UTE LOCAL 20029 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
February 20, 2014, Eaglequest Coyote Creek
AGENDA
PSAC/UTE requests that all participants attending any union function refrain from using scented products.
1)Call to order: 5:30 PM
2)Approval of Agenda
3)Approval of previous minutes
4)Approval of Reports
5)Approval of Financial Report and Proposed budget
6)Proposed Bylaw changes
7)Guest Speaker
8)Elections: President for 2 year term, Finance Officer for 1 year term,Recording Secretary for 2 year term, 2 Local Officer for a 2 year term, 1 Local Officer for a 1 year term, 1 Term Rep for a 2 year term.
10)Swearing in of new executive
11) Adjournment
NOTE: Buffet dinner will be served at approximately 6:30 pm
Door prizes will be drawn throughout the evening and you MUST be in attendance to win.
UTE LOCAL 20029 AGM 2013 MINUTES
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
February 7, 2013, COMPASS POINT INN
- Call to order by Local President Michael Small. He welcomed members of Local 20029, and Guests,
Name / Position
Marc Briere / 1st VP
Pamela Abbott / RVP
Earla Maclean / Life member
Richard Hyatt / Call centre
Terry Ruyter / BFTSO
Janet Graham / Vancouver
Robert Hume / 1st VP Vancouver and alternate RVP
Members present were asked to contact any member of the executive for Harassment issues
A moment of silence was held to remember members who we have lost their lives.
- Agenda was Moved/Seconded by Pam Jabal/Gurbir Kaur – Carried
- February 9, 2012 minutes M/S by Mary Small/Wanda Bader – Carried
- Executive reports M/S by Penny Braeten/Colleen Glasglow – Carried
- Financial Reports and Proposed Budget M/S by Michelle Ho/Nancy Knight – Carried
The Auditors for 2012 were Billy So and Sharon Pallis and they accepted to be the auditors for 2013.
- Proposed By-Law Changes and new Regulation for Local 20029 M/S by Gurbir Kaur/Theresa Greenough
Bylaw 2
Bylaw 7.3 (e)
Bylaw 6.1
Bylaw 7.2
Bylaw 7.4
Bylaw 7.6
All Bylaws were carried.
- Guest Speakers at the AGM were Pamela Abbott and March Briere.
Pamela thanked the executive for a job well done. She welcomed March Briere. She spoke about her speech on WFA at the last year and brought attention to the members that this will be going on. 1700 members were affected within the 2 announcements last year. Everyone should pay attention to what is happening in the workplace. She was disheartened about the WFA’s that happened recently. She spoke about the Union’s role in finding jobs for the staff that are affected. She asked the members to go to their members of parliament. She spoke about the privatization of records and how Union is speaking on behalf of the public. At the national level the union is out there on the media. She emphasized on speaking to members about the impacts on everyone’s jobs. Members might not realize now but if their jobs are impacted it will affect their houses as they could be the main bread winners of their house.
She spoke about the information that Locals have been posting information on bargaining on the bulletin boards. She explained how the bargaining process is now changed and everything has to go through Treasury Board. Severance is not on the table but will be put on towards the end by Treasury Board. Everyone should think about what the Unions have done for them and support them. Every part of the collective agreement is discussed and signed off during bargaining. If people don’t want the union then they should rip the agreement apart as they won’t get anything in that agreement if the Union is not there to support them.
Pamela explained why the BC Family day is not a federal holiday. She explained how the holidays work in all the various provinces and we have to bargain for this holiday if we want it in the collective agreement. This would also mean that we might loose another holiday e.g. August.
Marc Briere passed thanks from Bob Campbell. He was impressed by the turnout at the AGM and thanked the membership who came to be part of it. He indicated how it was important for everyone to understand what is going on with their jobs and how they are affected.
He shared with everyone that sometimes it doesn’t show how hard the Union is working for the members even though they give interviews and lobby and speak to CRA employees. He also said that the RVP`s are working very hard in their own region to represent their members. He asked for everyone`s support as a few activists in Ottawa cannot get the job done. He applauded everyone for their hard work.
He asked everyone to take action and not wait for orders or directions from local or Ottawa. He explained how everyone can influence their acquaintances and light them with information on We Are All Affected Campaign.
He talked about the various ways the Union is trying to communicate with its members. The website has information on the latest updates and the National Office sends newsletter three times a year. He asked everyone to subscribe to the distribution list. He warned members that they can blog if they would like but not to identify themselves as public servants.
