PIPSC-CSC National Consultation Prairies Representative Report - September 2018
Fellow PIPSC members,
Your regional consultation team meets with management on a quarterly basis to discuss issues, exchange views, to seek and provide information and advice at a level appropriate to addressing or resolving issues in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. This process is worthwhile and effective for the most part and requires the hard work of a dedicated team of representatives.
At present, the team consists of 6 members covering each province in the Prairies and both the CS and SH groups. We are entitled to have more members on the team and we welcome anyone who is interested in participating to get in touch. In particular, we are looking for more representation from Alberta and from PIPSC groups outside of the CS and SH ranks (AV, PG) but anyone is welcome. Please note that PIPSC by-laws require members of the consultation team to be union Stewards.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the long-time contributions of Dr. Richard Howes, a Registered Psychologist at Stony Mountain Institution who has served on your regional consultation team for many years and will be stepping down shortly. Dr. Howes has been a valued contributor to the team and has represented the membership well. Thank you Dr. Howes!
During our meetings, we address issues that are raised by our membership and we can only do this if we hear from you when such issues arise. I encourage you to talk about issues with your coworkers and bring them forward to your local consultation team. Issues that are not resolved at the local level are raised to the regional level and so on to the national level if required. Should you not have local consultation at your workplace, you may raise issues directly to the regional team.
There are standing items on the RLMC agenda that we discuss at each meeting:
- Review of Harassment Report
- Review of Grievance Statistics
- Training Resources
- Information Management Services
- Health Services
- Staffing
- Information Management Services
- Health Services
We review the harassment and grievance reports identifying trends and/or problem areas for follow up. Training plans are reviewed for IMS and Health Services and issues regarding funding, travel, and occupational requirements, etc. are discussed. Staffing levels and HR plans are shared and discussed and issues brought forward.
One particular topic that has been hitting the agenda regularly is the Phoenix pay system. This is a difficult but important topic for us to tackle. It is frustrating to say the least for our members, for the union and for management. As decisions regarding this system are done at such a high level, it sometimes feels that we don’t have much of a voice but we ensure that anything that can be done locally or regionally gets done and that we keep the pressure on to keep moving forward on this file.
If you have any issues to raise or if you have an interest in participating in consultation, please contact one of your consultation team members:
- Alain Blais, CS, Manitoba
- Yadwinder Cheema, PS, Alberta
- Dr. Richard Howes, PS, Manitoba
- Kieth Laing, CS, Saskatchewan
- Colleen Leinenweber, NU, Saskatchewan
- Robert Scott, CS, Saskatchewan
Yours, in solidarity,
Robert Scott
PIPSC Regional Consultation President