PIPSC NRC RO/RCO Members’ 2023 Annual General Meeting
Friday, Nov.3, 2023 – Hybrid meeting: In person (NRC St. John’s) and Zoom
MINUTES
Executive Members present: Franco Amato (PIPSC), Carsen Banister (Zoom), Cathy Cheung (President), Benjamin Colbourne (Consultation President), Simon Drouin (Zoom), Stephan Grosse (Chief Steward), Alex Ko (Treasurer), Laurel O’Connor, Jewelle Smith-Johnson, Dongfang Yang, Mary Zborowski (Secretary). Regrets: Martin Loignon
Members and Guests present for the full day: Evgueny Bordatchev (Zoom), Jennifer Carr (PIPSC), Judith Leblanc (PIPSC), Lei-yong Jiang (Zoom), Pat Loder (Steward), Michael Peddle (Steward), Emily Salinas (Zoom), Mark Witzel (Zoom). Additionally, the Zoom meeting technology identified 34 additional Members logged in and 13 local in-person members during the lunchtime portion of the meeting.
Taking into account some duplicate logins (present in-person and additionally on Zoom), there were 67 participants at the 2023 RO/RCO AGM.
1. Introductions and welcome
The meeting was called to order at approximately 9:05 a.m. NT. Cathy Cheung welcomed participants and noted the format of this AGM as an all-day meeting, with the lunchtime portion devoted to the larger attendance and requiring voting on motions. She advised that during the lunchtime portion of the meeting, questions will be accepted from those attending in person and, from Zoom participants, by the Zoom Q&A technology feature. (Members may always send comments or questions to the generic address for the RO/RCO executive: rorco@pipsc.ca.) A round table of introductions followed, and Carsen Banister and Cathy Cheung variously chaired the rest of the AGM.
2. Approval of Agenda
The Agenda was presented on the shared Zoom screen and approved (moved by Cathy Cheung, seconded by Ben Colbourne, all present voting yes).
3. Approval of 2022 Minutes
The Minutes of the 2022 RO/RCO AGM were presented and, noting one spelling mistake in section 5 (“extend” was corrected to “extent”), approved (moved by Mary Zborowski, seconded by Jewelle Smith-Johnson, all present voting yes).
4. RO/RCO Group President’s Report
Cathy Cheung presented her President’s Report, beginning by reporting on consultation activities with NRC. These issues included Workforce Adjustments (EME, ACRD and NANO), the ongoing IRAP transition to CIC, various restructuring activities, and the move of NRC-BMC to BMC Inc. She also summarized some highlights of PIPSC activities in 2023 and mentioned that RCEA is also involved in bargaining activities and has an election coming up for their President position. Regular JCC discussions have continued to include post-COVID issues.
Cathy reported briefly on PIPSC, whose staff in Ottawa will be holding a strike vote shortly, and possibly later in the regions. A dues increase for Members will be raised as a proposed resolution at the upcoming AGM in late November. There has been significant restructuring at PIPSC, and Nicholas Pernal has moved to a new position in the PIPSC President’s office. The PIPSC negotiator for NRC RO/RCO is now Franco Amato.
Cathy also reported briefly on bargaining at PIPSC, with a full report to come later in the meeting. NRC RO/RCO is the 3rd PIPSC group to reach an agreement, with others coming shortly. A major event was the PSAC strike earlier in 2023. The results were significant in that the agreements reached with PSAC will and have affected agreements with other bargaining agents, including PIPSC.
5. Consultation team planning
Ben Colbourne presented the draft structure of the consultation team for discussion. He raised some issues with getting protected time for consultation from his supervisors and management chain. Pat Loder had encountered similar issues during her tenure as Consultation President and had obtained a letter from NRC president Iain Stewart for 25% time to dedicate to consultation. The employer engaging in consultation is a legislative requirement. Judith Leblanc (former DFO consultation president) suggested that an unfair labour practice could be raised if not given enough time to consult meaningfully.
