Resolutions - Budgetary

F-1 Audited Finance Statements

Be it resolved that the 2017 AGM receive the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016 and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments - No comment

F-2 Appointment of Auditors

Be it resolved that BDO Canada be appointed as auditors of PIPSC and its related entities, for the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments - No comment

F-3 Budget

Be it resolved that the 2017 AGM approve the budgets for the period of July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 and for the period of July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, as amended.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments - No comment

F-4 Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) Triennial Convention Participation

Whereas PIPSC has benefited by its membership in the CLC, and

Whereas participation in the CLC Triennial provides direction to the CLC and the Canadian Labour movement, and

Whereas PIPSC being a CLC member is allocated 110 delegates to the Convention, and

Whereas PIPSC lapses the majority of those seats at the Triennial Convention,

Therefore be it resolved that the PIPSC Board of Directors work together with the Advisory Council and develop a strategy to fund and use the seats allotted to PIPSC for the CLC Triennial Convention by June 2018.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments - The total cost of sending 110 Institute delegates to the CLC Convention would be $543,460.

F-5 Dues Fairness for Precariously Employed Members

Whereas the workforce composition is changing and the proportion of precariously employed members is increasing;

Whereas there was a $10/month dues increase at the 2016 AGM applied to all members irrespective of annual salary;

Whereas dues-paying members employed in casual “term” positions are not provided the same benefits and protections in many collective agreements as members employed in permanent “indefinite” positions;

Whereas PIPSC prides itself on a fair dues structure and should support precariously employed members;

Whereas the 2013 report on dues indicated the average PIPSC member paid 0.83% of their salary in dues;

Whereas PIPSC members grossing less than $40,000 annually pay greater than 2.0% of gross annual earnings in union dues;

Be it resolved that members who have paid more than 2.0% of their gross annual earnings as indicated on their T4 be eligible to apply to PIPSC for reimbursement of any dues paid above 2.0% to be credited against the following year’s dues.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments - This proposed resolution would affect fewer than 180 members. The total cost would be between $13K and $30K depending on the actual salaries of affected members. There would also be additional administrative costs to validate the members' salaries.

F-6 Recognizing the Work of Stewards

Whereas the employer usually does not recognize union work when they hand out workplace awards; and

Whereas many deserving Stewards are not being recognized for the work they do on behalf of the members and PIPSC; and

Whereas the Steward of the Year awards are given out on a geographical basis by Region, with no regard to the numbers of Stewards in a particular Region (specifically, that the NCR can only ever have one Steward of the Year, despite having a much larger population of Stewards compared to some other Regions); and

Whereas many Stewards are engaged in some of the most difficult union-related tasks, such as bargaining with the employer, and receive little or no formal recognition from PIPSC because much of
their effort is expended in Groups, Sub-Groups, Consultations and in various Committees, rather than in Branches and Regions; and

Whereas there is little consistency from year to year in the awarding of small gifts of appreciation to those who do win the awards available through PIPSC; and

Whereas it isn’t clear what awards or gestures of thanks are being given out locally by constituent bodies that vary greatly in size and budget; and

Whereas the submissions of names and justifications for awards are often difficult to obtain from our busy Stewards; and

Whereas many long-serving and active Stewards often retire without any recognition or thoughtful gesture for their years of dedicated service to the members; and

Whereas constructive changes to the way awards are handled in PIPSC can be seen as a personal affront for some of those who have received our existing awards in the past;

Be it resolved that the PIPSC BOD seek members’ advice on how to improve the current method of recognizing the work our Stewards do, and that they propose a motion to the 2018 PIPSC AGM on any suggested changes.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments – Depending on the manner in which this resolution would be implemented, the cost could be up to $50K for a standard committee.

F-7 Task Force to Review Existing Women’s Committees in Other Unions

Whereas women constitute a large portion of PIPSC members and need a voice to be heard at PIPSC; and

Whereas a National Status of Women Committee exits in our Government since late 1970; and

Whereas Women’s rights are still an ongoing issue within the public service and within PIPSC and are not being respected regardless of the policies in place;

Therefore be it resolved that the Board of Directors of PIPSC strike a task force to review women’s committees of other unions within the CLC; and

Be it further resolved that the Institute bring back a written report on this review to the 2018 AGM.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments - The average cost of a committee is $50K.

Establishment of a National Task Force to Support Charitable and Outreach Activities and Initiatives Proposed by Members

Whereas PIPSC strives to create a culture of active participation and of militant action based on knowledge and expanding horizons; and

Whereas PIPSC advocates healthy lifestyles, physical activity and social involvement; and

Whereas PIPSC has invested heavily in the Better Together campaign; and

Whereas the members want to take part in concrete mobilization activities, be physically active and contribute to social causes; and

Whereas PIPSC manages a not-for-profit foundation, the Legacy Foundation, which could benefit from greater visibility, voluntary contributions and funding sources; and

Whereas PIPSC manages ServicePlus, which offers services at preferred rates and opportunities to save money;

Be it resolved that PIPSC establish a national Task Force to review applications for charitable and outreach activities and initiatives proposed by members that are aimed at maximizing the visibility of PIPSC and the Legacy Foundation by optimizing the partnerships established by ServicePlus. The applications and proposals accepted by the Task Force would be recommended to the Board of Directors for a review of the budgetary issues.

