Montérégie Branch Executive Minutes
Date: February 24, 2021
Location: MS Team Meeting
|
Participants |
Regrets |
|
Hugues Vanasse, President (confirmed) |
|
|
Steve Parent, Vice-President (confirmed) |
|
|
Manon Duchesne, Treasurer (confirmed) |
|
|
Lucie Dubé, Secretary (confirmed) |
|
|
|
Ahmed Awad (no notice) |
|
Féthi Boutaleb (confirmed) |
|
|
Francine Carrier (confirmed) |
|
|
|
Ngatiré Djiabé (advised) |
|
|
Maya El-Haraké (no notice) |
|
Giovanni Giolti (confirmed) |
|
|
Claudine Morin (confirmed) |
|
Quorum confirmed. 8 members Quorum: 6 members
Guests: N/A
1- Call to Order and Opening Remarks by the Chair
Meeting called to order at 6:25pm
Hugues welcomed everyone and explained that despite a small technical problem with the connection (MS Team), he was happy to see the members again.
2- Approval of the Agenda
Moved by Claudine, seconded by Manon. Approved!
3- Revision and approval of the minutes of the March 5, 2020 meeting of the Executive
Giovanni Giolti moved to approve the minutes of March 5, 2020, seconded by Steve.
4- Action items from last minutes
i. Ad hoc info session on Retirement
Giovanni explained that he spoke to Leon Touchette, the Institute’s contact person for training on retirement, and Mr. Touchette told him that because of the pandemic there are no in-person sessions scheduled at this time, but it is possible to have online presentations.
It was agreed to wait for developments over the next few months before considering further information sessions on retirement.
ii. Rand Members
Hugues reiterated the importance of contacting Rand members on a regular basis in order to have them sign their membership card.
Giovanni confirmed that Ahmed reached out the membership at NRCAN and that he had done the same for the CSA/NRC.
iii. Philippe Turcq, FTQ
Lucie explained that Mr. Turcq of the FTQ was notified (had declined for the 2019 AGM), that we retain his contact information to invite him to a future union activity.
5- New Items
i. A look back at 2020:
Hugues explained that during a management meeting, the Deputy Commissioner explained that the return to the office would take place only after all employees had been vaccinated. According to him, it would not happen before September.
Giovanni raised 2 points on which he would like to have the position and guidelines of the Institute in order to be able to answer the questions/concerns of the members:
a) Teleworking agreement: rights and obligations of members, possible implications for members, etc.
b) Will the employer require the vaccine before returning to the workplace to protect employees?
A discussion ensued during which it was agreed to approach Debi (president) to get answers to our questions. Hugues to forward the question to Debi. Lucie and Francine to write the question (follow-up at the next meeting).
Féthi asked if the information regarding the $400 deduction (tax return) for teleworkers was shared with members?
Francine said that members received an email from PIPSC about this and Lucie said that CRA has also notified its employees.
ii. Donation to a charitable organization
Hugues explained that given the pandemic, the Branch had a fairly large bank balance and he proposed to donate $2,000 to a charity.
The members all agreed to make a donation. A discussion ensued to determine which organization to choose. Giovanni suggested that it be in Montérégie, Féthi a food bank; Hugues suggested the possibility of making two donations of $1,000 each, etc.
It was finlly agreed to make a donation of $2,000 and to send suggestions to Lucie who will conduct a survey to determine which organization to help/give priority to (follow-up at the next meeting).
6- Budget
Manon presented her report to the members and explained that she was to present her budget for the current year to the Institute and expected to receive approximately $4,000 in allocation.
Francine asked if the Branch would have any special needs in order to use this money wisely.
Giovanni suggested to give “a little something" to the members.
Giovanni’s idea was agreed upon, members will be able to send suggestions to Lucie (follow-up at the next meeting).
7- Miscellaneous
i. No points
8- Round Table:
i. Manon informed the members that Francine is retiring next April, as she will also, on April 14. She expressed her desire to stay in the union.
ii. Steve asked Giovanni if the CSs had settled their Agreement. Giovanni confirmed that yes, however it is not signed. The agreement would provide for a 6.5% wage increase over 3 years, nothing else.
iii. Francine, Féthi, Hugues, Giovanni and Claudine had nothing to add.
9- Next meeting
We will target May for the next meeting and Giovanni will send the email
that he received from the Institute regarding online meetings (procedures, code, etc.) to Hugues
in order to properly organize the meeting.
10- Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 8 pm