Training and Education Committee
Meeting Minutes – Day 1
April 3, 2023
(Original submitted in English)
In attendance: Pete Jozsa, Chair
Emmanuel (Manny) Costain, BOD Liaison
Peter MacDougall, BC / Yukon Region
Pam Kubicz, Prairies / NWT Region
Bridget Brawley, Ontario Region
Sherry Oak, NCR Region
Carolyn Hynes, Atlantic Region
Joanna Simpson, Education Officer
Shelby Woodman, Staff Resource
1. Call to Order
The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:12 a.m. at the Ottawa Delta City Centre, in Ottawa, ON.
P. Jozsa started the meeting off by reading the Land recognition.
The agenda was moved by B. Brawley, seconded by P. MacDougall – all in favour.
E. Costain, Atlantic Regional Director, advised that he will provide the BoD with an update after each TEAM meeting, and will make necessary follow ups as needed. He offered to share his briefing notes with the committee before submitting them to the Board of Directors.
2. Approval of the Minutes & Business Arising
The minutes were approved pending minor amendments. Moved by P. MacDougall, and seconded by P. Kubicz – all in favor.
The committee reviewed all pending action items.
Action: P. Jozsa to follow up with L. Thompson to request that all Stewards in Waiting lists by region and branch.
Action: S. Woodman to update the amended minutes and action items as required.
3. Education Officer Report
J. Simpson advised that she reviewed the CLC Domestic Violence course, and although it has good content, it is not in Popular Education format. She was able to get a copy of the PSAC version but has not had an opportunity to review it. She would like to put together a reference group on the topic, to build the course for PIPSC members. We will also need to determine who the facilitators should be, and if a mental health specialist should be in attendance.
There was an inquiry in regards to Constituent Body Training. J. Simpson confirmed that there is a new two-day Constituent Body Training that is being piloted this month in the Ontario region, as well as the Prairies in the Fall. The committee requested that the training be uploaded to the TEAM shared drive.
J. Simpson also shared that Education will be working on developing training on Consultation, as well as Mental Health.
She will also be meeting with J. Leblanc and C. Poirier in regards to the Steward Framework, to discuss Canvas (LMS) and if it would be a suitable tool to track Stewards and their learning paths.
There are two half-day Anti -Oppression courses available for Labour Schools. The first is “How to be an Inclusive Union Leader”, and the other is “How Systemic oppression and racism operates in my workplace”.
4. New Training Requests
The Education section receives training requests from staff and members. There is a concern is regards to having sufficient staff facilitators available. There is a request form being developed, which will allow both members and staff to submit requests which will automatically be sent to the Education inbox. Once the form is live, we will also be able to track the requests.
5. Peer to Peer Facilitation
The committee agreed that Director Costain would advise the Board of Directors that the committee is not rushing to address their concerns with the Peer-to-Peer facilitation proposal. The committee would like to take the time to thoroughly address their questions and/or concerns.
The committee members reviewed and discussed each of the concerns and developed a response as a group. The committee feels that Peer to Peer Facilitation is a big piece of the Steward Framework. P. Jozsa will finalize the document, and then prepare a presentation. The Chair hopes to attend the June Board meeting to present to the Board of Directors in person.
Action: P. Jozsa will finalize the document which addresses the Board of Directors’ concerns and then prepare a presentation. He will share it with the committee secretarially by May 1st, 2023, and hopes to present at the June Board of Directors meeting.
6. Steward Framework
In September 2021, 18 high level recommendations were made to the Board of Directors regarding the Steward Framework project. The board passed a motion directing the National Steward Officer (previously the Phoenix – Special Projects Team) to prepare a work plan for the Board to be reviewed in the first quarter of 2022.
Since then, a National Steward Officer (NSO), Judith Leblanc, has been appointed, and has been working on the project. She will be working with the TEAM to complete and deliver on some of the recommendations.
The committee was asked to review and discuss recommendations 7 through 13, the workplan, and action items in advance of the next TEAM meeting. The committee reviewed each of the items, and the Chair will provide the NSO with their comments for consideration and seek clarification on some questions that were raised. The Education Officer advised that when developing courses, it is important to focus on the audience.
Following a discussion, the committee proposed that various training options be developed for members/stewards/Executives/etc., and not limited to solely stewards. Some of suggested topics are as follows: Activism, Social Justice, Delegate, Mobilization, Soft Skills, Health & Safety, Consultation, and Workplace Representation. It was suggested that the learning paths be set up as “themes”, and not streams.
It was requested that the “Ontario Labour Code” and other provincial legislations be included in Health and Safety Training.
Action: P. Jozsa to provide J. Leblanc with the TEAM’s recommendations of the Steward Framework project for consideration.
Action: P. Jozsa to reword recommendations 7 – 13 of the Steward Framework project, and to seek clarification on the proposed action items.
