditures of some line items and made recommendations.  A resolution from the EO Committee was passed to overspend the line item Regional EO Conferences and the following scholarships were awarded:

REPORT OF THE NATIONAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (PAC)

The Chair, Brother Jamie vanSydenborgh introduced Brother Brad Feraday, Sister Annette Melanson, and Brother Cosimo Crupi, acting in the absence of Brother Adam Jackson.  He commented that there was a lot of work to be done in preparation for the election on October 19^th.  In July, the Committee developed a radio ad highlighting how the conservative government has let down working Canadians.   These ads ran in six strategic markets: Metro Vancouver, Regina, Greater Toronto, Winnipeg, Moncton and Quebec City.   These markets were identified using the targeted ridings that were narrowly won by the Conservatives in 2011.  He went on by mentioning a few actions that the locals could organize to counter the election of the Conservatives.

He thanked the Rocky Mountains Region and a member of the Calgary Call Centre for their idea of post cards, of which 100,000 were sent out throughout the country.  Also, 26,000 bracelets were sent out thanks to a Pacific Region idea.  In closing, he encouraged every member to go vote on October 19^th.

REPORT OF THE UTE NATIONAL BARGAINING COMMITTEE

Sister Madonna Gardiner, Chair of the UTE Bargaining Committee introduced the bargaining team and committee members as follows: Brothers Jean-Pierre Fraser, Denis Lalancette and Doug Gaetz.

Sister Gardiner thanked the Presidents’ Conference participants for the work they have done and continue to do in support of collective bargaining.  She provided an update on collective bargaining to the group.  The parties have not met since mediation in May 2015. The CRA is willing to go back to the table; however, they don’t say it is to go back to negotiate.  They tabled their final offer during mediation.  The committee won’t be meeting until after the election when, hopefully, we will have a different government.  However, if we do indeed have a new government, things are going to take time until they get organized.   We hope to go back to truly negotiate with CRA. Currently, we are under Treasury Board for collective bargaining.  We hope to have dates set maybe before the end of the year.  It is important to keep talking to the members and doing activities, whatever works for the local.  The National Strategy Coordinating Committee will be meeting to discuss where we go from here.

ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS

HALIFAX – 80003

Collective Bargaining Actions

The Local asked if we could have something in writing from the National President to give the Locals some direction.

President:      The activists are getting tired of being asked to do activities.  Locals are encouraged to do their own activities.  We are looking for suggestions from members.  The information on where we are with bargaining is posted on our website.  The most strategic action at this point, is to file grievances as mentioned in my opening remarks and this is the direction that will be sent out on Monday to all Locals.

CRA Anonymous Internal Fraud and Misuse Reporting Line (Snitch Line)

The Local commented that we should advise the members to file grievances when members or co-workers are making accusations.

President:  We should know all the circumstances before filing grievances. 

Brother O’Brien:  There is not much information to report at this point. CRA and Internal Affairs do not have procedures in place to deal with these investigations. Internal Affairs, under the new policy, seems to be doing whatever they want.  The Agency, rather than terminating individuals, is using a disguised refusal to continue to grant their reliability status, thus making the employees unemployable.   It is not a disciplinary discharge, but an administrative discharge.  Members are not being terminated for disciplinary reasons, which could be sent to adjudication.  They are being terminated because they do no longer have the required reliability status.  The recourse may take 1 or 2 years with the PSAC to send it to adjudication and determine the issue.

President:  Please follow the protocol and direct your issues to your RVP.

Travel Grant for Conferences

The item was withdrawn by the submitting local and approval of the floor.

MONTRÉAL – 10008

Long term Absence – Local President

The item was withdrawn by the submitting local and approval of the floor.

SAINT JOHN – 60005

HR’s Involvement in Everything (discipline, grievance, staffing, etc…)

The Local commented that Human Resources (HR) seems to inject themselves in everything going on in the offices.  Management can’t make a decision without talking to HR first.  They asked if this situation was happening in other locals and if HR has the right to interfere.

President:  I will turn the microphone to the Senior Labour Relation Officer, Brother Shane O’Brien as there are numerous Human Resources Policies.

Brother O’Brien:   The Local is correct.  It is now the norm, rather than the exception, that HR is involved in many issues including staffing, staff relations, discipline, investigations and more.  There have been meetings called HR Policy Simplification and it seems that every single policy and directive in the Agency is under review.   What was noted at these meetings is that the new policies speak very weakly about the managers having the final decision, but rather suggest strongly that most decisions be made in consultation with or after consulting Human Resources.  Brother O’Brien added that if HR insists on being present during grievance hearings, that grievances should be filed as these presentations are confidential under the Privacy Act.

President:      The National Office will examine the issue and actions will be taken next Monday.

