Toronto West Branch Activity Report
74th Ontario Regional Council
Toronto West Branch Activity Report
Number of members: 618 Regular 28 Retired 0 Rands
Current Executive Members:
Frank Wong Branch President
Nivin Fouad Branch Vice President
Renu Goenka Secretary
Lorne Woodhouse Treasurer
Nazar Ahmad Member at large
Shelton Chu Member at large
Wendell Cole Member at large
Mebs Najak Member at large
Jaskarnjit Parmar Member at large
Steve Rosa Member at large
Vito Trentadue Member at large
AGM
Previous AGM date: November 13, 2017
Next AGM date: November 2018
Executive Meetings
Last Meeting Date: February 21, 2018
Next Meeting Date: March 21, 2018
Number of meetings held since last Regional Council: 12
2017 Activities
January 31 - Lunch and learn hosted by our AFS President, Doug Mason, and Toronto Region Representative on Bargaining Update and Sick Leave
March 8 – Plant gate and button give away celebrating International Women’s Day
May 11 – Lunch and learn presented by our Employment Relations Officer, Maeve Sullivan on Performance Y280
June 12 – Ice cream and frozen treat give away celebrating Public Service Week
June 29 – Lunch and learn/Town hall on GTA Modernization presented by Al Ravjiani, Toronto Region Representative
Sep 8 – Meet and greet with President Debi Daviau
Dec 22 – Annual Christmas Coffee offered to Toronto West staff. Snacks and beverages to celebrate the holidays and meet and greet the TW Branch and Subgroup Executives.
Most of the TW Branch Executive members are also AFS TW Subgroup members. Accordingly, we hold monthly meetings to discuss both branch and subgroup issues.
The Branch Executive hosted Lunch and Learns for members to learn more about the Institute and Institute policies and initiatives, members’ work environment, and members’ rights and benefits being employees of the public service.
The Branch believes that members should know their rights and obligations as employees in a federal unionized environment. Knowledge is power. We empower members by giving them tools to use to address issues in the workplace.
TW Branch also helps promote ideals and causes supported by the Institute by providing funding for events held to celebrate International Women’s Day, Health and Safety Week, and Black History Month.
Issues and Concerns
- Lack of transparency in staffing processes, including the Expo Job Fair and “taps on the shoulder”
- Status of Bill C-27 which makes it easier to change defined benefit plans to target benefit plans for federally regulated employers. What is to prevent that legislation from being applied to the federal public service in the future?
- Pay issues with the Phoenix Pay System
- Financial cost and mental toll of internal conflicts between members of the Institute
Resolutions to the Regional Council
1. Be it resolved that the Institute reimburses time and travel costs to all parties involved in member
versus member conflicts
2. Be it resolved that the Institute offer internal representation and/or counselling resources to all parties involved in member versus member conflicts
3. Funding a strike fund (ORE’s late resolution was not dealt with at the 2017 PIPSC AGM)
Submitted by: Frank Wong
Branch President