B. Brawley moved to recess at 3:30 p.m.
Training and Education Committee
DRAFT Meeting Minutes – Day 2
April 4, 2023
In attendance: Pete Jozsa, Chair
Emmanuel (Manny) Costain, BOD Liaison
Peter MacDougall, BC / Yukon Region
Pam Kubicz, Prairies / NWT Region
Bridget Brawley, Ontario Region
Sherry Oak, NCR Region
Carolyn Hynes, Atlantic Region
Shelby Woodman, Staff Resource
Joined Virtually: Joanna Simpson, Education Officer
Guest: John Purdie, Chair, Finance Committee
7. Call to Order
The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:12 a.m. at the Ottawa Delta City Centre, in Ottawa, ON.
P. Jozsa started the meeting off by reading the Land recognition.
The agenda was moved by P. Kubicz, seconded by P. MacDougall – all in favour.
8. Steward Council Ideas
The committee shared their different ideas and styles of organizing their respective regions. The ideas consist of yoga and meditation, walkathons, awards dinner & dancing, guest speakers, ERO addressing specific issues, inviting scholarship recipients for dinner/lunch service awards (steward pins – years of service), steward panel discussions, networking/mentoring activities. They also discussed strategies for monitoring attendance and food consumption.
9. New Training Ideas
The committee shared their ideas in regards to new training ideas and how to improve some processes.
The committee felt that members need to be aware that if they do not attend both days, they do not get reimbursed. Spouses should also sign in if the member will be referencing Family Life balance in their claims.
The Chair shared that Regional Councils have an expense limit, whereas the Steward Council budget does not.
C. Hynes suggested that several budget line items should be created in Concur for Lunch and Learns. Finance had previously suggested that members enter their lunch & learn expenses under Taxi, however the committee does not agree.
J. Purdie, Finance Chair, recommended that once a regional training Chair has approved a lunch and learn request, that the member be advanced the funds to host the event. He also suggested that the committee work with Director Costain to develop a very clear lunch & learn request process as well as a reimbursement process. It was recommended that reimbursements for lunch and learn expenses be done via the constituent body executive.
10. Budget Presentation/Regional Budgets
There was a discussion in regards to budget preparation at PIPSC. J. Purdie advised that a new budget template is required for the TEAM. There is a lack of line items in all of the regional training budgets. It was recommended that the committee members use the line items shown in the cost analysis form (prepared by OA/AAs) and plug them in to the TEAM budget template. The more information that is provided, the better.
The next fiscal year (July 2024 – June 2025) budget is required in advance of the upcoming AGM. It was recommended that it be prepared and provided to the Finance Committee Chair no later than June 2023.
It was also suggested that the Regional Training Chairs receive a quarterly updated budget for their respective regions.
Action: Director Costain to connect with J. Purdie and request a quarterly updated budget for the TEAM.
12. Regional Reports
The Chair asked the committee if they would like to submit regional reports in writing or continue to deliver them verbally. The committee agreed to have a standard template created for regional reports to be submitted in advance of the meeting. P. Jozsa asked that should there be changes to the regional training committees or the training calendar to be advise S. Woodman to ensure that the changes are uploaded to the website.
The training chair suggested that training chairs include any trends or ideas they may come across in their reports.
Action: P. Jozsa to create a template for regional reports.
13. Round Table
BC/Yukon
The BC/Yukon region will be holding an anti-oppression themed labour school on April 19 – 22, 2023. The Chair has experienced difficulties in securing an elder to perform a blanket ceremony.
Prairies
There is a blanket ceremony scheduled for the upcoming anti-oppression themed labour school scheduled on April 27 – 29, 2023. There will be a psychologist on site should anyone have any triggers.
Basic Steward Training was held in March 2023, there were 20 members in attendance.
Ontario
B. Brawley advised that she will be up for election at the end of February. There is an upcoming labour school scheduled on May 24 – 27, 2023.
She shared that she will be looking into the structure of the next labour school and may try to offer a third course if there are sufficient rooms and facilitators.
NCR
S. Oak advised that she is also up for election at the end of the month. In February 2023, they ran their second labour school which consisted of one Basic Steward Training group, and two Advanced Training courses, for a maximum of 60 participants. There will be a French session of Advanced Grievance Handling offered in June 2023. The region is currently experiencing a lack of facilitators, as such, there is a limit in the training that can be offered. There is a request to have presentations in regards to significant calendar days available for the regions.
Action: P Jozsa to reach out K. Najafi, Director, Policy & Communications to request presentations for significant calendar days, such as Women’s Day, Lunar New Year, Black History Month, etc.
Atlantic
Labour school will be held on April 20 – 22, 2023. There will be two streams offered; Advanced Grievance Handling & Consultation, as well as Duty to Accommodate and Maximizing our Collective Agreements. There were 73 applicants, but only 50 can attend.
14. Next Meeting
The committee agreed that their preferred location for the next meeting would be at the Hilton Lac Leamy, followed by the Delta Ottawa City Centre.
Action: S. Woodman to send a Doodle poll to all committee members to confirm their availability for the next TEAM meeting.
15. Adjournment
P. MacDonald moved to adjourn the meeting at 2:22 p.m.