Toronto IT Subgroup AGM, DRAFT Minutes - Sept 13, 2022
Toronto IT Subgroup AGM, DRAFT Minutes - Sept 13, 2022
Present:
Judy Chow (President) Nuşin Brown (Secretary) Roy Philip
Kevin MacEwen (Treasurer) Bill Sukloff Kevin MacEwen
Stan Buday Yvonne Snaddon Doug Powless
Faron Moses George Georgopoulos Andrew Hendra
Ace Quan Chesley Burris Jason Ng
Kaja Thalayasingam Liping Chung-Hun Robert DeSantis
Aidan McDowell Akinyemi Tawo Ali Jalali
Andrea Agh David Darling David Horn
Edwin Yee Hong Nguyen Jian Wu
John Kim Ralph Leigh Luong Dang
Mark Garcia Mathieu Leblond Paulo Legaspi
Ralph Leigh Tanya King Thomas George
Debbie Compayre Glen Horenblas Ebaad Rehman
Naveen Sreedharan Thomas Nemat
Opening: Welcome by Judy Chow at 6:20 pm. Judy introduced the Toronto IT Subgroup Executive.
Tanya King made the land acknowledgement.
Motion to accept the Agenda
Moved by Judy Chow
Seconded by Bill Sukloff
Carried
Motion to accept the 2019 AGM Minutes
Moved by Judy Chow
Seconded by Faron Moses
Carried
President’s Report - Judy Chow: We tried doing virtual engagement activities during the pandemic. Uptake was low for Thursday Night Live. Prior to Covid, we had in person engagement activities at various work sites. There has been a lot of diversity awareness courses offered and a lot of social activity. Public health measures brought a lot of stress. Vaccine mandates have been suspended, not rescinded. They could be reintroduced at any time.
There are a lot of changes. Workplaces are changing. SSC is going to the hybrid model. Bargaining is going on. Judy encouraged attendees to volunteer for executive positions. An AGM was recommended for 2021 but was not mandatory, therefore we waited until this year.
Motion to accept the President’s report. Moved by Andrea, seconded by Kevin, Carried.
Human Rights and Diversity Committee - Tanya King: This committee is selected every year. Greg Scriver is the chair. The Committee will establish six (6) Equity Caucuses for various diversity groups. Their issues will be presented to the PIPSC Board of Directors.
Financial Report – Judy Chow: Financial numbers for the last 3 years were presented. Finances are reported mid-year to mid-year. We have 400 members. There was a discussion regarding the allocation of funds for each member.
Lunch n Learns took place, the last AGM was in 2019, visibility items were purchased.
Elections facilitated by George Georgopoulos:
Nine (9) positions were up for election: President for a 2-year term and 8 members-at-large.
There were five (5) two-year and three (3) one-year member-at-large positions available.
Nuşin Brown and Bill Sukloff are in the 2nd year of their 2-year term.
Judy Chow, Kevin MacEwen, Roy Philip and Yvonne Snaddon had positions up for election.
The only candidate for President was Roy Philip, nominated by Stan Buday.
The following persons were nominated for member-at-large positions:
Glen Horenblas
Kevin McEwen
Stan Buday nominated Andrea Agh
Yvonne Snaddon nominated Ralph Leigh – refused
Dave Darling
Mathieu Leblond
Stan Buday nominated Yvonne Snaddon
Stan Buday nominated Judy Chow
Kajawathani Thalayasingam
All interested Executive members accepted the positions and were elected by acclamation.
Elections 2023 will require a ballot for Vice-President and a ballot for five (5) members at large if nothing changes in the body.
George made a motion to close the elections, Faron Moses seconded.
Bargaining Update - Stan Buday and Yvonne Snaddon: History of bargaining and negotiations was discussed. We made the decision to go to arbitration rather than conciliation. Engaging in job action in a pandemic is extremely difficult. We tried to get parity with the AFS group who have an extra 1.5%. When we got into the final round of the last negotiation, we were unable to achieve parity. The central table got 7% over 4 years. Group autonomy has been an issue. A survey was sent to members, two thirds just wanted a contract. It was agreed to pursue pay parity on the next round. Jean Paul Le Duc was assigned as our negotiator. A post-mortem following the last round was done and brought to the strategic planning committee. Do no harm is something we agreed on. A solidarity pact was signed. We continue to push for group autonomy.
Top issue that come out of the bargaining survey (sent to all IT members) was pay and vacation. Response rate was 35.6%. Bargaining team training was done. Conciliation right to strike was the route for the last 30 years. Subgroup presidents met and decided on arbitration for this round. They met with Treasury Board in February to submit proposals. Yvonne Snaddon is also contracting out officer. There is a recruitment and retention issue nationally and worldwide. The general economic increase will not be brought to the central table.
Collective Agreement wording is being changed from CS to IT. There will be a checklist for contracting out that departments must use. It takes almost a year to staff a position, a contractor can be hired in a couple of weeks. Staffing processes need to improve.
Careers are now based on performance and talent management. At the end of negotiations, we get a deal. We still have rounds coming up this year. Whatever deal we come to, goes to a member vote. If we come to an impasse, we go to mediation. It happened the last round, however, mediation did not work. We had to go to arbitration. They only look at unresolved issues. Resolved issues get signed off. They must look at conditions of employment, recruitment and retention, state of Canadian economy, establishing fair wages. Start of a wage demand will be put next week. It is uncertain if we will go for a 4 year contract or less.
Treasury Board based pools will be established. Departments have been pushing against this to keep control in their departments.
There is a recognition that tech jobs do not require being bilingual, also recognizing that security clearances take too long. Currently, managers have difficulty hiring. We are asking the employer to organize the work around the need. It is not fair to have language as the #1 qualification rather than job skills.
The bargaining team needs member support and involvement so we can get the best deal possible. Pictures can be posted on the CS Group Facebook pages.
Adjournment:
As President, Judy thanked everyone for attending the AGM and made a draw for prizes.
Meeting was adjourned at 8 pm.
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