SP Group President’s Report to the 2017 SP Group AGM

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to this Annual General Meeting.  At our last AGM, we were celebrating the end of a very difficult and successful round of negotiation and since then, we have been extremely busy trying to make sure that our new contract is fully implemented.  Today, we will review our accomplishments and discuss remaining challenges as we are entering a new round of negotiation.  Your SP Executive will report on last year’s activities and we will also discuss our workplan for the coming months.  We hope that by the end of this day, you will be better informed and equipped to further engage your colleagues in helping us continue to serve you better.

SP members across this country continue to demonstrate leadership, resilience and commitment to make sure that Canada will benefit from the highest standard in Public Science, despite severe workplace challenges.  The Phoenix pay system, increasing administrative burden, limited training opportunities and inadequate leave regime remain as critical challenges for our members.  Your SP Executive and SP Bargaining Team will continue to seek opportunities to improve your working conditions.

We hope to continue improving our By-Laws and our workplan with your guidance and support.  These two tools will assist your SP Executive with clear governance to ensure that we can provide you with the best outcomes. I hope you appreciate the commitment and hard work of your Executive team, as much as I do. We certainly appreciate and value the contributions from our network of Sub-groups and Stewards in mobilizing our members to support us.  We all need to continue building on this success and hope that this will lead to more effective negotiation.

The SP Group Executive continues to benefit from PIPSC’s strong leadership and support.  Our Group is extremely fortunate to retain our negotiator, Suzelle Brosseau, for the up-coming round of negotiation.  She has a rich knowledge of our complex group and continues to inspire us with her vision, determination and endless energy.

During this past year, we conducted a zonal approach to meeting our Sub-Group Presidents, which provided us with a more manageable effort to ensure an optimal exchange.  I also participated in several Sub-Group AGMs across the country, along with some of our Regional members of the SP Group Executive.  We continue our efforts in participating and organising group sessions at all Regional Steward Councils.  And, not to forget the amazing effort from our Sub-Group and Stewards coordinators in conducting conference calls on a regular basis.  All these efforts are helping to focus our energy on the real issues.  We hope to continue our efforts in improving these exchange activities and hope we can count on your guidance and amazing support. 

Respectfully submitted

Thomas Landry, SP Group President