The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada
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Meeting Minutes

Executive Meeting –

SH Montreal/North Shore Sub-Group and Branch

Held on February 16, 2022, 5 p.m. via Zoom.

 

Agenda

  1. Welcome
  2. Attendance of Executive Members
  3. Internal Functioning (mixed SH Sub-Group/Branch)
  4. Budget
  5. Meeting Formats and Future Meetings
  6. Miscellaneous:
  • “Other related duties” vs. overtime (Valérie Tremblay and Pascale Dorais)
  • Mandatory COVID-19 testing (Valérie Tremblay)
  • Bargaining Committee follow-up (Éric Massey and Donald Moisan)

 

 

  1. Welcome

We welcome you and wish you all the best as we resume the Executive’s activities.

 

  1. Attendance of Executive Members

Present:

Valérie Tremblay

Pascale Dorais

Éric Massey

Donald Moisan

Wendy Blouin

Raphaël Carpentier

 

Absent: Linda Stevens, Mario Déry, Christine Bégin, Valérie Dupuis, Paul-Étienne Paradis.

 

  1. Internal Functioning (mixed SH Sub-Group/Branch)

Eric Massey reminded everyone that according to the By-Laws and Regulations, after two unjustified absences from Executive meetings, the member is excluded from the Executive. He also reminded us that eligible expenses (meals, transportation, etc.) may be claimed.

All participants agreed that it would be better to hold the next meeting in person as it is more pleasant and friendly.

A discussion followed about the pros and cons of the Sub-Group and Branch holding Executive meetings together. The main point was that given the small number of members involved, it would be better to join forces. We all agreed to hold future meetings together.

 

  1. Budget

Donald Moisan argued that it is important to separate the Sub-Group budget from the Branch budget to avoid confusion for the National Group. Some expenses may be combined depending on the type of activity/expense. He also proposed that the budget be used for recruitment. It was mentioned that money be taken from the Better Together budget.

 

Éric Massey reminded everyone that there is a budget available for each workplace for events or other union activities. In recent years, cell phone costs for the Sub-Group and Branch presidents have been reimbursed by the Sub-Group.

 

It should be noted that there are no internal regulations for allocating the budget, either at the Sub-Group or Branch level. This will be discussed for a vote at the next meeting.

 

Valérie Tremblay shared how a school group she participated in voted for allocating budget funds. Their process involved executive members voting on each expenditure electronically (by email), with a 48-hour deadline to make a decision and the majority decision prevailing. The idea is that everyone can express their agreement or disagreement as well as their underlying reasons.

 

The members present were unanimous on the importance of transparency in the allocation of funds and the need to consult all Executive members on each expenditure.

Pascale Dorais raised the issue of sharing the budget fairly between the different institutions and work teams.

 

Once a method of allocation has been decided, it will have to be presented to the members and then incorporated into the By-Laws and Regulations.

 

  1. Meeting Formats and Future Meetings

It was agreed that after the availability survey is sent, members will be given 7 days to reply before a date is finalized. The goal is to take less time and effort in organizing our meetings. The next meeting will be at the St-Hubert restaurant in Laval.

Given the distance some people have to travel, it was agreed to start the meeting at 5:30–6 p.m. There was talk of alternating between in-person and virtual formats to reduce transportation hassles. In the spirit of fairness to all members, it was proposed that meetings be held in alternating locations.

 

It was determined that meetings lasting one to two hours would be sufficient, depending on the agenda items to be addressed.

 

Donald Moisan offered to check with Valérie Tremblay on how to proceed with electronic voting, and then to vote on the cell phone expenses of Éric Massey and Raphaël Carpentier.

 

Éric Massey volunteered to try to reach out to the engineers in our group to join us.

 

  1. Miscellaneous:
  • “Other related duties” vs. overtime (Valérie Tremblay and Pascale Dorais)

Pascale Dorais explained that colleagues have had to take vital signs, distribute medication and change incontinence underpants due to the context of the COVID-19 outbreak and the temporary absence of an orderly.

Éric Massey mentioned that the orderlies are paid out of the nursing budget. A request had been made by management at the Regional and National level to obtain more funds, but this had been refused.

It was decided that, by default, the nursing staff would take over the tasks normally assigned to the orderlies. A suggestion was made to transfer an orderly from one institution to another, but the issue of competencies arose regarding the different needs of the various clienteles.

In all cases, the related duties should be temporary and not long-term. It is vital that staff be properly trained to carry out these non-standard tasks so they can deliver quality service and avoid injuries.

 

  • Mandatory COVID-19 testing (Valérie Tremblay)

Members were reminded that the 15 minutes per day assigned to mandatory testing may be paid as overtime or vacation time, or as a reduction in daily working time, at the discretion of the employee. The measure is retroactive to January 1, 2022.

Valérie Tremblay stated that the union should officially inform members of this, as there is some confusion.

 

  • Bargaining Committee follow-up (Éric Massey and Donald Moisan)

Éric Massey said that two meetings have been held to date and that the team is almost entirely new. Twelve topics were identified for prioritization and will be submitted to members in the form of a survey in the coming weeks. In the last survey of this type, there was only a 12% participation rate nationally and 3% for the Quebec Region. A low participation rate diminishes the credibility of the demands presented to the Treasury Board.

The committee reiterated that teamwork is key to avoiding inequities between different professional groups.

 

A later date will be set in March for the vote on a budget, cell phones, and each person’s roles.

The agenda will be sent with the minutes so that everyone can prepare.

 

________________________________

President, SH-CSC-Montreal/North Shore Sub-Group

 

_________________________________

President, CSC-Montreal/North Shore Branch

Published on 27 April 2022