President Campbell turned the Chair to Brother Brière.

SYDNEY – 80004

Dependability Checks for Selection Processes

The Local became aware that Taxpayer Services & Debt Management Branch is using a local reference check tool to develop questionnaires to check members’ dependability.  The team leader’s style in completing the questionnaire could make a difference in who gets the position or not.  Do other regions experience the same situation?

Brother O’Brien:  This was raised by the Halifax Local through their RVP.   There have been meetings with the Agency called Staffing Projects and Activities, where this issue was discussed with the then Director General of Resourcing.  According to the policy, this was not in compliance with the Agency Staffing Program and the Director agreed to talk to the Atlantic Region and Halifax Manager about abandoning this process, but now that there is no consultation, we have no additional information to provide.

Locals commented that since the new staffing came in place, reference checks happen at the assessment stage, rather than the placement stage.  Members do not make it to the pool.  To the question: do members have the right to know what is written in their reference checks by the managers? Brother O’Brien answered yes, under the Privacy Act Provisions.  He added that Locals raise these issues at almost every Presidents’ Conference, and yet the National Office does not receive many requests for recourse.

A Local added that a member was screened out because her team leader did not use the proper words such as “excellent”, “very good”, “wonderful” etc... when doing the reference check.   The manager who completed the reference check explained to the member that she has met the evaluation criteria and that she should not have been screened out.   A grievance was filed at 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd levels, without success.

A few Locals went to the microphone to add comments on the subject.

President Campbell resumed the chair.

Point of privilege: Mike Chartrand – Headquarters

The amount of $739.00$ was collected for Sister O’Connor’s family.  Thank you all for your generosity.

The point was well taken by the President.

The meeting recessed at 1700 hours.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015
MORNING SESSION

The meeting reconvened at 9h00 with President Campbell in the Chair.

HARASSMENT AND VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE COMMITTEE

Brother Gaetz introduced the members of the committee:  Brother Marc Brière, Co-chair; the Presidents’ Representative, Sister Debbie Ferguson; Sister Andrea Holmes, Technical Advisor; and Brother Shane O’Brien, SLRO who sat as Technical Advisor on two ad-hoc committees that were put in place over the years.

Brother Gaetz presented a PowerPoint document on Harassment and Violence in the Workplace.  The committee answered a few questions from the participants. The presentation will be emailed to all locals next week. 

ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS

PETERBOROUGH – 00008

Maternity Leave top up delays by Compensation

The Local commented that a member who is on maternity leave did not get her top up pay.  She was told by Compensation that there is no mechanism in place to replace missed top up pay and that she will have to wait for the next pay period, as no emergency cheques are made.  

President:   The National Office has not received complaints on this issue for well over one year. The National President reminded everyone of the Local and Regional protocol in place for dealing with Compensation issues.

Withdrawal from PSES Focus Groups (Public Service Employee Survey)

The Local is concerned that members may not be fully represented, given our withdrawal from consultations with the Agency.

Brother Brière : At the National Level, we were very much involved in developing the national plan and guidelines.  The CRA presented five questions specific to them and we have been participating in a Focus Group at the National Level on those questions and the feeling is positive.  Since consultations have stopped with CRA, we have nothing to report further on this issue.  The concerns of the employees have been heard at the National Level and they will be addressed.  Even though we are not participating in consultations right now, we are still receiving information on the issue.

Some Locals feel that they are missing out on opportunities to voice their concerns if they can’t sit on this committee.  Other Locals commented that CRA also is missing out on opportunities as well by not having the union at the table because they are losing a voice that, at times, they have valued and respected. 

President:  No UTE member should be sitting on this committee. We are not consulting with CRA.  We know that this is a difficult time, but we have to take action.  We are still active nationally by voicing our concerns without doing consultation, and the locals are encouraged to do the same.   

ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS

EDMONTON – 30025

Occupancy Levels in Call Centres
Shift Priority on return from Leave

M/S     Chis Beaton / Jacquelyn Whyman

That these 2 items be postponed till next morning as there might be more information following the workshop on Call Centre this afternoon.

• MOTION CARRIED.

WINDSOR – 00018

Mental Health

The Local asked for information on how we could include additional items for coverage with SunLife, such as Registered Psychologists, Family Counselors etc…

President:  I suggest that this issue be addressed to Brother James Infantino tomorrow.

HALIFAX – 80003

Exit Interviews (people leaving the Agency)

The Local asked if there were other locals where the employer does these interviews and do they know why employees are leaving.

Some Locals answered that they are done only sometimes and they do not get the results after they are done.  In other Locals, they are done only with students and no information is provided to the union.   Exit Interviews are also called Q Builder Survey, where the information is gathered, summarized and provided to the management team only. In the Calgary Call Centre and a few other locals it is done for all employees with no feedback to the union.

