PIPSC St. John’s Branch AGM Minutes
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 at 6:00pm
Elks Club, St. John’s NL
Present:
Carolyn Hynes, President Christine LeDrew, Secretary
Travis Kendall, Treasurer James Vey
Jim Meade Michael Hefford
Bob Comeau Carolyn Coady
Rhonda Bridger Kimberley Keats
Anica Stowe Tony Chubbs (Guest)
Jennifer Higdon Diane Hamilton
Paula Walters Susan Evans
Bonnie O’Rourke Olivia Carew
Ellen Careen Lori Kennedy
Chris Hendry Leslie White
Lucille Shears Eva Henshaw (Guest)
Manny Costain (Guest) Stan Buday (Guest)
1.0 Opening Remarks
Carolyn opened the meeting at 6:23 p.m. welcoming and thanking everyone for attending the first Branch AGM since 2019. Carolyn continued with a land acknowledgement.
2.0 Introductions
All members in attendance introduced themselves with name, department, union involvement. Members in attendance listed above.
3.0 Approval of the Agenda
Carolyn presented the agenda. No additions. Agenda was moved by James Vey and seconded by Susan Evans. – Carried.
4.0 Approval of 2019 Branch AGM Minutes
Previous minutes reviewed, no errors or omissions noted. Kimberley Keats moved for approval of previous minutes. Seconded by Leslie White. - Carried.
5.0 Business Arising from the minutes
After review and approval of minutes there was no business arising.
6.0 President’s Report
Carolyn presented the presidents report (see attached document). She mentioned 2020 and 2021 AGMs were postponed due to the pandemic and three members of the executive resigned over this time. The branch executive used emails and texting in the beginning to communicate but quickly jumped onboard with the zoom virtual calls. The branch executives’ focus was on community involvement and member engagement. Carolyn noted the branch donated to the Dominion Strike, held a tree planting event in November 2021 for the 100th anniversary, and a Christmas Social in December 2021. Carolyn thanked the executive for their hard work and dedication since 2020 and noted she would not be reoffering in the role as President.
James Meade motion to approve the President’s Report. Seconded by Lucille Shears. – Carried.
7.0 Treasurer’s Report and Budget
The treasurer’s report was presented by Travis Kendall (see attached).
Travis noted that the last budget was approved in at the 2018 AGM and 2019 was submitted to PIPSC as per PIPSC direction. Travis noted the branch collected donations at various events, which was given to the Gathering Place. The branch did not receive an allotment in 2020. The branch ordered masks with the branch logo in 2021. The Christmas Social in December 2021 utilized a significant portion of our funds. $4300 was carried over and as of today our balance is $3385.42. The proposed budget for 2023 was presented. James Meade noted the Science Fair Award should be $300 not $100. Carolyn suggested changing the Wreath for Day of Mourning to $200 and Community Visibility to be changed to $500. Lori Kennedy suggested to look into making a donation to the Red Cross for the assistance in Port Aux Basques, NL after Hurricane Fiona.
Travis motion to make a donation to the Red Cross. Approved by James Meade, Seconded by Christine LeDrew. – Carried
Mike Hefford moved that the amended Treasurer’s Report and Budget be approved. Seconded by Anica Stowe. - Carried
8.0 Elections of Officers
At the beginning of the pandemic the branch executive made a motion to extend members terms by one year. With the pandemic lasting longer than 1 year the branch executive made a motion to hold an election for all positions, with half of them only being a 1 year term for this time only. The break down for positions is as follows:
- President (2 year term)
- Vice-President (1 year term)
- Treasurer (2 year term)
- Secretary (1 year term)
- Four Members at Large (2 year term)
- Three Members at Large (1 year term)
Carolyn called upon Manny Costain, Atlantic Regional Director and Eva Henshaw, National Part Time VP to host the elections.
Eva read a few of the Branch By-Laws to allow members to understand the executives requirements.
