75th PRC - Regional Directors Report for 2017

The year started off with a training session on governance.  This seems to be an area where the BOD is struggling so a working group of BOD members was created to look at the governance policies of PIPSC or the lack there of.

Committees of the Board

At the BOD meeting in January members are chosen to sit on the committees.  Here is the list of Prairie/NWT Regional members for each committee for 2017:

By-Laws and Policies – Nancy McCune, Chair and Robert Trudeau, member.

Elections – Patrick Provost, member

Election Appeals – Pam Kubicz, Chair and Barry Wickware, member

Finance – Sharon Losinski, member and Ira Hill as a friend

Human Rights – Samah Henein, member and Brian Murray as a friend

Information Technology – Todd McCoy, member

Member Services – Kieth Laing, member and Bobby Eiswirth, alternate

Professional Recognition and Qualifications – Stewart Wong, member

Science Advisory – Heidi Wood, member

Executive Compensation – Nancy McCune, member

I would like to thank all of the committee members for their hard work.  For those of you that put your name forward and were not chosen, please be patient and keep applying.  You may also want to consider becoming a friend of the committee for some experience.

Mandate Letters

The President of PIPSC issued Mandate Letters to each member of the BOD. 

In addition to their specific mandates, all BOD members will engage, to a greater or lesser extent, in a number of common activities. These include outreach and work with regional constituencies, building and maintaining relationships with allies and partners in the labour movement and beyond, and participation in the Institute’s government relations.

Regional Young Worker Committees

The BOD approved a strategy that would enable regions to secure funding and resources to enable the creation of regional committees.  A young worker for PIPSC is 40 and under.  This funding is in place until the AGM of 2018.  The members of the Prairie/NWT Region’s Young Worker committee are:

Bobby Eiswirth (CS, Regina), Chair                   

Herbert Herrera (AFS, Winnipeg)                    

Rachel Boyko (SH, Saskatoon)                           

Blaine Lowry (SP, Edmonton)                            

David Chen (CFIA, Calgary)                

Lora Archer (AV, NWT)                      

Anna Brockhoff (CS, NE AB)                              

The committee had a meeting before the Steward Council and many of the members also attended the young worker summit before the PIPSC AGM.

Canada Labour Congress (CLC) Triennial Convention

PIPSC sent a small delegation to the CLC convention in May 2017 in Toronto.  Bobby Eiswirth (young worker) and I (BOD) attended from our region.

Legacy Cup Challenge

The members of each region are encouraged to donate to the Legacy Fund.  The region that donates the highest amount per capita will receive an extra scholarship.  Unfortunately we did not win the cup in 2017 (Atlantic). 

Regional Director Meetings

The regional directors meet four times per year, either the day before or after a BOD meeting.  The meetings are good opportunity directors to share best practices and exchange ideas.

Board Minutes

The open session minutes from BOD meetings can be viewed through your portal account on the PIPSC website.

In addition to chairing the Regional Executive meetings and planning for Regional and Steward Councils, I have had the opportunity to attend a number of Branch and Sub Group AGM’s.  If time permits, some type of member engagement is done in conjunction with the AGM’s, such as coffee chats at workplaces and lunch and learns.  The region has been working very hard to reach out to members in workplaces that do not have representation to try and recruit stewards. We are fortunate that in our region our steward numbers are on the rise but we still have a lot of work to do to recruit stewards in all worksites.

All of our Regional Executive minutes can be viewed under our Regional tab on the PIPSC website

2017 was very busy, challenging and rewarding.  I would like to thank the members of the regional executive, branch presidents and members for all the support you have given me and also for all your hard work and dedication.  I would also like to thank the Prairie/NWT PIPSC staff for all you do for our region, our members are lucky to have you.

I you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me either via email at nmccune@shaw.ca or at 403 795 2989 (cell).