OTTAWA EAST – 70001

Duty to Accommodate

The Local explained that they have to struggle to get doctors to write down the limitations of members in order to force management to accommodate members.   There is a resistance from management to provide telework to anyone, regardless of the assessment of doctors.

Many Locals went to the microphone to express their views and frustration.  From their comments, it seems that the management in some offices slam the door on telework while it seems to be working relatively well in other regions.  It appears that it is left to the local management team to grant or not to grant telework.  To the question can something be done when the report coming back from the doctor is very slanted?

Brother O’Brien:  Management has the right to ask for fitness to work evaluation, but can’t dictate which doctor to be seen, although they prefer a doctor from Health Canada.   The doctor’s assessment cannot be grieved.  However, you can grieve that the employer is forcing you to consult a doctor from Health Canada. 

About 90% of the complaints we receive on Duty to Accommodate are due to insufficient medical documentation from the doctor and their assessments are not explicit enough. 

Usually there is a specific lead doctor from Health Canada in every region who is the Case Manager Doctor.  They will usually conduct the initial diagnosis or assessment.  They may well refer the member to a Health Canada or an outside specialist such as a Psychiatrist or Psychologist.    The assessment from the specialist will go back to the Case Manager Doctor, who will deal with the issue.

OTTAWA HEAD OFFICE – 70000

Medical Marijuana - 70000

The Local explained that they have members using medial marijuana and that it will probably increase over time.  Some members are using a spray that emits quite a strong smell.  Members worry that they will not be able to go outside in the cold in the upcoming months.  What alternatives do they have?

Brother Carpenter, RVP for the Rocky Mountains who has brought this issue sometime ago, explained that as long members have their prescription with them and they are not smoking around other people, management is accommodating them.  Members should have a letter from their doctor stating that the use of medical marijuana will not affect their duties.

Kent MacDonald, LRO:  The discussion we had on this issue was around the ability to do the work.  The Health and Safety Committee had many discussions and the outcome depends on the situation.  It is important to verify with the community police their position on smoking marijuana in a public or semipublic place.   It is a serious issue.  More and more doctors are prescribing it for many more illnesses and treatments.  The Health and Safety Committee will ensure with the employer that members are being accommodated.

Doug Gaetz, Chair of the H&S Policy Committee added that this issue was on the agenda of the last Policy Committee meeting with the employer in early September and it was decided that medical marijuana was like any other prescription.  The accommodation will depend on each situation and each management office.  He suggested that members look at the minutes from the OSH Committee meeting.  Any issue should be directed to the RVP who will inform the committee.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

President Campbell announced that there will be workshops after lunch.

President Campbell mentioned that a get well card will be circulated to be sent to Brother Sabri Khayat, RVP for the Montreal Region who has been ill for a while.

The meeting recessed at 1145 hours.

AFTERNOON SESSION

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

Brother Shane O’Brien, Senior Labour Relations Officer gave a presentation on Virtually Managed Members and answered questions from the participants.  The presentation led to some questions from the participants.   The document will be emailed to all Locals and Council members.

Brothers Kent MacDonald and Jamie vanSydenborgh gave a presentation on Call Centres.

ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS

SAINT JOHN – 60005

Changes to Study Time 

The Local informed the participants that members used to be granted time to study.  Now under Article 52, there are no provisions for study time in the collective agreements or directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment for the HR Group.  The examination leave they provide is for the exam itself – not for studying.  Career development leave is also not to be used as study time for an exam.  The problem is that there was no communication from management on this issue.  Was the National Office aware that they took away study time in some regions?

Other Locals commented that they were told by their manager that this was a modification to the policy where the discretion was taken away from management.  Managers were not happy about the fact that there was no advertising of this important change.  It was made known in InfoZone only.

Brother O’Brien confirmed that the National Office was not consulted on this issue and asked the submitting local and other locals to send him the information they have. 

On a show of hands, 5 offices are still being granted study time.

NORTHERN BC & YUKON – 20002

Employee Performance Review

The Local was made aware through an InfoZone document that changes to the performance management process include: In situations where performance is assessed at Level 1, supervisors must withhold pay increments until the employee’s performance improves. 

Brother O’Brien: This is not a new concept, but new wording added to the Level.

EDMONTON – 30025

Occupancy Levels in Call Centres
Shift Priority on return from Leave

These items were withdrawn by the submitting local and approval of the floor.

Points of privilege – Donna Shalla

The 50/50 draw for the Easter Seal collected the amount of $888.00.  Brother Bob Carpenter won $444.00 and gave half back to the charity.

Sister Melanee Jessup collected the amount $156.00 for breast cancer research.

