CONCURRENT YUKON BRANCH/YHC GROUP AGM FOR 2019

THE PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF CANADA

Held January 21, 2020 at 1700h

MEETING MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER:

Meeting called to order by Yukon Branch President at 17:25h

MOTION TO APPROVE AGENDA

Motion to approve Agenda as presented made by Kathleen Chapman, seconded by Agnes Reidiger

Motion carried

ADOPTION OF THE CONCURRENT YUKON BRANCH/YHC GROUP AGM MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 28, 2018

Motion to approve the 2018 Minutes made by Kathleen Chapman, seconded by Anthony Miller

Motion carried

INTRODUCTION OF EXECUTIVE MEMBERS AND STEWARDS PRESENT

Mike Pare- Yukon Branch President

Sharlene Clarke- Acting Vice President

Kathleen Chapman- Member at Large

Stewards:

Valerie Emery, Kamira Tyerman (on leave)

Nancy Hughes- Steward from Environment Canada

Robert MacDonald- BC Yukon Regional Director

John Ehinger- BC Yukon Employment Relations Officer

Cara Ryan- YHC Group Negotiator

ADDRESS BY EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS OFFICER- John Ehinger

-John reinforced that when a member asks a steward a question, the member is also asking John a question via the steward

-John is available to take calls direction from members as well

FIRST CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Call for nomination of Mike Paré for President from Valerie Emery. No other nominations at this time

ADDRESS BY BC/YUKON REGIONAL DIRECTOR- Robert MacDonald

-Robert works for Transport Canada and is a Steward as well

-Said that Yukon Branch and YHC Members are very fortunate to have a PIPSC celebrity, Mike Paré, who was awarded BC/Yukon steward of the year. He is the first non-federal steward to win this award

-Asked that members share a bit of what they learned tonight in the workplace, to get the word out about PIPSC and create a conversation. Calendars and pins that members can leave out in the workplace are available

-Encouraged members to look at the PIPSC website

-It is important for members to stay engaged in our PIPSC Union. Under the previous Harper government we came close to loosing all our sick leave, and our pensions were attacked

-Encouraged members to remind their family and the community of the great work that people in unions do

-Recently in the news a union member was arrested. A Co-op locked out their employees while trying to change their pension from a defined benefit to defined contribution, which places all the risk on the employee not the employer

-Wants members to stay informed, engaged, and become stewards if they are inclined as we need to double the number stewards in the hospital

-Last year’s Yukon Regional Council motion to have territorial employees join the Yukon Federation of Labour was recently approved. (A small branch in BC joined the BC Federation of Labour). This will link the hospital members with Yukon Federal Members. They will have to figure out how to have a representative of PIPSC within the Yukon Federation of Labour.

YUKON BRANCH PRESIDENT’S REPORT- Mike Paré

Highlights:

-The most contentious issue in the past year at YHC was Temporary Assignment (“mandating”) to other workplaces

-Attendance Management- fighting to stop the employer every step of the way on this. YHC had it all lined up, then let it all fall, and they haven’t discussed it in 6 months

-YHC decided to “grieve” the Union during the past year

-Workplace Violence Prevention- up until yesterday there was no program but YHC is working towards getting it back together

-Reminded members that UMC items include all things that are not a grievance

-PIPSC was a major sponsor of concert in June of 2019, and we are repeating sponsoring this concert again on Saturday June 20, 2020

-During the Labour Day BBQ it was very busy and we served 1500 people in 3 hours

-We provided Many Rivers support last year during their strike. The was the best example of “Union Busting” we’ve seen in the territory, as all the workers were all laid off

-Mike made it to Dawson City to visit in this past year, but was unfortunately unable to make it to Watson. Mike will visit Watson this year

-We currently have two Stewards in Watson, and we are working on another in Dawson

ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORTS FOR YUKON BRANCH AND YHC GROUP

Motion to approve Financial Reports as presented made by Sharlene Clarke, seconded by Valerie Emery

Motion carried

SECOND CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Call for nomination of Amy Genier for Treasurer by Kathleen Chapman, seconded by Sharlene Clarke

TREASURY BOARD REPORTS

No treasury board reports presented

CASTING OF BALLOTS

Casting of ballots waived as only one nomination per position received from the floor

YHC GROUP COMMITTEE REPORTS

Education Committee- There is still money available for people to apply for over and above what they get from employer for education. Nurses are recommended to go to YRNA first for funding. Currently the hospital does not have anyone employed on the Education Committee. Kathleen Chapman is the main PIPSC member on the Education Committee
Pension Committee- Presented by Sharlene Clarke. YHC still has a defined benefit plan. This means the amount received is defined for the remainder of retirement; the employer is trying to switch to a defined contribution plan, where if the investments fail then employees have no money. The Yukon Government has to keep putting extra payments into the hospital and college plans, and YHC says the government is pressuring them to change the pension plan (based on false actuarial reports). PSAC has argued that changes do not need to be made. Sharlene Clarke says we should be saying something about pension plan changes to government during this next Territorial election year. New employees who are part time and don’t join the union can buy back pension their pension if they do decide to join. Pension statements have been changed it the last year to make them more realistic. These are very basic, and members need to ask for a statement before retirement. Robert MacDonald stated the threatened changes to defined contribution plans is not just a YHC issue, it is a union issue and also a Federal issue. The YHC Pension is currently very strong
Classification Committee- Presented by Kathleen Chapman. This committee is for when a position needs reclassification of pay level. There is a PIPSC member, PSAC member and independent person on this committee. No reclassification for PIPSC in this past year
Occupational Health and Safety Committee- Nothing to report
Dawson City/Watson Lake Community Hospital Report- they are still trying to work out 911 calls going to Dawson and Watson Hospitals (this was on the agenda last year)

Motion to approve YHC Group Committee Reports as presented made by Dave Walden, seconded by Valerie Emery

Motion carried

ELECTION RESULTS

Election waived as only one nomination per position received from the floor

ADDRESS BY YHC GROUP NEGOTIATOR- Cara Ryan

-Ratification opened today for 10 days closes Jan 31, 2020. There is a link for ballot key emailed out, and members need to contact Cara or Mike if they did not receive one, (email on Facebook page)

- Cara wants to recognize the YHC bargaining team- Amy Genier, Mike Symyrozum, Sharlene Clarke and Mike Paré, as this was lots of work, time and emotional investment. We faced a lot of concessions, and the team took everyone’s interests into consideration

-Major wins- cleaned up protective language around representation, discipline, and performance evaluation. Won an extra vacation accrual point

-Scheduling changes were a joint concern with YHC and PIPSC. Changes were made to rest days and vacation scheduling. There were no language changes except timelines for Christmas and Summer vacation approval

-Cara answered member questions about ratification vote- if members vote no then they should be ready to strike. We currently have not finalized an essential services agreement in case of a strike

NEW BUSINESS

No new business added

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 18:35h