JCC AGM Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - Draft Minutes
Executive in Attendance:
President: Vas Naina
Treasurer: Jazz VanSantvoort
Member at large: Satya Chaube
Member at large: Crystal Ho
Approval of Agenda
Motion passed.
Adoption of 2022 AGM minutes
Motion passed.
President’s Report
The President, on behalf of the Executive Committee welcomed all in attendance. This is our first in person AGM since the pandemic.
First and foremost, I would like to thank Carrie Gerdes for all her hard work for the Union over the past 10 years not just at the local level but at the national level. I found myself in this Acting position and thank the remaining Executive for their support in holding down the fort. Thanks to every therapist for their dedication and hard work during the pandemic. We held it together and then some and we need to give ourselves the praise we deserve. We also lost a member-at-large. It has not been an easy time for anyone in the department, but I would like to thank the group for all their hard work.
Fiscal Advisory Committee
The FAC is the hospital Financial Committee that advises Unions of any imminent changes to staffing cuts or budget changes that have a direct or indirect effect on our day-to-day operations. Currently they are working on a new or upgraded Kronos system. I’ve attended 2 meetings and will have another next month.
Labour Management Meetings
Labour Management Meetings throughout the pandemic have been challenging. We have never had a dedicated meeting room and sometimes would spend time trying to connect on computers where the cameras had been disconnected - all to try and improve our work in the department. And yet, every step we take forward there is two steps back. Some of the long-standing items on our Agenda which we continue to chip away at TBI and the set-up of patients. The past physicist abandoned the change in practice even though we arranged a visit to Buffalo to observe a more comfortable safer way to treat patients. Treating patients seated on a stretcher or supine is not new practice. It’s been done for decades. We have a new physicist looking at the procedure and will continue to keep this on the agenda. If there are any occurrences, please let the LMM therapists know. Remember to file SOR’s. This is the only documented way to validate a need for change.
On Call: this has been an ongoing agenda item for years. We predicted this dire situation way back and tried to get management to work toward a solution. We kept asking management to include the dept in emails to hear about negative issues experienced during on call.
Negotiations with Bill 124 did not help either. We were unable to secure a substantial increase in remuneration but did secure paid parking. Currently we have a group meeting with Gabe to discuss moving forward with a new process for on call as we will no longer have Mosaiq and Pinnacle.
The JHSC meets monthly to discuss all SOR’s filed by staff and to challenge outcomes if they are deemed unreasonable or inappropriate. Members also have a rep present at RTW to ensure a safe graduated return as well as ensuring any accommodation is acceptable and fair.
Charge Therapist: This newly created position was presented in the last 10 mins of the LMM in March. It was not accepted by the Union as stated in the in-service. This position appears in our last contract; therefore, warrants a LOA and a full agreement between the hospital and the Union. We requested a list of duties and responsibilities for the hospital, but we were not given it. Instead, it was presented at the in-service and then posted on the SharePoint folder. At the last LMM we were supported by our ERO to halt posting of this position until we have time to evaluate it. Historically there used to be at least 3 therapists acting as leads in the department. This position is an acting supervisor position to free up the current supervisor to work on projects. To any therapist that is interested in this position we ask that you give us some time to negotiate. As our ERO stated an extra $1/hr is fine on a temp basis but this is a permanent position and may warrant more. Nurses given this type of responsibility are compensated with $2/hr.
Negotiations Update
Bill 124 Reopener (from David)
We have obtained legal advice confirming that, notwithstanding the Ford government’s appeal of the Bill 124 court decision, we are able to act on the reopeners negotiated in our 2019 to 2022 collective agreements. For those groups that negotiated collective agreements under Bill 124 (2019-2022) and have reopeners, we will be filing notice with your hospitals indicating that we wish to exercise the reopener provisions and meet to bargain retroactive wage adjustments. We cannot commence the bargaining process for your groups or negotiate Bill 124 adjustments unless we have a Bargaining Team appointed for these purposes. There are several possible options and strategies in terms of negotiating these reopeners, and we need to be able to review these with, and obtain instruction from your bargaining teams.
As many of you are aware, ONA, OPSEU, CUPE and others have engaged in similar processes. ONA returned to the arbitrators who had previously determined their collective agreements under Bill 124 and have been awarded retroactive wage adjustments. I would be pleased to set up a meeting with you as soon as mutually convenient to introduce you to Vance and discuss next steps.
Point to Note - The other groups under ONA such as MRT will have to negotiate the reopener as well - was not automatically awarded.
Annual Financial Report
Presented, to be submitted with Annual Allowance Submission.
Approval of Budget
Group Budget presented. All members in attendance are in agreement to allocate the funds on two staff moral events. These will likely take place during MRT week and close to the New Year. This to be submitted with Annual Allowance Submission.
Election Committee
Jazz has been assigned to run the Elections. No one put their name forward for the position of Treasurer. Jazz will accept the role. As there is no conflict of interest, Jazz will continue to run the Elections. Nominees were presented and ballots passed out.
New Business
No new business raised from the floor.
Elections
Votes were counted by Jazz and two volunteer scrutineer who were not candidates in the
Election.
Results of the Election
President: Satya Chaube: elected
Vice President: Sharon Chiu: acclaimed
Treasurer: Jazz VanSantvoort: acclaimed
Secretary: Danitra Maharaj: acclaimed
Members At Large
Crystal Ho: Elected
Michael Osei-Wusu: Elected
Benjamin Chean: Elected
Motion put forward to destroy the Ballots:
Motion passed.
Adjournment