6. PIPSC Steward portal and tools
Cathy welcomed Judith Leblanc from PIPSC, who became PIPSC’s first National Steward Officer in January 2023, and is leading efforts to implement a Steward framework, which will include an online resource tool. The portal is currently being developed and will include a Shop Steward Database, Information on the work of stewards, Reference tools, and it will provide meaningful data and statistics. She displayed the Stewards Dashboard in the portal for the RO/RCO stewards which includes a breakdown by gender, age, region, and language. Of note, we have 19 stewards as of October 2023 and 8 of 19 are 55-64 years old, while only 4 are younger than 45 years old. She welcomed input on the process or suggestions regarding content of the Portal, and can be contacted at judithleblanc@pipsc.ca.
7. Luncheon AGM meeting with Members
The noon portion of the 2023 AGM was called to order at approximately 1:00 p.m. NT. In addition to 10 members of the Executive team (2 attending by Zoom), attendees included 13 local Members, 3 PIPSC guests, 2 Stewards, and 34 additional participants (Members and Stewards) joining by Zoom.
7.1 Welcome
Cathy introduced herself, welcomed all present in person and via Zoom, thanked OCRE for hosting these meetings, and explained that questions will be welcomed via the Q&A feature on Zoom or from those attending in person. She then introduced the members of the Executive team. Attendees had previously been advised that the 2022 AGM Minutes and documents needed for this meeting were available to registered participants in a Virtual Binder link. She thanked everyone for their interest in the activities of the group executive. Cathy presented slides which showed the topics that would be covered in this meeting.
7.2 Group President’s brief report
Cathy’s report as group President was an abridged version of what was covered in Agenda item 4 above. She additionally showed the distribution of the current 787 ROs and 971 RCOs across the country (1758 total members as of June 30, 2023), outlined key activities of the group in 2023, presented the expected activities and challenges in 2024, and reminded members of various opportunities and deadlines. Franco Amato joined in the presentation by Zoom, to detail the issues and provisions being provided to IRAP Members by PIPSC. In particular, IRAP employees will continue to be represented after moving to CIC; IRAP RCOs may continue to be represented by PIPSC; and IRAP RCOs will continue to be covered by the RO/RCO Collective Agreement until its expiry date, or until a new agreement is negotiated. Cathy encouraged IRAP members to participate in discussions as the transition takes place.
Cathy further summarized other Executive activities which include creating a new COSH nomination form, participating on PIPSC committees (Advisory Council and Strategic Bargaining Committee), hosting a Steward Conference, and of course Bargaining – which has resulted in a tentative agreement.
The anticipated activities and challenges in 2024 will include ratification and implementation of the collective agreement, IRAP/CIC consultations, and organizational changes at NRC.
Members were reminded that there is funding available for member-driven social events. There is also a closing date (December 31) for the RO/RCO recognition awards. Members may consider nominating family members for the Legacy Foundation scholarships, and Members should remember that significant discounts are available at ServicePlus, from the PIPSC website.
7.3 RO/RCO Group Financial Report for 2023, 2024 Budget
Alex Ko presented the report of expenditures during 2022 and 2023, which included costs incurred for events and meetings, member engagement, bargaining team support, gifts, promotional items, technology purchases, contributions to the PIPSC Legacy Foundation and Food bank, and other expenses. Revenue included the PIPSC allowance, which is based on the number of Members in the group (approximately 1800), and bank interest. The balance at the end of 2023 is $24,916.68. Alex also presented the budget proposed for 2024, which is based on expenditures of 2023, as the group expects to continue some level of face-to-face meetings with the membership. After a period of questions, the report of 2023 expenditures was approved (Moved by Alex Ko, seconded by Mike Peddle, the motion passed). Also, the proposed budget for 2024 was approved. (Moved by Alex Ko, seconded by Pat Loder, the motion passed).
7.4 Election Report
Laurel O’Connor presented the report of the Election committee. She advised that for 4 vacant executive positions, 5 nominations were submitted. Therefore, an election will be held starting November 27, with a voting period of 2 weeks ending December 11, after which the new 2024 Executive member team will be identified. Candidates are: Ben Colbourne (OCRE St John’s), Rokib Hassan (CONST Ottawa), Lei-Yong Jiang (AERO Ottawa), Dongfang Yang (AST London), Mary Zborowski (retired, Ottawa).