He shared with the members how the employer is no longer consulting with the Union on matters and changes. When the announcement for the cuts and outsourcing of records went out, the Union wasn`t consulted and enough warning wasn’t given
He shared with the members the various scholarships that were available for members. UTE has 10 Regional scholarships for $1000 each and the deadline is June 15 of each year. PSAC also has scholarships for postsecondary education.
He asked for everyone to take action and support the Union. If members don`t back up the Union then the results go to Ottawa and the bargaining team will loose the respect and bargaining will suffer. He shared the example of the students in Quebec where they pushed the Liberals out of Govt. and the next Govt. scrapped the tuition fees as their first step.
9.Elections:
Door tiler assigned was Pamela Abbott
Vice President - 2 year term
Nominated / Nominator / Seconder / Accept or DeclineTheresa Greenough / Sheila Schumann / Sandra Mann / Accept
No further nominations were put forth and Theresa Greenough was acclaimed
Finance Officer - 2 year term
Nominated / Nominator / Seconder / Accept or DeclineMichelle Ho / Charlotte Olshaski / Marilyn Martens / Accept
No further nominations were put forth and Michelle Ho was acclaimed
Local Officers - 2 year term
Nominated / Nominator / Seconder / Accept or DeclineGurbir Kaur / Michael Small / Theresa Greenough / Accept
Pam Jabal / Bhupinder Sandhu / Michael Small / Accept
No further nominations were put forth and Gurbir Kaur and Pam Jabal were acclaimed.
EO rep - 2 year term
Nominated / Nominator / Seconder / Accept or DeclineRicky Michel / Heather Kenny / Susi Lawless / Accept
No further nominations were put forth and Ricky Michelle was acclaimed.
Local Officer - 1 year term
Nominated / Nominator / Seconder / Accept or DeclineHarj Anand / Pam Jabal / Gurbir Kaur / Decline
No nominations were received and the position remains empty
11) New executive members were sworn in by Marc Briere
12) 73 gifts were drawn and two grand prizes of IPod shuffle were given out. And 2 gift cards of 25 dollars each.
12) Motion to adjourn
Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC) Local 20029
Michael Small (President) Annual Report
February 2014
To the Members of Local 20029,
It is my pleasure to present this report to the membership and I formally thank you, the membership, for your support of the Union executive. Without you and your support we would not accomplish anything.
I would like to also thank each and every one of the members of the local executive and steward body that are the front line of the union at the local level. They give of themselves and give up their weekends and weeknights to do work for you by listening to your issues and raising them on to management and our own national bodies of the UTE and PSAC.
This year the national union has been in bargaining throughout the entire year and has yet to be able negotiate a successful contract. The coming year promises to hold a very different feel with mediated talks starting shortly after this report is due. We hope to have great news before the time of the AGM but I am not optimistic.
The current Harper government continues to wage a war of words in the media and continuously attacks the hard work that you as public servants do. The legislation that has been passed in this year has seriously attacked and undermined all the work that our union brothers and sisters have fought for over the many years. We continue to need the support of every member of the local to talk to their members of parliament, neighbours, friends and relatives to share with them how we are all affected but the cuts to the public servants.
Again this year I have continued to take your issues forward to the UTE Presidents Conferences and made contact with other locals and their presidents and other members that they brought as observers to these very educational events. These conferences allow us to discuss the issues that are common to our workplaces and our employer.
As well as being still relatively new to the position of President, my team was also a group that had a number of new faces in various positions. They have performed their duties well and continue to educate themselves on new issues all the time.
Throughout the course of the year I have represented several members in grievance issues, duty for accommodate requests, return to work and other issues within the workplace. I have worked closely with management, other locals, our RVP and our national office as well as the regional office of the PSAC to resolve and prevent many issues.
As president I spent a lot of time traveling across the country to various events, conventions and conferences. So you know where I have been during the year here is a listing of some of the events that I have attended:
Workforce Adjustment meetings
Grievance Hearings
Union Management Consultation meetings
Occupational Health and Safety meetings
President’s Conference March 2013
Grievance Handling Course, April 2014
PSAC National Health and Safety Conference, April 2013
PSAC Union School, June 2013
UTE Mental Health Conference, June 2013 (Flooded out after arrival)
Union Management Approach training, July 2013
Presidents Conference, September 2013
UTE Mental Health Conference, November 2013 (rescheduled June conference)
Thank you for your support over this past year and please work with your executive and co-workers to speak out on behalf of yourself and all union members in 2014. I look forward to hearing from you and working with you throughout the coming year and I ask for your support and vote.
