Report of the Ad-Hoc UTE Structure Committee

AD-HOC Structure Committee
Report of the Ad-Hoc UTE Structure Committee
December 2013

Jamie vanSydenborgh

The Ad-hoc Structure Committee met on October 28th and 29th and on November 14th and 15th in Ottawa.  I would like to thank the Committee members: Denis Lalancette  (1st meeting), Gary Esslinger (2nd and 3rd meeting), Brian Oldford, Sylvie Lahaie, Ken Bye, Wayne Little and Annette Melanson for their contributions, including their knowledge; creativity and lively debate in preparing our recommendations.  The minutes from the meetings are attached at the end of this report.

The committee was tasked, by the National President, with reviewing the Structure of UTE in light of the CRA’s amalgamation of more offices, the move to more virtual reporting of workloads and also reviewed the workload of National Officers. 

At our first meeting, in September, the committee created a questionnaire based on our terms of reference. The questionnaires were reviewed at our October meeting and in November we finalized our recommendations.  The questionnaires highlighted an overall need to change our structure to adapt to both the changing CRA structure and modernize our union.  The committee looked at various scenarios, these included:

  • Combining of regions;
  • Dividing of regions;
  • Realignment of regions;
  • Assignment of committee responsibilities; and
  • Various levels of responsibilities, and elimination, of the 2nd Vice-President position.

The committee came up with two recommendations and reviewed the by-laws associated with the recommendations:

Recommendation #1:

The Committee recommends that a resolution be forwarded from Executive Council to the 2014 UTE Triennial Convention that reads:

Be It Resolved that the 2nd Vice-President position of UTE be eliminated; and

Be It Further Resolved that all current duties and responsibilities of the 2nd Vice President be reassigned to other Executive Council members; and

Be It Further Resolved that all required changes to the By-Laws and Regulations be made to reflect the elimination of the 2nd Vice-President position.

The Committee would recommend that the current Bargaining Team remain in place until ratification of a collective agreement.

The Committee unanimously supports this recommendation.

Recommendation #2:

The Committee feels strongly that Locals in amalgamated TSOs belong in the same UTE region, in order to ensure the best possible representation and service to the members.  The Committee feels the following realignment of some regions is in order:

  • Move the Trois-Rivières Local from the Québec Region to the Montréal Region;
  • Move the Thunder Bay Local from Northern and Eastern Ontario Region to the Greater Toronto Region;
  • Move the Regina Local from the Prairie Region to the Rocky Mountains Region.

The Committee recommends the following resolution be forwarded from Executive Council to the 2014 UTE Triennial Convention:

Be it Resolved that Regulation 1 be amended in the following manner:

Regulation 1 (2), delete Trois-Rivières;

Regulation 1 (3), add Trois-Rivières;

Regulation 1 (5), delete Thunder Bay;

Regulation 1 (7), add Thunder Bay;

Regulation 1 (8), delete Regina;

Regulation 1 (9), add Regina.

Recorded Opposed: Gary Esslinger

  • The Committee had a fulsome and healthy debate on this issue.
  • The Committee was mandated by the National President in creating the Ad Hoc Structure Committee to review this very issue.
  • This issue was identified as a clear preference of the majority of respondents from the questionnaires received.
  • The majority of the Committee concurred with this recommendation.  

The Committee identified several other issues from the questionnaire responses that caused it to draft the following general suggestions to the organization:

  1. Locals in amalgamated TSOs should be encouraged to hold separate UMCs. All other Local Committees in amalgamated TSOs should be structured as the Locals deem fit. Of course, Local Health & Safety Committees are legislated to be per workplace location, and Local Employment Equity Committees should be at the discretion of the Local.

  2. Locals should be encouraged to undertake manageable, mutual extensions of grievance timelines, where necessary, in order to facilitate face-to-face grievance hearings with management.

  3. At a minimum, Locals should be encouraged to hold grievance hearings by videoconference, where necessary, rather than by teleconference.

  4. Regions and Locals should be encouraged to make use of the new National Office teleconferencing capabilities.

  5. Locals with a large number of members in stand alone sites should be encouraged to investigate the possibility of becoming their own separate Local.

  6. RVPs should be encouraged to develop and make more use of their Alternate RVPs.

  7. Time at Presidents’ Conferences should be devoted to explain what the roles and responsibilities of staff are, both on Committees and at Conferences.

  8. Locals should be encouraged to submit their Local By-Laws and Regulations to the National Standing By-Law Committee for review, with the consultation and cooperation of their RVP.

Respectfully submitted,

Jamie vanSydenborgh