NRC RORCO Executive Meeting
April 22-23, 2024, Montreal (Royalmount, Decelles)
Present: Franco Amato (PIPSC), Cathy Cheung, Benjamin Colbourne, Simon Drouin, Stephan Grosse, Rokib Hassan, Alex Ko, Laurel O’Connor, Jewelle Smith-Johnson, Dongfang Yang, Mary Zborowski
Regrets: Martin Loignon
1. Welcome:
- April 22, Royalmount, chaired by Simon
- April 23, Decelles, chaired by Cathy
2. Approval of agenda: Approved
3. Minutes of February 2024 meeting: Approved
4. Actions from February and November meetings
- Social events on website: Done. On website under “Funding Guidelines”.
- One-pager on website: Done. On website under “Reference Contacts and FAQ”.
- Manual: In progress. ACTION: Cathy and Jewelle, to continue
- Election process: Done
- RAND discussions: No update on RANDs at Advisory Council, ACTION: Laurel, to follow and report; Stephan, to raise issue of no alerts re: new hires, to JCC; Laurel, to include welcoming new hires in a future Agenda
- AGM actions: Post-AGM actions completed (minutes to translation, submit financial report). Cathy sent bylaw changes to BLPC, they were to approve at their next meeting and send to Board of Directors to approve. Done, waiting for PIPSC board to approve By-Laws. ACTION: Mireille to follow up with PIPSC Board and post bylaw changes when approved; Mary to add translated AGM minutes to group drive.
- RO/RCO awards – send gift cards: Done
- Website updates re executive: Done
- RCO conversion: Done
- IRAP/CIC update message to members: Done
- COSH form: ACTION: Dongfang to clarify the COSH nomination and approval process.
- April Meeting arrangements: Done.
- September meeting schedule: ACTION: Laurel, to continue planning and to submit financial comparisons (Ottawa AGM vs Vancouver AGM) to PIPSC for approval.
5. Collective Agreement update: Franco shared a short presentation (uploaded to group drive).
6. RCO conversion and classification:
The exec discussed the RCO conversion exercise currently underway. ACTION: Franco, to ask various RCO conversion questions to NRC negotiator.
Ryan Husk (PIPSC classification specialist) joined the executive by Zoom to discuss the RCO reclassification plan as per the MOU. ACTION: Franco, to follow up with the NRC negotiator to start the process identified in the MoU.
7. Telework MOU and panel: Franco shared the draft documents provided by NRC related to the Telework panel. ACTION: Franco, to pass these to Executive for review, when finalized
8. Discussion: Team Lead and Ombuds issues
Carsen Banister and Karine Gauvreau (NRC Ombuds) joined by Zoom for this discussion. ACTION: Stephan or Laurel, to bring up Team Lead issues at next JCC after Ombud’s report released.
9. Swag report: Jewelle reported that swag (240 T-shirts, 80 umbrellas, and 50 BamBams) has been ordered, paid for, received. Distribution has begun.
10. Executive election report: Laurel reported that the election toolkit was posted on November 10, and the ballots went out on November 28. The process then ran fairly seamlessly. 292 ballots were returned. 4 out of 5 candidates were elected. ACTION: Laurel, to communicate with Martin Loignon concerning absences from meetings.
11. Financial update:
Alex reported that we received the member allowance (based on 1,817 members) of $19,710, in March. Considering most recent expenses, the balance is $21,676. Expenses for April 23 have not been included yet. PIPSC Finance has advised that the value of Mary’s damaged iPad is now $0. The executive directed her to keep and discard that iPad. The executive further approved the purchase (under $1,000) of a new iPad.
12. NRC updates:
a. IRAP to CIC - The executive will continue to monitor this topic as a standing item and actively seek information at JCC.
b. JCC - Ben mentioned that several topics he raised for JCC were left off the agenda. ACTION: Laurel to document and track which agenda items are refused by NRC.
c. NCOSH - Ben noted that some issues seem to be bounced back to JCC rather than be resolved at NCOSH. Ben is concerned about the accident reporting. Dongfang reported on the current members of NCOSH, where he represents PIPSC.
13. PIPSC updates:
a. Advisory Council - Ben mentioned that the government budget reduction is no longer protected by Cabinet Confidence. Department proposals have been returned to departments, so it should be ok to consult. ACTION: Stephan or Laurel, to put budget reduction details as agenda item for JCC.
b. Working Group on Consultation - Not discussed.
c. Science Advisory Committee - This year Dongfang is a Friend of the committee, and Lawrence Mak is a regular member of the committee as the Atlantic representative.
d. PIPSC President - Franco advised that Jennifer Carr is on leave and Eva Henshaw has been appointed as acting PIPSC President.
14. Group AGM planning: New dates selected: September 26-27.
a. AGM - As before, we will likely have one day Executive meeting and one day AGM. ACTION: Stephan, to consult stewards about interest in a one-day steward conference. If Steward conference is added, dates will be Sept. 25-27. ACTION: Laurel, to plan AGM day and Executive day, and scout hotels.
b. Elections - ACTION: Rokib, to plan
c. Speakers - Doug Johnstone, PREAC Secretary and NRC President’s Science Advisor, based in HAA Victoria, was recommended. ACTION: Simon, to speak with Doug Johnstone.
15. Group Executive Roles and Responsibilities:
a. Documentation – The group discussed various executive procedures. ACTION: Dongfang, to respond to emails using new procedure; Stephan, to ensure guidance documents are sent annually to stewards; Cathy, to include details on procedure in Executive manual.
b. Rotating meeting chair - It was agreed that executive members should take turns chairing exec meetings. ACTION: Alex, to chair the June meeting.
c. Hosting lunch and learns - ACTION: All, to plan and run L&Ls (or equivalent) with local members, if possible.
d. Swag distribution - Methods to distribute swag were discussed. To be continued next meeting.
e. COSH process - Not discussed this meeting.
16. Lunch meeting with members: On April 22, the Executive met with 31 local Royalmount Members during lunch. On April 23, the Executive met with 17 local Decelles Members during lunch. Simon gave the PIPSC Basics presentation both days including a Q&A session.
17. Consultation Team update: Ben has been serving as NRC Consultation President since August. ACTION: Laurel, to speak with Mitch Davies (NRC President); Cathy and Simon, to speak with the NRC Ombuds and various PIPSC contacts, concerning various issues.
18. Meeting schedule:
- June 14, in-person meeting, Ottawa.
- September 26-27, Vancouver/Victoria (if approved by PIPSC), possibly with Steward conference.
- November 7, in-person meeting, Toronto
- November 8-9, PIPSC AGM, Toronto
19. Adjournment: The meetings adjourned at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET on April 22 and 5:00 p.m. ET on April 23.