CS Executive Meeting 02 February 2022, 12h30 to 17h30 (Eastern time) via Zoom

Present: Stan Buday, Pierre Touchette, Deb Butler, Tony Goddard, Lucille Shears, Yvonne Snaddon, Steven Fréchette, Gordon Bulmer, Karim Chaggani, Rob Scott

Regrets: Patricia Williams

Staff: Jean-Paul Leduc – Negotiator, Nicholas Daignault – Acting Negotiator, Josianne Drouin – Researcher

1. Welcome: Stan called the meeting to Order at 12:35 pm

 

2. Adoption of Agenda:

Moved: Tony Goddard                  Seconded: Stan Buday

THAT the Agenda be adopted as amended               

CARRIED.

 

3. Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting(s):
   1. Moved: Pierre Touchette             Seconded: Gordon Bulmer

THAT the minutes of 03 December 2021 be approved as presented.    

CARRIED. 

1. 2. Moved: Tony Goddard                  Seconded: Deb Butler

THAT the Record of Decisions of 05 January 2022 be approved as presented.

CARRIED.

 

4. Business Arising from the minutes/Action Items:
   1. Do research to prepare presentation on CS Group naming for SG Pres Mtg (JP + 2 exec) – no longer required

 Stan pointed out that since the Sub Group Presidents’ meeting has been postponed, a poll has been sent to all Sub Group Presidents asking for their input on the naming of the Group. The results of this poll will be discussed later in this meeting. Gordon advised that their Department (PSPC) is already referring to our members as the “IT Group.”

 

1. 2. Purchase visibility items (Pierre) – complete

Pierre advised that all visibility items have been delivered and are currently stored in his basement, including the new polo shirts for the Bargaining Team. All swag includes the CS Group logo but no new items will be ordered until we have decided on a new logo.

1. 3. Contact Gordon re: Membership portfolio (Stan) – complete

Gordon has agreed to fill the Membership Officer role and has indicated that Stacy McLaren

has agreed to assist as needed. Deb Butler also volunteered to assist with the AGM.

 

1. 4. Add Sub Group Discussion to next Exec Meeting agenda (Tony) – complete

Item 6. b

1. 5. More information on Classification at WGC (Yvonne)

Yvonne will reach out to Craig Bradley and the WGC before the next WGC meeting and report back to the Executive at a future meeting.

1. 6. Doodle for future meetings (Stan) – complete

1. 7. Group Name Poll (Stan)

Stan sent a Doodle poll to all Sub Group Presidents to determine their members’ preferences on the naming of the CS Group. The options included CS Group or IT Group. The bargaining certificate moving forward will show “IT Group” and the majority of Departments are already referring to our members as IT Group.

Of the 39 Sub Groups polled, 24 indicated they preferred “IT Group” while 3 indicated “CS Group” (12 Sub Groups did not answer).

Yvonne is seeing a lot of confusion among our members and 90% of the comments on Facebook indicate a preference of “IT Group”

Lucille stated that it is possible some of the missing Sub Group input is because our lists may be out-of-date and/or the Sub Group is currently lacking leadership.

JP confirmed that the Collective Agreement will be updated to IT since the name has already been officially changed in the Canadian Gazette.

Moved: Gordon Bulmer                     Seconded: Rob Scott

THAT the CS Group formally adopt the new name of “IT Group.”

CARRIED unanimously

ACTION ITEM: Change all instances of Group publications, including all web pages and social media, to reflect the new IT Group name. Also, coordinate the change of the Group name with PIPSC Staff for all PIPSC documentation and web pages. (Tony)

ACTION ITEM: Compose and publish a new CS Flash announcing the change of Group name to the membership.  Include that a new logo will be developed and swag, etc. with the current logo will be gradually phased out. (Tony)

5. Standing Items:
   1. Bargaining Update (Rob Scott & JP Leduc)

A quick review of the latest version of the Bargaining Proposal was completed.

The NOC Steering Committee was updated to include Lucille Shears as Sub Group Officer.

Karim Chaggani was added to the list of NOC Committee members.

Stan pointed out that, in reference to the MOA on Contracting Out, that we (The Group) were fully engaged in the process but the employer, specifically the Departments involved, was not interested and talks eventually “fizzled.”

Nicholas – article 37.05 should be adjusted to reflect the new vacation days (increase the percentage).

JP will forward the Employer’s proposal to the Bargaining Team and Executive shortly after he receives it.

After getting the Employer’s proposal, we will prepare a new CS Bytes.

                 

A full discussion on communications from the Bargaining Team was held, trying to resolve the past issue of non-bargaining Executive members not getting full, timely updates from the Bargaining Team. Some Groups have solved this issue by including all elected Executive members on the Bargaining Team. It was agreed that, moving forward, all options should be investigated. JP also commented that a single email distribution list would help facilitate full communication with the Group Executive. It must be stressed that, while the non-bargaining executive will be receiving all bargaining emails, they MUST refrain from answering/commenting on these emails until the opportunity is presented at a subsequent Executive meeting. These emails will be “information only” and are not for open discussion.

