GTA Branch Annual General Meeting, April 23, 2019
Present:
Stan Buday (President) Andrea Agh (Vice President) Chris Ouslis
Stephan Moushian Yvonne Snaddon Alice Da Silva
Kuini Chuen Nuşin Brown (Secretary) Roy Philip (Treasurer)
Judy Chow Brian Quigg Doug Powless
Albert Suphal Faron Moses Nang Quach
Vini Khurana Dennis Kim Stan Chow
Kevin MacEwen Joanna Welby Kelly Mahoney Goetz
John Kovacs George Sikou Elliot Law
Elisabeth Ohi Ling Goh Aron Wolfson
Elizabeth Eves Jeremy Craigs Sherry Bahaw
Anthony Lostracco Paul Schiller Scott McGregor
Linda Beaulieu Grace Ho Teona Enciu
Keri Kwong Peter Gilkinson Jason Mckinney
Meng Koh Gurbinder Dhillon Napol Shalvardjian
Irene Cao Lorraine D’Souza Siham Hameed
Matthew Chan David Zeit Maria Brydon
Ya-tsan Ng Nick Nassios Lalita Jeethan
Brige Chugh Katarina Smolkova Chung Yip
Lynn Kumita Oliver Squire Stephanie O’Neill
Richard Morris Tommy Georgas Avi Koren
Opening: Welcome by Stan Buday at 6:30 pm. Stan introduced the GTA Branch Executive.
Motion to accept the Agenda
Moved by Stephan Moushian
Seconded by Faron Moses
Carried
Motion to accept the 2018 AGM Minutes. A correction in Peter Gilkinson’s last name was made
Motion to accept amended minutes moved by Yvonne Snaddon
Seconded by Kuini Chuen
Carried
For the 2020 GTA Branch AGM, a link to the 2019 AGM minutes will be sent in the AGM notice.
President’s Report – Stan Buday:
Stan Buday explained the structure of the union in terms of subgroups, regions, branches and consultation. EROs offer workshops at Steward Council and represent members who have workplace issues. Branches are about multiple groups coming together to share ideas. There are geographic and departmental branches.
Stan explained the roles of a branch, such as help in bringing campaigns like Better Together to members, and reviewed activities of the GTA Branch over the previous year since the AGM of March 2018.
Branch Networking events were held at various locations throughout the city. Stan encouraged members to attend future events, as it is an opportunity to express concerns and discuss issues.
- A planning meeting and 3 Branch Executive meetings were held.
- GTA Branch AGM was held on March 28, 2018 at the Granite Pub and Brewery.
- Strategic Planning Meeting took place in June
- Summer social at The Pilot was well attended
- The Toronto Area Family Picnic took place on July 29, 2018 at West Deane Park in Toronto’s west end. 150 members and their families from several Branches in Toronto attended.
- Steward Council was held in September
- This year’s Steward Appreciation Dinner was held on October 11, 2018 at Megas Restaurant.
- Winter Social event was held at the Court Jester, post traditional holidays, very well attended
- 15 delegates attended the Ontario Regional Council, including Executive members and additional people involved in union activity. 4 members from different subgroups were invited.
- The 2019 Strategic planning session will be held in May. We review our objectives and the calendar of events, meetings, budget and activities.
- Summer social will be early in July and Picnic to be held at Rennie Park on July 28th, near Jane and Bloor. Volunteers are needed for the picnic.
- We will try to do micro meet and greet events where there is a core concentration of members. Main events are centered around the Yonge Street corridor for easy access
Stan emphasized that if members want events in their area, they should ask and we can set up an event at their workplace.
Financial Report – Roy Philip: Our 2018 allocation from PIPSC was XXXX. Expenses were for Branch AGM, Executive meetings, networking events, branch picnic, visibility items and steward appreciation. Total expenses were XXXX.
The 2018 AGM cost us XXXX. We hosted the GTA Branch family picnic, funded lunch & learns and Better Together events.
Motion to accept the financial report. Moved by Doug Powless. Seconded by Kevin McEwen. Carried
Elections facilitated by Yvonne Snaddon:
President (2 year term)
Stan Buday was nominated by Yvonne Snaddon. Acclaimed.
Up for election: Alice Da Silva, Stephan Moushian and Roy Philip.
Scott Thompson stepped down
No email nominations were received for Members at Large or President
5 Member at Large (4 positions for a 2 year term, 1 position for a 1 year term)
Stan Buday nominated Joanna Welby
All positions were acclaimed
Andrea Agh, Nuşin Brown, Kuini Chuen, Yu Gao and Yvonne Snaddon are in the 2nd year of a 2 year term.
The Vice-President position has 1 year left and will be decided upon at the Strategic Planning Meeting.
Elections 2020 will require a ballot for Vice-President and 4 members at large.
Ontario Region Director Peter Gilkinson: Are unions relevant? RCMP was recently unionized, 1400 new members were acquired.
- In 1990 PIPSC had 33,000 members, we now have over 61,000 members from Federal, Provincial and private sector employees.
- 47% increase in annual maximum for the dental plan as of January 2019
- Replacement of Phoenix is down to 3 vendors.
- EWSP was not done by September 30th, an extension was obtained as it is close to completion.
- Rate of return on the pension plan was 9.8% in 2018. Magic number for sustainability is 4.5%, we are doing well
Judy Chow, Do Better Presentation: Judy gave a presentation on the Do Better campaign.
Family leave proposal is being negotiated at the central table. We will bargain together to get the best possible deal for all groups. Some of the goals of this campaign are to secure the best possible deal for members before the Federal election in October.
The 3 pillars of the campaign are:
- Building trust (regaining trust of members after Phoenix issues),
- Safe workplace (a healthy workplace benefits everyone),
- Conditions to thrive. We expect the Canadian government to be a model.
Members can pledge support to the campaign online through the PIPSC website. Members who sign up will be notified of webinars. This campaign is to get people involved. Posters and buttons can be requested from PIPSC.
A draw was made for door prizes.
Adjournment:
As President, Stan thanked everyone for attending the AGM. Elizabeth made a motion to adjourn. Meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.