The Professional Institute of the
Public Service of Canada
L'Institut professionnel de
la fonction publique du Canada
Thursday December 5, 2018
SP Environment and Climate Change Canada Toronto Sub-Group
Luncheon & 2018 Annual General Meeting
Date: Monday, November 19, 2018, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: ECCC, Conference Rooms 1 & 2
Agenda: 11:30am-12:15pm
General Meeting
- Introduction welcome & roll call (members of the Sub-Group Executive)
- Adoption of the Minutes from the 2017 AGM
- SP Sub-Group President’s Report
- Treasurer’s Report
- Election (3 Members-at-large)
-New Business
12:15pm Guest Speaker: Waheed Khan, SP – EC-NCT President
12:45pm Lunch & discussions
1:30pm Adjournment
Introduction and welcome (Anna Deptuch-Stapf)
Anna introduced members of the current ECCC SP Toronto Sub-Group Executive team and union stewards. There were no retired members.
Anna welcomed guests: Waheed Khan, speaker – EC NCT chair and Bill Sukloff – President of Toronto PIPSC Branch.
There were no changes or additions to the agenda. Agenda was adopted.
Adoption of the Minutes from the 2017 AGM (Anna Deptuch-Stapf)
Minutes from the 2017 AGM were sent to members in advance. Printed copies were also available during the AGM. Minutes from 2017 AGM were adopted. Motioned by April White; seconded by Julie Narayan.
SP Sub-Group President’s Report (Anna Deptuch-Stapf, President)
Anna thanked the executive team for their help and patience (as it was her first year as President).
There were 4 executive meetings up until now. An additional meeting is being planned for early December. Anna emphasized the importance of communication between EC-NCT and SP sub-group, especially in relation to the issues which affect all SP members, such as staffing, PC development day, Phoenix, and office 2.0.
Staffing action to create PC-02 to PC-05 pools in S&T:
- Process was deemed unfair and resulted in a staffing complaint which was successful with a positive outcome.
- SP, PC members in MSC, however, did not have the same chances to participate in a process, as they were not invited to the training for staffing pools process provided to S&T, PC members. This seems to be unfair for MSC members and hopefully will be addressed through the union-management subcommittee focusing on staffing.
- Please contact Bill Sukloff, Anna or PIPSC stewards if you encounter issues with staffing pools.
Workplace 2.0:
- a.k.a. activity-based workplace based on hoteling and an open office concept
- This has not yet started in our building, we have heard from other offices (e.g. Gatineau, Vancouver) about their discouraging experience.
- Please contact union stewards to share examples of both positive and negative experiences when moved to a new workstation.
OHS Committee:
- Good news - 3 new employees representing PIPSC volunteered for the local OHS committee.
Treasurer’s Report (Eva Mekis, see Appendix #1)
Eva Mekis explained the positions on the report:
- 294 members (38 new members), contribution of approximately $3300.
- Activities organized since last meeting:
- 4 meetings of the SP sub-group executive team
- 2 donations (International Women Day Basketeers program ($48.??) and Legacy Cup ($200)
- Promotional items ($866.30),
- AGM plus supply ($1400),
- Planned upcoming executive meeting ($120) and upcoming Lunch & Learn ($250, topic could be about grievances?)
- Closing balance: $1120.21
There were no questions in relation to the Treasurer’s Report.
Election of 3 Members-at-large (Bill Sukloff)
Members-at-large:
- Dale Boudreau – reelected by acclamation
- Kim Laird – reelected by acclamation
- April White – reelected by acclamation
Guest Speaker
Bill Sukloff introduced guest speaker Waheed Khan: SP – EC National Consultation Team President, SP Bargaining Team, Sick Leave Negotiation Team, Employee Wellness Support Program Advisory Team, Scientific Integrity Policy team, Mental Health Co-Champion, Respect in the Workplace Co-chair, SP Group National Executive, Chief Steward, SP Group.
Next round of collective bargaining and member mobilization:
- It is an arduous process, so it is important to make use of all entitlements within the collective agreement.
- We have a strong clause which stipulates that justification must be provided when a request is denied; this can lead to follow up action, such as filing a grievance – Ask union stewards to help you. It is important to file a grievance because the number of grievances filed is what is looked at.
- Negotiation team have submitted initial list of demands to Treasury Board and vice-versa. It is important to show how much membership is standing behind the negotiation team and the demands made – at the end of the meeting a picture was taken with members holding signs to show support.
- Sick Leave was previously at risk of being taken away (would have been replaced with Short Term Disability Leave, which would have had similar issues to Long Term Disability Leave), we are negotiating the new Employee Wellness Support Program which will recognize Sick Leave and continue to work on bringing improvements to it.
- All PIPSC members vote for approval of what goes into the collective agreement
- Survey will be sent to ask members for their input on priorities for negotiations. PARTICIPATE!
- Collective Agreement will be renewed in 2019; there is no timeline of when changes will come into effect.
- Useful websites:
- collective agreement http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/agreements-conventions/view-visualiser-eng.aspx?id=3
- SP news http://www.pipsc.ca/news-issues/press-releases
- Get involved
Employee Wellness Support Program (EWSP):
- Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed to develop it together with the employer (TBS: Treasury Board Secretariat)
- Now in the final stages of developing information package for early 2019
Phoenix:
- $16 million dollars have been allocated to a new system (there is no quick solution); exercise now taking place to look at alternatives. Requirement for companies to bring their own software (so that they can fix it), which means IBM (had made Phoenix) is not being considered
-Early 2019, the employer and PSPC (responsible for pay) will select a software, and then the contract will come for the process to move forward to create and implement a new software.
- The National Consultation Team will ensure that the new system is thoroughly tested before being implemented.
-Meanwhile, mitigation includes 3x more pay advisors (some in training and they don’t have full access, i.e. need to work with PSPC)
- They are negotiating a framework of compensation before the next Federal election (Oct.2019)
Scientific Integrity:
- Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed to develop a policy for the department as a whole. It is in the advanced stage, provisions and mechanisms will be included.
- Please review and communicate your concerns to union stewards.
Healthcare and Dental Plan:
- These are not part of the Collective Agreement bargaining, it is a separate process governed by the Financial Administrative Act. There is a forum of unions which provide recommendations from each union. See National Joint Council http://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/directive/index.php?lang=eng.
-Dental plan is different because each union discuss this separately (not joint forum) but it covers all government employees.
-Dental plan limits will increase in the coming years (current limit is $1700):
2019: $2000 (on January 1st)
2020: $2250
2021: $2500
- Early 2019 (February/March) the unions will do consultations with members as well as a benchmarking study to look at comparable plans
Questions (Q), Comments (C), Answers (A) (Waheed Khan)
- Anna asked for more explanation and examples of using Professional Development Leave:
C: It is meant for your own professional development, therefore it is not required to directly benefit the department – however this kind of development will still positively impact the company as a whole, even if it is not directly related to your current position.
C: It will likely be extended to include language training.
Q: How do we use the professional development leave?
A: An example is self-study, e.g. to take the day to review information received from a past course workbook.
Q: Is there a specific form to fill out to request this leave?
A: In myGCHR there is a Professional Development Leave option to submit for this type of leave. This is a separate form of leave from what we had had available, please use it.
Q: Does it have to be part of my Learning Plan?
A: If you decide to take a course for your own professional development, it does not have to but it can be part of your Learning Plan.
Lunch and informal discussions followed.
Meeting Adjourned at 1:30