ACTION ITEM: Add “Discussion on composition of the CS Group Bargaining Team” to a future Executive meeting. (Tony)

ACTION ITEM: Update the cs_barg_team@pipsc.ca distribution list to include all non-bargaining CS Executive members. (Tony & JP) 

Stan announced that the SBC meeting scheduled for 4 Feb 2022 has been postponed until March. If we would like to have a presentation on pay proposals and/or revising the TOR for the SBC, we can request those presentations for our upcoming Executive meeting(s).

Rob reminded us that, even without a Central Table, there will be a PIPSC central strategy around pay increase proposals.

ACTION ITEM: Reach out to the SBC for presentations on pay proposals and the SBC TOR. (Stan)

HEALTH BREAK: 14h51 to 15h05

1. 2. Strategic Planning Update

Nothing new to report.

ACTION ITEM: Send a Doodle poll to all executives to set a meeting date to finalize the CS Group Strategic Plan. (Stan)

1. 3. CS Group Elections (Yvonne Snaddon)

The Election Call went out to the membership but it was not to our satisfaction. Yvonne met with Communications staff and was advised that the process has changed and they are now using a template for most communications to members. After discussing the shortfalls, Communications agreed to work with IT to add the wording we provided to the top of the on-line nomination form. Communications also agreed to participate in a post-mortem to help improve the process moving forward.

It was generally agreed that we need to review our election process.

Deb pointed out that she did not receive the election call email. Yvonne advised that Communications and PIPSC IT will ensure that the email is sent to all retired CS members.

Stan asked “will we, at some point, accept nominations whether they are complete or incomplete?” It was stressed that the nomination process must be consistent and that all nomination submissions be treated exactly the same. Yvonne advised that consistency will not be a problem since we have not yet received a “complete” nomination form.

ACTION ITEM: Set up a meeting(s) with Communications to identify potential issues and solutions for the communication processes with our membership. (Stan & Tony)

A fulsome discussion was held around the use of membership lists.

1. 4. Visibility Items (Pierre Touchette)

All CS Group visibility items ordered have been received and are in storage. If any executive member would like to receive any of the available items, please provide your mailing address to Pierre.

ACTION ITEM: Compile a list of visibility items currently available and send the list to the Executive. (Pierre)

1. 5. IT Group AGM (J. Gordon Bulmer)
      1. Tentative date: 4 June 2022
      2. Timelines: Gordon will determine and report the timelines.
      3. Location: It was agreed to move forward with a hybrid meeting and that we should look into Montreal for the meeting location.
      4. Agenda:
         1. Speaker
         2. IT Group “Kick-off” event

The draft agenda has been posted on our Google drive, please provide any recommended changes to Gordon. All suggestions for a guest speaker should also be given to Gordon and it was noted that while a bilingual speaker is preferred, it is not mandatory since we will have simultaneous translation available.

6. New Business:
   1. NOC

Stan reported that he has arranged for an email to be sent to all members announcing a Show Your Colours event for the second day of face-to-face bargaining (09 February 2022).

Deb agreed to remain NOC Chair and also advised that Stacy McLaren has agreed to stay an active member of the NOC. Note that Stacy has discussed her involvement with PIPSC President Jenn Carr and Jenn has agreed.

ACTION ITEM: Send a Doodle poll to all non-bargaining NOC members to select a meeting time during the week we are bargaining. (Stan) - complete

ACTION ITEM: Send a Doodle poll to all NOC members to select a date for a full NOC meeting the week of February 14^th. (Stan)

1. 2. Subgroup Discussion (Lucille Shears)

Lucille announced that, because of the pandemic and most of our members not attending the workplace, many of our subgroups have had difficulty in maintaining an engaged and active executive. Some, in fact, are close to dissolution and need assistance. Lucille will be contacting the currently listed executives of all subgroups to get a feel for how they are managing the change in workplace involvement. Lucille will ask for feedback and try to get a feel whether any specific subgroups require immediate assistance from the CS Group national executive.

1. 1. 1. Subgroup Presidents’ Meeting

The following timeline was discussed and agreed to:

1. 1. 1. 1. March 3^rd – ½ day bargaining presentation for SG Presidents
         2. March 8, 9 or 10 – ½ day mobilization presentation for SG Presidents
         3. June 2^nd – CS Executive Meeting
            1. Election Committee Meeting (evening?)
         4. June 3^rd – Subgroup Presidents’ Meeting
         5. June 4^th – IT AGM
         6.  

Moved: Lucille Shears                        Seconded: Gordon Bulmer

THAT the meeting moves to a closed session.          

CARRIED.

CLOSED SESSION

Moved: Lucille Shears            Seconded: Tony Goddard

THAT the meeting exits the closed session.

CARRIED.

1. 3. IT Group Logo and Branding

Karim asked if we could rebrand ourselves as “IT Professionals” but it was the general feeling that, at this point in time, we would be better to continue down the road as the IT Group since it would involve convincing PIPSC that we need yet another new name.

