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Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers of the St. John’s SP Sub-Group
PSAC Boardroom, Pippy Place, St. John’s
November 8, 2017

Meeting Minutes

In Attendance:
+ Darrin Sooley Kim Keats
Roger Johnson Jack O’Rourke
Terry Fleet Jim Meade
Neil Burgess Erika Parrill
Thomas Landry Sue Forsey

Regrets:
Mary Dawe
Randy Decker

Meeting called to order at 7:05 p.m.

1. Approval of Agenda

  • J. Meade reviewed the meeting agenda.
  • T. Landry requested to change the order of the agenda and complete the elections after the Treasurer’s Report.
  • T. Fleet requested to add the topic of Phoenix as an item for discussion.
  • A motion to approve the agenda was made by T. Fleet and seconded by J. O’Rourke.

2. Approval of Minutes from Previous AGM

  • J. Meade provided copies of the minutes to attendees for review. No additions or concerns were raised.
  • A motion to approve the minutes was made by N. Burgess and seconded by J. Meade.
  • J. Meade mentioned some of the activities/events the SubGroup had involvement with since the last AGM (e.g. National Day of Mourning, National Public Service Week, Labour Day, JLP workplace ; learning/courses, Lunch and Learns, Workplace Wellness Training for Managers and Supervisors). Since the last meeting there are also four new stewards for the SP Group.

3. Treasurer’s Report

  • J. Meade gave an update on the Sub-Group financial status on behalf of the Treasurer.
  • The Sub-Group did not have an AGM since 2015 and did not get an allotment for 2016. However, the financial status is good and with the completion of the current AGM and elections, the 2017 allotment will be received.

4. Nominations and Elections

  • T. Landry led the nominations and elections. All positions were open.
  • President – R. Johnson nominated J. Meade, and he accepted. There were no other nominations therefore, J. Meade was named President.
  • Vice-President – J. O’Rourke nominated R. Johnson, and he accepted. There were no other nominations; therefore, R. Johnson was named Vice-President.
  • Secretary – J. Meade nominated S. Forsey, and she accepted. There were no other nominations; therefore, S. Forsey was named Secretary.
  • Treasurer – R. Johnson nominated J. O’Rourke, and he accepted. J. O’Rourke nominated K. Keats, but she declined. There were no other nominations; therefore, J. O’Rourke was named Treasurer.
  • T. Landry made the suggestion that it would be good to have more at-large members. He opened the floor to the remaining attendees to indicate if they were interested. E. Parrill, T. Fleet, K. Keats, and Burgess volunteered and were named at-large members.

5. Discussion on Next Round of Collective Bargaining

  • T. Landry led the discussion and thanked members for the support received by the bargaining team in& the last round.
  • The next round of bargaining is starting currently.
  • PIPSC is hoping to get the bargaining survey out to members in the spring to determine priorities.
  • The new bargaining team is not yet formed.
  • Issues to be raised for bargaining need to be well-documented. Bargaining is not necessarily about fairness for all members but about issues that have a strong case to be addressed.

6. New Business/Roundtable

  • A discussion was held about Phoenix:
    • The use of a grievance is critical to track progress/numbers. PIPSC is asking stewards to encourage members with pay issues to file grievances. A package for stewards will be coming from PIPSC.
    • Questions were raised about how assistance can be provided to members, and whether PIPSC has ever surveyed members to find out how many have pay issues.
    • T. Landry indicated he will raise the idea of surveying members with PIPSC.
    • The PIPSC website contains information about Phoenix, but suggestions were made that communication to members could be better.
    • At the regional level the Branch Committee is who we should work with on communications, lunch and learns, etc.
  • A suggestion was made about the need to have courses on understanding pay stubs and collective agreements. This may be something to raise at Regional and/or Branch Union/Management Consultation Committees

Meeting adjourned at 8:44 p.m.

Published on 18 April 2019