APPEN=
DIX G
N.E.
MEETING - SEPTEMBER 2003
REPORT
OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT
Septe=
mber
2003
HRDC
Health and Safety Committee has met with the three
major concerns still on the agenda.
1) Travel expe=
nses,
for union representatives to attend the meetings has been refused again. The
two members of the committee who are required to travel, boycotted the last
meeting. There will be a strategy meeting in early October to decide our ne=
xt
step.
2) Job analysi=
s on
the I&C position and similar positions will be done this fall. They will
look at the aspects of the job that will require additional equipment such =
as
cell phones, car phones, winter clothing, well equipped vehicles and numero=
us
other requirements that will be identified in the report.
3) At the last
meeting, they put the new policy called ‘Communicating Unfavourable
Decisions’ on the table. This program was implemented with no <=
/u>input
from the union, the NPH&S Committee or the HRUMCC. We argued that this
policy went against the Harassment Policy and the Violence in the Workplace
Policy. We have several meetings set to work on this issue by the co-chairs of the committee =
with
at the very minimum a joint communication from the co-chairs. The unionR=
17;s
position is that it be stopped and that if they didn’t the union would
take collective action. I will be meeting with Charles Nixon, ADM for Insur=
ance
in the very near future to open discussions on this issue.
Sub Committees continue to work on a training pack=
age
for the members of the Health and Safety Committees and the Management of
Disabilities Committee will be meeting for four days (October 14-17) to
finalize the policy that they are working on.
The NHRUMC has met with the key issue being Terms.=
The
date has finally been set for October 1, 2004. There will be 850 terms who =
will
be made indeterminate. Only two regions have indicated that there might<=
/u>
be a WFA
2
situation. The new Term policy has been reviewed a=
nd,
although we had an opportunity to add our comments, we were not part of wri=
ting
this policy. It will be available to you before you leave.
Call Centres Harmonization. There is no indication
that there will be any office closure as a result of the process. The purpo=
se
is to look at what is being done, what can be done better and how can we gi=
ve
the same service from one Call Centre to another. There will be a Call Cent=
re
Harmonization Joint Monitoring Committee and a forum for union management
discussions.
A working group has been struck to look at a union
leave package for local executives and shop stewards. They will look at the
amount of time spent travelling when there is more than one work location, =
the
role in of the steward in the workplace and building respect for those who
volunteer to take on this role.
Several other policies have been passed by the
committee. We were not part of the discussion on these policies but we were
given opportunity to make comments and to try and influence the final resul=
t. =
- HRDC
has developed a policy on Video conferencing for Appeals and Grievances.
Although this policy has some benefits it also has some limitations as well=
. We
have sent HRDC a report from the RUO’S outlining our concerns.
- The
HRDC Acquisition Card Policy was sent out for comments; we received none an=
d it
is now in place.
We had an opportunity to meet with Oro Bengio to
discuss Performance Management. We shared the concerns from the members with
her. She will follow up on our concerns and report back at the next meeting=
.
CIC
Talks continue with this department. The issue of
leave for union reps remains on the table and it will be an ongoing issue u=
ntil
some agreement can be reached. We are not prepared at this time to remove it
from the table.
Health and safety issues continue to be hot
issues. Sister Janina Lebon, =
CIC
NVP, attends these meetings with me (see her report). One week prior to each H&S Com=
mittee
meeting, management contact all of the Regional Health and Safety Committee
chairs to ask for input from the regions. Very seldom are there
3
issues. I
am not sure if it is because there are no issues, or because the chairs
aren’t being informed by the members, or because the Regional Committ=
ees
are not meeting.
When the Department closed the two Call Centres th=
eir
was no input from the Union. =
We
received the same information as the terms received.
IRB
I was pleased to be invited to the IRB Reps Confer=
ence
that was held here in Ottawa. It gave me an opportunity to learn about a pa=
rt
of CEIU that I had very little contact with in the past. There were great
discussion and action plans put in place.
HRRR Committee
The Human Rights / Race Relations Committee review=
ed
the survey that was sent by direct mail to all members. They received 249
replies. This will be used for a data base for the next HRRR Conference and
elections. They continue to provide a valuable link to the National Executi=
ve
and they have started work on several projects including the next HRRR Conf=
erence
(see the HRRR report).
Women’s Committee
The Women’s Committee continue to work on th=
eir
upcoming conferences. Although there is still one NVP to be elected they
continue to work and move forward (see the Women’s Committee report).=
RUO
I have visited all but one of the union offices in=
the
last 11 months. I have done H&S walk throughs and corrected any outstan=
ding
areas of concern. The new reporting structure makes it easier to provide
assistance or backup to the other offices when needed. We have offered short
term assignments to several members in order to backfill when employees are=
on
sick leave or assignment. OPEIU/CEIU UMCC have been reinstated and are work=
ing
well.
4
Mentoring Program
There are two members being mentored in the Toronto
office. They are gaining a wide variety of experience and will have the
necessary work background to assist them to qualify on any further
competitions.
We made some minor editorial changes to the docume=
nt.
There will be posters advertising the opportunities for 2004 along with a
questionnaire to complete. The selection process will be completed and
candidates notified by the end of December.
I would like to thank the staff in the RUOs and the
National office for their dedication to CEIU. They continue to produce high
quality representation for members, provide advice and guidance on a wide r=
ange
of issues, provide the admin support to the NVPs, keep the National Office
running with very little direction from me. Their dedication to CEIU is apprec=
iated.
In solidarity,
Janet Letwinka
National
Executive Vice-Presidents Activity Report
APRIL
2003
3-5 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Nova
Scotia Presidents’ Conference
8 =
Health
and Safety meeting CIC
10-12 &=
nbsp; New
Brunswick Presidents’ Conference
13-15 &=
nbsp; National
Reps Conference
22 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; HRDC
HRUMCC
26-30
&=
nbsp; PS=
AC
Convention
MAY
1-2 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; PSAC
Convention
3-9 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; SFL
Spring School
27 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Classification
meeting HRDC
29-30
&=
nbsp; CLC
UI meeting
JUNE
3-6
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; PSAC
NBoD meeting
9 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; HRDC
NPH&S Committee meeting
10
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Disability
Management meeting
14-15
&=
nbsp; Im=
migration
Advisory Committee meeting
16
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; HRDC
WFA meeting
17-18 &=
nbsp; Training
on Disability Management and committee meetings
24
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; CIC
H&S meeting
25 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; OPEIU/CEIU
UMCC
JULY
5-6
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; National
Collective Bargaining Conference
7 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Toronto
RUO Visit and work on the mentoring program
9-13 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Vancouver
RUO visit
BC Women’s Trainin=
g
16 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; CIC
Grievance Meeting
23 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; HRDC
Passport Pilot Project
Meeting with Linda Gobei=
l
27-29 &=
nbsp; CEIU/OPEIU
Collective Bargaining (employer meeting)
31 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Holidays
AUGUST
1-25 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Holidays &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;
26 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Call
Centre meeting HRDC
National Executive Vice-Presidents Activity
Report - page 2
SEPTEMBER 2003
3
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; CIC
Briefing on Call Centre closures
12
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; CEIU/OPEIU
Employment Equity Committee meeting
HRDC HRUMCC
22-23
&=
nbsp; CE=
IU/OPEIU
Collective Bargaining Committee
25-26 &=
nbsp; Women’s
Committee Meeting
27 &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; By-laws
Committee Meeting
28-30
&=
nbsp; Na=
tional
Executive