Marc Brière
The Committee met at the UTE National Office on July 20 and 21, 2016.
IN ATTENDANCE: Marc Brière – Chair and 1st National Vice-President, Doug Gaetz – Co-Chair and RVP-Atlantic, Gary Esslinger – Co-Chair and RVP-Prairies, David Webster – Presidents’ Representative and Vice-President Kingston - Local 00011, Stephanie Wolff – Technical Advisor.
The Committee discussed, reviewed and approved the June 2016 Financial Statements. It did not find any over expenditures as of June 30, 2016. The Committee also discussed and reviewed the investments as of June 30, 2016.
The Committee has reviewed and analysed the performance of our investment portfolio since CIBC Wood Gundy became our investment advisor’s firm in June 2012. The Committee is satisfied with the overall performance of the portfolio.
The Committee also met with Howard Greenberg, UTE’s Investment Advisor from CIBC Wood Gundy, to discuss and review our investment portfolio. We have assessed the portfolio performance and compared it with the markets’ performance. We also discussed future market conditions.
The Committee also had a more in-depth discussion regarding our travel practices, more specifically the air travel. We discussed the potential benefits associated with the opening of a corporate account with Air Canada. After this discussion, the Committee recommends to open a corporate account with Air Canada. The First National Vice-President will be responsible for this matter and will inform the Executive Council and the Locals so that all can benefit from this new option in the near future.
The Committee also reviewed the UTE Statement of Investment Policy and decided to amend the ranges of percentage rates for the different categories of investment in our portfolio. It also reviewed and updated the “UTE Financial Statement Line Item Review Book”.
The Committee also discussed and reviewed the decision made at the 2014 Triennial Convention to increase the membership dues by $0.35/member per month effective January 1st, 2017. The Committee agreed that no recommendation was required for the Executive Council and that the planned increase should be maintained.
Finally, the Committee had a discussion about the UTE Per Diems rates following the latest rate increase of the Treasury Board Per Diems which came into force on April 1st,2016. With this increase, the Treasury Board rates are now slightly higher than those of UTE regarding weekdays. The Committee believes that the UTE Per Diems rates should be increased.
The Committee also held a conference call on August 31st, 2016 to discuss the possibility to register all UTE conferences, meetings and conventions with the Air Canada’s “Meetings and Conventions” travel service in order to allow participants traveling by air to get discounts. To be eligible, we only need to ensure that we have at least 10 people attending an event while traveling with Air Canada.
Normally, this service offers a 10% discount if someone travels with the “Flex” airfare or more expensive airfares but no discount for those flying with the “Tango” airfare.
For the UTE National Equal Opportunities Conference, the National Office has negotiated a better deal: 15% discount for the “Flex” airfare and 5% discount for the “Tango” airfare.
The Committee concluded that it was worthwhile to implement this initiative.
Beginning with the UTE National Equal Opportunities Conference to be held in Ottawa from October 14 to 16, 2016, we will register all UTE conferences, meetings and conventions with the Air Canada’s “Meetings and Conventions” travel service.
Therefore, the National Office has registered the UTE National Equal Opportunities Conference with this service and Air Canada has issued a "Promotional Code" to be used to take advantage of the discounts. The "Promotional Code" was sent to all Locals and to the Executive Council.
We strongly encourage all the participants traveling to the conference by plane (delegates and observers) to use the "Promotional Code" in order to get a discount (for bookings of a ticket with the "Flex" airfare or the "Tango" airfare).
Following these meetings, the Finance Committee recommends the following:
Recommendation # 1
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 |
Respectfully submitted,
Marc Brière
Chair of the Finance Committee