HRDC Meeting Minutes - March 2, 2024

Present:

Regret:

Stacy McLaren - Board Liaison - Chair
Madeeha Choudhry - IT - Member
Sophie Laporte - AFS - Member
Sabrina Labbé - AFS - Member
Malcolm Lewis-Richmond - PIPSC Staff Resource
 

Virtual:
Jennie Esnard - NUREG - Member
Niraj Nitheanandan - CP - Member
Farzana Merani - AFS - Friend of the Committee
Rajdeep Kandola - AFS - Friend of the Committee

Coralie Leduc - Administrative Assistant
Chinyere Okafor - SH - Member

 

Guests:

No guests.

1. Words of Welcome and Adoption of the Agenda

The anticipated location for some of the meeting dates are modified.

2. Criteria for sending (HRDC) members to conventions

Members and friends are welcome to inform the committee about conventions relating to human rights and diversity they would like to attend or sponsor. When sending delegates to these conventions, eligibility and selection criteria should be consistent and transparent. This could ensure fairness and trust in the selection process and avoid accusations of favouritism or bias.
 

Potential criteria are as follows, in no particular order:

• Does the individual belong to an equity group?
• Has the individual been involved in other union activities, or have they been looking to get involved?
  • Depending on the participation expectations (whether the delegate is presenting, discussing, or attending), the goal is to have someone present who can adequately advocate for PIPSC values. This can also be an opportunity to get younger members involved.
• The proximity of the convention to a delegate’s location. 
  • Sending someone from the convention's region can reduce travel costs. However, sending a suitable delegate should take precedence regardless of their location.
  • If the convention concerns a region-specific issue, a regional delegate should be selected (e.g., a Conference about violence against women inspired by the Polytechnique tragedy should have a delegate from the Quebec region).
• The delegate should meet with the HRDC beforehand to get an idea of what is expected of them, then report back to the committee after attending the conference.
  • The committee should look into providing them with PIPSC or HRDC visibility items whenever necessary. 
• Delegates should be in good standing or without a history of human rights and diversity complaints made against them.

3. Discussion of recent human rights issues

Stacy opens the floor for discussion on any human rights and diversity issue. 

The topic of PIPSC’s response to Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip is touched on. Committee members want to know whether the Institute will issue another statement. Some committee members express frustration regarding the delays in putting out time-sensitive statements relating to human rights and PIPSC’s reluctance to take a firm stance. 

Whenever the committee is aware that an email containing sensitive matters will be sent out or an important statement posted, preparing a standard response in advance would be helpful. Ideally, stewards can receive training or an issue guide to make PIPSC’s response consistent and adequately support those who need it. Stacy will approach Pete Jozsa to discuss the matter. Perhaps workshops or webinars on human rights and diversity should also target stewards.

The process of publishing statements relating to human rights risks being overly bureaucratic, making it difficult for the union to be proactive and engage its membership. To expedite the process, the committee suggests having statements approved by the Board secretarially when necessary.

4. Equity caucus reports and training

Women’s Caucus

Caucus chair Farzana Merani offers an overview of the caucus’ activities over the past year. The women’s caucus had four virtual meetings in total, where ground rules and boundaries were determined to build trust between attendees. The objective is to empower women to use their voices in the workplace and their personal lives. Future meeting dates are being determined. A webinar for International Women’s Day on March 8th is underway.
 

Workers of Colour Caucus

Caucus chair, Madeeha Choudhry, shares what the caucus has done so far and their upcoming plans. Some issues the Caucus has identified are:

• Interview panels often lack diversity, and workers of colour have reported difficulty in getting recruited and promoted compared to their White peers.
• Although language training programs designed to help certain demographics exist, the process of accessing these is more complicated than the regular counterpart.
• Some individuals have been promoted despite having a past or active human rights complaint against them. This can alienate victims and perpetuate inequality.
• Even if a complaint is resolved, serious action is rarely taken against offenders. This can make workers of colour who experienced discrimination distrustful of the Institute. 
• Workers of colour do not feel they are receiving adequate support from their union. Their pleas are often ignored or dismissed, and the inconsistent complaints procedure across regions and employers leaves them disillusioned.
• There is a need to create a more interactive way for workers of colour to find each other to discuss their concerns and propose remedial actions. 
   

Chairs of the following caucuses are absent therefore, they are without report:

• Indigenous Caucus
• Disability Caucus
• 2SLGBTQ+ Caucus

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Malcolm goes through the caucus toolkit, a document created to help caucus chairs with their operations. 

Rajdeep inquires whether the current programs relating to language training include official languages for persons with disabilities, such as ASL and  LSQ. Ideally, efforts for inclusivity would include these options in the language training programs our members use. Considerations for members with dyslexia or other speech disorders could also allow for greater accessibility to specialized training programs or exemptions for upper-level position requirements. Raj is welcome to collaborate with the Persons with Disabilities Caucus to further these ideals and reach out to the education team to bring these ideas to their attention. 

5. Equity caucus recruitment call

1. Email blast
   1. The committee wants to send an all-member email to recruit new caucus members. 
   2. The communications team will get back to Malcolm on possible dates for this email blast. These should be in about a month.
2. Registration form
   1. The form to sign up for an equity caucus should be updated and contain the following information: Members can self-identify as belonging to an equity group; applicants should justify why they are applying to a given caucus; the terms of reference for the caucuses should be provided; and expected time and effort should be displayed, for example, stating that caucuses meet four times per year outside of regular working hours. 
3. Caucus chairs should include the HRDC in their calendar invitations.

6. New Virtual Discussion Platform

Item postponed.

7. Roundtable and Closing Remarks

Ongoing members of the committee look forward to continuing the HRDC’s work with the new committee members. The varied opinions on issues are welcome and allow members and friends to learn from each other. As PIPSC members, the insight provided by the committee members and friends is helpful for staff and board members to hear how things are going in members’ workplaces. 

Regarding upcoming events: Determine whether PIPSC will organize something for national accessibility week.