Be it further resolved that the Task Force be made up of one volunteer member from each of the PIPSC Regions.

Be it further resolved that the Task Force hold virtual meetings only.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments - This resolution may be at odds with the stated purpose of the Legacy Foundation to provide bursaries to post-secondary students.

It is unclear how the Legacy Foundation’s By-Laws and Regulations would operate in the proposed framework. It is also unclear how ServicePlus partnerships would operate in the proposed framework.

The estimated cost would be $10,400.

F-9 Committee to Oversee the Implementation of the Psychological Health and Safety Management Systems (PHSMS)

Whereas the second Technical Committee Report to the Steering Committee on Mental Health In the Workplace recommended “federalizing” the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s Assembling the Pieces, the step by step implementation guide for the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (The Standard); and

Whereas the third Technical Committee Report outlines a method to “plan, develop, maintain and refresh” the PHSMS; and

Whereas the entire Public Service will be required to implement the PHMS accordingly over the next 3 years (approximately); and

Whereas the implementation involves creation of joint mental health sub committees (JMHSC), joint identification of Champions, the co-development of JMHSC Terms of Reference, the co-development of an initial communication strategy; and

Whereas PIPSC stewards (particularly Consultation Teams and Consultation leaders and Steward networks) will be called upon to take leadership in this initiative and implementation of the PSHMS and it is critical that we are equipped to not only train our stewards on The Standard, but lead by example by implementing The Standard within our own organization;

1 - Be it resolved that all consultation teams be trained on The Standard and the five pillars to the Workplace Mental Health Strategy (Programs, Policies, Benefits, Training, Assessment); and

2 - Be it resolved that a Working Group be struck from the Board of Directors and the Advisory Council of PIPSC to oversee and make recommendations regarding training, policy development, recommendations regarding the elements required for implementation of the Standard within PIPSC (through EC/MC); and

3 - Be it resolved that the Institute engage to propose that The Standard be implemented for its own employees and create the required committees.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments - According to the Service Wide Occupational Safety and Health Committee recommendations, the responsibility for overseeing implementation of the Standard should rest with departmental Joint Occupational Safety and Health Committees; as such, the cost of training would be incumbent on the employer. It is unclear what roles the consultation teams may have.

The proposed resolutions, as they apply to Institute employees, could contravene staff collective agreements and duplicate the work of the existing Joint Health and Safety Committee between the Institute as an employer and staff.

F-10 Aligning CLC Committees with PIPSC Standing Committees

Whereas PIPSC has been an affiliate with the CLC since 2013 and has yet to incorporate or fully participate in all CLC Advisory Committees and Working Groups in an organised fashion and consequently not realised the full potential of its affiliation in terms or opportunities for education, training, influence, and participation in the collective union/progressive movement organized and offered by the CLC as the “House of Labour”; and

Whereas the primary role of the CLC Advisory Committees is to provide advice to the CLC Executive Officers and the Canada Council on issues referred to the committee by Convention, Council or an Officer, and identify emerging issues, the development of policy or other such responses; and

Whereas affiliate representatives on the CLC Advisory Committees are appointed by respective affiliates to represent the position and policies of their union and should have the authority of their union to speak on their behalf and report back to the ranking officer of their union who sits on the Canadian Council on the issues addressed by the Committee; and

Whereas the CLC committees provide a forum and mechanism for the CLC to coordinate responses to governments, agencies, boards, and other bodies on legislation, regulations or other initiatives which many affect working people, unions, or social and economic institutions and programs; and

Whereas CLC committees either through digital communications or meetings, provide an opportunity for affiliate representatives to share information or discuss issues of common concern with which they may be dealing and to suggest possible areas of research or coordination by the CLC;

Be it resolved that all appointees for CLC Committees be aligned with existing PIPSC Committees of the Board (ie CLC Human Rights with PIPSC Committee for Human Rights and Diversity; CLC Young Workers with PIPSC Young Workers); and

Be it further resolved that PIPSC Board of Directors create working groups or ad hoc committees to align with CLC Advisory Committees where PIPSC Committees do not already exist (i.e. Environment, Health and Safety, Education, Political Action, Women’s, Training and Technology) to inform the PIPSC Chair, who shall be appointed from the Board by the Board.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments – The CLC has 8 advisory committees, 5 working groups and 4 ad hoc committees, for a total of 17 committees. If all 17 committees are replicated, the total cost would be $850K. This amount would be reduced by the number of existing committees that would not be replicated.

This would remove the authority of the Institute’s Board of Directors to appoint Committee Chairs that are not members of the Board.

F-11 Expand the Types of Leave in the Policy on Compensatory Salary

Whereas The Institute promotes the balancing of Family Life and Union Activities and;

Whereas the majority of Collective Agreements negotiated by the Institute include articles which support the application of compressed work schedules to better accommodate our members’ work and family life balance, and;

Whereas our current Policy on Compensatory Salary approves full compensation replacement for a variety of leave types taken with pay but specifically excludes a scheduled compressed day off;

Therefore be it resolved that the Policy on Compensatory Salary be revised to include “scheduled compressed day off” as one of the approved types of leave from a public service position that qualifies for full compensation under the said Policy, to a maximum of 7.5 hours.

Resolutions Sub-Committee Comments - Audit procedures will require adjustments should this proposed resolution passes because it may be difficult for members to provide supporting documentation when a compressed day is used for union business.