President:
Susan Evans nominated James Vey. James Accepted. Acclaimed
Vice-President:
Bonnie O’Rourke nominated Carolyn Hynes. Carolyn Accepted. Acclaimed
Treasurer:
Susan Evans nominated Ellen Careen. Ellen Accepted.
Leslie White nominated Kimberley Skanes. Kimberley was not in attendance but asked Leslie to put her name forward.
Members voted. Result: Ellen Careen elected as Treasurer.
Secretary:
Travis Kendall nominated Christine LeDrew. Christine Accepted. Acclaimed.
Members at large (2 year):
Susan Evans nominated Anica Stowe. Anica Accepted.
Christine LeDrew nominated Mike Hefford. Mike accepted.
Ellen Careen nominated Jennifer Higdon. Jennifer accepted.
Ellen Careen nominated Chris Hendry. Chris accepted.
Ellen Careen nominated Bonnie O’Rourke. Bonnie declined.
Results: Anica, Mike, Jennifer and Chris were acclaimed for Members at large for 2 year terms.
Members at large (1 year):
Mike Hefford nominated Lucille Shears. Lucille accepted but withdrew her name at the end.
Lori Kennedy nominated Bonnie O’Rourke. Bonnie accepted.
Jim Meade nominated Kimberley Keats. Kimberley accepted.
Leslie White nominated Kimberley Skanes. Kimberley was not in attendance but asked Leslie to put her name forward.
James Vey nominated Rhonda Bridger. Rhonda accepted.
James Vey nominated Carolyn Coady. Carolyn accepted.
Members voted. Result: Kimberley Keats, Carolyn Coady, and Bonnie O’Rourke were elected as Members at large for 1 year.
St. John’s Branch Executive 2022-2023
James Vey – President
Carolyn Hynes – Vice President
Ellen Careen – Treasurer
Christine LeDrew – Secretary
Anica Stowe, Mike Hefford, Jennifer Higdon, Chris Hendry, Kimberley Keats, Carolyn Coady, & Bonnie O’Rourke – Members at large
As the elections and results were completed, it was moved by Christine LeDrew and seconded by Carolyn Hynes to destroy the ballots. – Carried The ballots were destroyed.
9.0 New Business
a) Role of RM at the branch level
Carolyn noted this was brought up by a Retired Member to be added to the agenda. Unfortunately there was no one at the AGM that could speak on the topic so it will be deferred to a later date.
b) Motions
Carolyn made a call for any motions. No motions.
10.0 Guest Speaker Presentations
Carolyn introduced our first guest speaker, Emmanuel Costain – Atlantic Regional Director. Manny started by stating that his thoughts are with everyone after Hurricane Fiona. Manny gave the participants updates on various items from the Atlantic, such as Steward Check ins, Board report emails to the Branch Presidents and Atlantic executive almost immediately after the BOD meetings, Steward Council in October, Atlantic Young Professionals Committee and reminded members re: call out for committees of the board.
Next Carolyn introduced our National Part Time VP, Eva Henshaw. Eva provided the members with an update of what’s happening nationally in PIPSC. The Board of Directors has only 2 people returning. All the rest were newly elected members. PIPSC is tackling the communication issue, working on a new case work platform for EROs, Steward Framework. But Eva also mentioned that the biggest challenge is reaching out to members, especially in this new world. A great discussion was had with the National VP on this topic.
11.0 Door Prizes and Swag
There was 11 door prizes and one door prize to be drawn from members that attended their first Branch AGM. Members were also encouraged to take some of the PIPSC and Branch swag when leaving.
12.0 Adjournment
Carolyn thanked everyone for their attendance to the 2021 Branch AGM. Carolyn thanked our Guest Speakers for taking the time out of their busy schedules to attend our AGM. With no further business, Bonnie O’Rourke moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Susan Evans. – Carried
The Meeting was adjourned at 8:17pm.