The meeting recessed at 5:00

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2015
MORNING SESSION

The Conference was called to order at 9:00 a.m. with President Campbell in the Chair. 

SPECIAL PRESENTATION – Political Activities of Members

President Campbell introduced Sister Edith Bramwell, PSAC Coordinator Representation Section, who was invited to talk about Political Activities of Members.  She answered a few questions from the participants.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION – Brother James Infantino

President Campbell introduced Brother James Infantino, Disability Insurance and Pensions Officer, National Programs with the PSAC who was invited to give his presentation on Pension Promise Denied, which highlights the current threats to Canadian defined benefit pension plans and what the PSAC is doing to protect and improve income security for retirees.  Brother Infantino then answered a few questions from the participants.

Brother Infantino was presented with the UTE Honorary Membership Award in recognition of meritorious service.

The meeting recessed at 1145 hours.

AFTERNOON SESSION

The meeting was called to order at 1:15 pm. with President Campbell in the Chair.

President Campbell introduced Brother Kent MacDonald as one of our Life Members present this week.

REPORT OF THE HONOURS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

President Campbell invited to the podium the Honours and Awards Committee.  He also invited Brother Shane O’Brien, who was pleased and honoured to present an Honourary Membership Award to Sister Carmen Armstrong’s children and their families.  Sister Carmen passed away in September 2012 from cancer.  She had been employed in the National Office as Administrative Assistant for over 20 years.

Brother Wayne Little was pleased and honoured to present Sister Pamela Abbott, former RVP for the Pacific Region with the Life Member Award.

Brother Brière was pleased to present the Award of Merit in the Field of Health and Safety Elizabeth (Betty) Bannon to Brother Doug Gaetz, RVP for the Atlantic Region.

President Campbell was pleased to present Sister Debbie Ferguson with a 35 year service pin, in recognition of her dedicated work over the years.

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION – HONOURS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

Brother Denis Lalancette, Chair of the Committee introduced the members of the Committee as follows:  Sister Gesine Campbell, Presidents’ Representative and Brother Wayne Little, Co-Chair.

The members of the committee gave a presentation on the importance of promoting the recognition of members.  The presentation also underlined the committee mandate, the awards available and how to promote honours and awards in the Locals.

In conclusion, Brother Lalancette added that all Locals have the responsibility to make sure that their members receive the appropriate recognition.

ITEMS PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL PRESIDENTS

SURREY TC – 20029

Building Service Reports (BSR)

The Building Service Reports known as National Service Call Centre Reports were previously submitted to the local Health and Safety Committee Co-chairs for review to look for inconsistencies or recurrent complaints that should be taken care of. Management is now being told by Public Works that they are not allowed to share these reports beyond CRA Finance and Administration level. We continue to have recurrent issues and not getting the reports does not help.

President Campbell asked for a show of hands who was receiving these reports.  Approximately 6 locals identified themselves.

Brother Doug Gaetz, Chair of the Health and Safety Committee stated that all reports on Health and Safety issues should be made available to our Committees.  He his currently working with Finance & Administration on the issue in Surrey.  He asked the Locals to send any information or issues to their RVP.

Excel Membership Listing

The Local asked if they could get an excel copy of the membership listing as the PDF one is hard to read.

Brother O’Brien: We had this request from many Locals.  We have asked the PSAC to provide the report in the same format that they receive it from CRA.  PSAC has informed us that it would be too costly to convert the file.

To the question: could UTE purchase a program to convert the file?  President Campbell answered that he will have the SLRO call for a meeting with the PSAC next week on this issue.

Some Locals have been able to obtain the list from their PSAC Regional Office in Excel format.

BARGAINING ACTIVITIES FROM THE LOCALS

President Campbell asked the Locals which bargaining activities seem to be working in their Local.   The Chair of Bargaining, Sister Madonna Gardiner took notes of the activities and will share them with the Locals.

Points of privilege – Donna Shalla

The second 50/50 draw collected the amount of $409.00.  Sister Gesine Campbell was the happy winner.

President Campbell had a few additional draws for UTE  t-shirts, berets and jackets.

The winners of the 2 gifts of $500.00 from AGR Insurance were Marshall Martelock from Ottawa and Janet Graham from Vancouver.

CLOSING REMARKS

President Campbell’s remarks were short.  He urged everyone to vote on October 19^th.  He stressed the importance for Locals to convey to their members the platforms of each of their local candidates and parties, and what they will lose if the Conservatives are elected.  The Conservatives will take away their pension, their severance and their sick leave benefits, just to name only a few.   Defeat this government and lets negotiate and keep what we fought for years ago.  We are elected to lead and leading we are.  He wished everyone a safe trip home.

The meeting adjourned at  1600 hours.