Gordon pointed out that since our CS Group logo was developed, PIPSC has put policies and guidelines in place to govern all constituent body logos. Our logo was grandfathered at the time but any new logo must comply with the new directives. Gordon forwarded a copy of the PIPSC Visual Identity Guide for our reference.

Nicholas reminded us that the TBS rules for bargaining group acronyms are two (2) letters.

Pierre volunteered to chair a small (2 or 3 people) committee to work on developing a new logo, with input from Bruno Lacelle (PIPSC Graphic Designer) and our membership.

ACTION ITEM: Establish a committee of 2 or 3 people (including Gordon) to develop a process to create a new logo for the IT Group. (Pierre)

7. Executive Reports:
   1. President (Stan) - verbal
   2. Vice-President (Pierre) – see above, no further report
   3. Treasurer (Deb) - report is on the Google Drive

Moved: Deb Butler                       Seconded: Lucille Shears

THAT we provide up to twenty (20) twenty-five-dollar ($25.00) gift cards to the Show Your Colours participants, randomly distributed based on regional participation.

CARRIED.

1. 4. Steering Committee/Secretary (Tony) - nothing to report
   5. Bargaining / Negotiations (Rob) - report is on the Google Drive
   6. NOC/ROC- Mobilization (Deb) – see above, no further report                                             
   7. Communications (Tony) - report is on the Google Drive

ACTION ITEM: Provide the new IT Group URLs to the Group Executive for their information. (Tony)

www.GroupeITGroup.ca & www.GroupeITGroup.com

1. 8. Subgroup Officer (Lucille) – see above, no further report
   9. Steward Officer (Patricia)
   10. Membership Officer (Gordon) – see above, no further report
   11. Labour Relation & Consultation Officer (Yvonne) - see above, no further report
   12. Contracting Out Officer (Yvonne) - see above, no further report
   13. Classification (Karim) – nothing to report

8. Other Business/Roundtable:
   1. Steward Renewal

Stan pointed out that we have all seen the lengthy lists of Stewards who have been reported as “resignations.” Upon contacting several of these Stewards, especially those we know to be key activists, he has found that many of these resignations are, in fact, just non-renewals. They have either missed seeing their call for Steward renewal or forgotten to submit it. We should start to actively reach out to these Stewards to make sure they have decided to give up their Stewardship.

1. 2. Show Your Colours – JP announced that he was just informed that the email to IT members for the Show Your Colours event should be sent on Monday (Feb 7^th).
   3. Lucille requested that when feedback is requested and provided, it would be proper for the person giving the feedback to receive a response indicating that their comments have been heard and whether or not (with reason) their suggestions will be incorporated. JP responded that he agreed and indicated that the communication process with the Bargaining Team is still being improved.

1. 4. Steven reminded the Executive and Bargaining Team that he is on Full-time Intensive English Language Training until 21 March 2022 so he may not be available for some meetings. JP assured that he will reach out to Steven to keep him updated.

9. Next Meeting(s):
   1. ½ Day virtual meeting – we will need to schedule a ½ day meeting in March.

ACTION ITEM: Send a Doodle poll to all Executive members to select a meeting date & time in March. (Stan)

1. 2. Consensus reached to hold an in-person meeting on April 8^th, after the bargaining round.

10. Adjournment:

 

Moved: Deb Butler                 Seconded: Gordon Bulmer

THAT we adjourn the meeting at 18h05.

CARRIED.

 

Summary of Action Items

 

1. 1. Change all instances of Group publications, including all web pages and social media, to reflect the new IT Group name. Also, coordinate the change of the Group name with PIPSC Staff for all PIPSC documentation and web pages. (Tony)

 

1. 2. Compose and publish a new CS Flash announcing the change of Group name to the membership.  Include that a new logo will be developed and swag, etc. with the current logo will be gradually phased out. (Tony)

 

1. 3. Add “Discussion on composition of the CS Group Bargaining Team” to a future Executive meeting. (Tony)

 

1. 4. Update the cs_barg_team@pipsc.ca distribution list to include all non-bargaining CS Executive members. (Tony & JP) 

 

1. 5. Reach out to the SBC for presentations on pay proposals and the SBC TOR. (Stan)

 

1. 6. Send a Doodle poll to all executives to set a meeting date to finalize the CS Group Strategic Plan. (Stan)

 

1. 7. Set up a meeting(s) with Communications to identify potential issues and solutions for the communication processes with our membership. (Stan & Tony)

 

1. 8. Compile a list of visibility items currently available and send the list to the Executive. (Pierre)

 

1. 1. Send a Doodle poll to all non-bargaining NOC members to select a meeting time during the week we are bargaining. (Stan) - complete

 

1. 10. Send a Doodle poll to all NOC members to select a date for a full NOC meeting the week of February 14^th. (Stan)

 

1. 11. Establish a committee of 2 or 3 people (including Gordon) to develop a process to create a new logo for the IT Group. (Pierre)

 

1. 12. Provide the new IT Group URLs to the Group Executive for their information. (Tony)

 

1. 13. Send a Doodle poll to all Executive members to select a meeting date & time in March. (Stan)