The Executive team for 2024 cannot therefore be finalized but can be summarized as follows:
|
2-year (elected) Terms ending in December 2024 |
7 |
Cathy Cheung, Simon Drouin, Stephan Grosse, Alex Ko, Martin Loignon, Laurel O’Connor, Jewelle Smith-Johnson |
|
2-year (elected)Terms ending in December 2025 |
4 |
To be determined by election |
|
TOTAL |
11 |
4 vacancies will be determined by Election (Nov-Dec 2023) |
7.5 By-Laws
Carsen Banister presented the background for the requested amendments to the RO/RCO By-Laws. Many of the amendments are related to applying gender-neutral language, capitalization issues, more closely align with PIPSC model bylaw language, but there are also adjustments to streamline the Nomination procedure. The proposed amendments, both English and French versions, were presented to the Membership and were included in the Virtual Binder available to all registered Members. The proposed By-Law changes were approved (Moved by Mary Zborowski, seconded by Laurel O’Connor, the motion passed).
7.6 Meet the PIPSC President
Cathy introduced PIPSC President Jennifer Carr who was present to speak to the Membership. Jenn explained that PIPSC represents many government groups, careers and workplaces. Members include IT professionals, scientists, auditors, commerce and purchasing officers, engineers, health professionals, provincial members, and others. The 5 major areas of PIPSC activity include: Negotiating salaries and working conditions, Representation in the workplace, Legal defense, Government relations, and Mobilization and Communications.
Jennifer provided a brief overview of the top issues at PIPSC. She noted the announcement of the new Canada Innovation Corporation with NRC-IRAP staff transitioning to CIC. PIPSC is committed to supporting the IRAP RCOs in the transition, taking all next steps necessary to ensure that members’ best interests are at the forefront, and will engage in meaningful consultations with NRC on this topic. Issues with the change of the PSHCP provider to Canada Life have been another key topic, which PIPSC discusses almost daily with Treasury Board. About 1.7 million people are affected by PSHCP, which includes employees, retirees, and dependents.
7.7 Bargaining update
Simon gave an update on the bargaining process, and the many factors that affect it. He thanked the entire bargaining team for their hard work which resulted in an agreement with the employer. Highlights of the agreement include a 12.5% increase in pay over 4 years and $2500 signing bonus, a Letter of Understanding on telework, a new Leave without Pay for Research and Innovation Policy, progress with double-bar issues, timely approval for conference attendance, removal of “core hours” policy for ROs and RCOs, and a new committee to investigate equity in operational research funding. Simon showed a timeline for the negotiation process, which began in December 2021 and has ended with a Tentative agreement in October 2023. As he did last year, he thanked Members who responded to the May 2022 survey, noting especially that over 60% of the Membership responded – an excellent rate of response. Simon then described the next steps in the ratification process, informing everyone of the opportunity to participate in the upcoming information sessions on the new agreement, to be held on Nov 9, 2023, followed by the ratification vote Nov 10-24, 2023.
7.8 Question period
Questions raised within Zoom or from in-person participants were received and answered. These related to working at home, the contract negotiations, and the problems with the Canada Life health care plan. At the end of this portion, at approximately 3:00 p.m. AT, Cathy thanked all participants and adjourned this portion of the meeting. (A motion to adjourn was not needed at this point as additional AGM business was scheduled to continue to end of day.)
8. Group discussions continued
Following the lunchtime meeting, given the presence of PIPSC president Jennifer Carr, Cathy invited everyone to continue discussions on RO RCO issues especially relating to PIPSC, i.e. PIPSC support for the IRAP CIC transition. Regarding the AGM today, attendance numbers were down from last year (about half) and it was recognized that there were some problems in that the registration was closed too early. It was also noted that last year, Members might have been more concerned about negotiations; however, this year, with a tentative agreement reached, there may have been less interest.
9. Adjournment
There being no further business, Cathy thanked all in attendance, and the meeting adjourned (moved by Ben Colbourne, seconded by Mike Peddle, with all approving) at approximately 4:30 p.m. AT. The next AGM will be scheduled for late November or early December 2024.