In Solidarity,
Michael Small
President, Local 20029
Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC) Local 20029
Theresa Greenough (Vice-President) Annual Report
February 2014
Brothers and Sisters
I would like to thank you for electing me and giving me the honor to serve as your Vice President for the last year. The past year has been eventful, with 2013 bringing a year of many changes at CRA. As you know, we still do not have a contract with the employer. This in turn has added additional stress to all of us. Many of my mornings have started with handing out information from UTE and PSAC, so as to keep you abreast of the progress. There have been so many changes within the STC and CRA. I can’t count on my hands the number of co-workers I see retiring. There have been numerous changes in management, continual seating changes, floor plan re-organizing, budget changes, WFA, Pay in Arrears, Vision 2020, and changes to the Charities program. These are just a few of the challenges we, as a union body, and you, as an employee have faced in the last year.
Keeping abreast of issues, both directly and indirectly, and continually holding our employer accountable to budgetary staffing, Collective Agreement rights and fair and equal treatment for all has been an ongoing process. We see our government trying to destroy unions, personal attacks on us, who fight for our rights. I hope that you never forget what the union movement is about. Unions came to be because change was needed due to unhealthy work practices. Bad employers, unfair wages, and family responsibilities were being ignored. Unions fought to improve these conditions, and won! We can continue to win for our rights, if we fight together.
With that said, I too have had a very busy year. As I reflect back on the last year, some of the activities I have been involved in are:
- Resuming the duties of the President,
- Attending President’s Conference as an observer,
- Attending Area Council as an observer,
- Attending the Mental Health conference,
- Attending the local executive meetings,
- Presiding at local executive meetings,
- Attending and chairing local committees,
- Meetings with Management,
- Assisting stewards with cases,
- Assisting and mentoring the local executive,
- Attending Union Management Consultations (UMC) meetings,
- Attending meetings with management both with and on behalf of members,
- Meetings with the Director and Assistant Directors on numerous issues,
- Participating un Union Management Approach sessions,
- Delivered orientation sessions introducing our Union,
- Organizing and participating in plant-gates to distribute union bulletins,
This last year, I chose to focus my “free” time on learning and understanding the policies, directives and Collective Agreement better. I wanted to gain a larger understanding of what information is available and used by both management and the union.
I currently sit in the following positions:
- Vice President Local 20029
- Union Steward
I currently sit on the following committees:
- Bargaining/Resolution
- Bylaws
- Finance
- Honors & Awards
- AGM
- WFA/Staffing
- Harassment (Chair)
- Communications (Chair)
- Political Action (Chair)
- Scholarship (Chair)
I would like to thank you all for coming to the AGM tonight. It is important for me to see your involvement and to know that you care what is going on within our local. I ask that you continue to keep abreast of the issues we are facing. Be active and stay involved. Solidarity is more important now than ever.
In Solidarity,
Theresa Greenough
Vice President Local 20029
Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC) Local 20029
Bhupinder Sandhu (Recording Secretary) Annual Report
February 2014
Brothers and Sisters,
It has been a pleasure serving this local as the Recording Secretary and I hope I have done this well. I enjoy being a representative at this local for the members of our worksite. The experience has helped me in understanding the impacts and importance of the decisions taken by the executive.
I have been part of the Bylaws committee, EO Committee and the Finance Committee. I have participated in Executive meetings, plant gating events and other activities held during the year.
During this past year I had the opportunity to attend the UTE EO Conference and the PSAC EQUITY Conference. It was a great learning experience as we learned about the various equity issues. For me the eye opener was when I heard current stories of discrimination. I think there is still a lot of education to be done around these issues and to create an understanding of the differences and the similarities. One of the increasing issues in today’s workplace is Mental Health and we all need to understand and be aware of these issues as it could happen to anyone. If we understand it, we can work on getting better equipped in dealing with it.
We have been without a contract for over a year now and there still is no sign of any agreement. The negotiations are taking longer as they are trying to take our rights away. This is the time for us to stay together as a UNION where all of us are in it together. I urge every member to join us in creating a workplace that is more aware of their rights and is more informed about the decisions that affect them. It might not seem important today, but it might affect them in the near future.
I have learned new things throughout the year and hope to continue learning and serving this local and representing our members to the best of my abilities. I am very thankful to all members and executive of Local 20029 for giving me the opportunity to serve as the Recording Secretary.
In Solidarity
Bhupinder Sandhu
Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC) Local 20029
Michelle Ho (Financial Officer) Annual Report