National Executive Meeting
October 30 – November 1, 2017
Saint-Sauveur, Québec
| Chairperson | June Winger | National President |
| Members | Philippe Turcq | Executive Vice-President |
| Dan Frost | Vice-President (NL/NB) | |
| Terry Kiley | Vice-President (NS) | |
| Benoit Laberge | Vice-President (QC) | |
| Jeff Wrinn | Vice-President (NCR) | |
| Serge Desbiens | Vice-President (ON) | |
| Mona Simcoe | Vice-President (MB/SK) | |
| Bryan Meakin | Vice-President (AB/North) | |
| T. Mark Miller | Vice-President (BC) | |
| Cathy O’Kane | Vice-President (NPF) | |
| Eugene Stone | Vice-President (CSE) | |
| Ex-Officio | Paul Jones | Human Rights Advisor |
| Recording Secretary | Sandra Montpetit |
OPENING REMARKS
The National President welcomed members to the fall meeting of the National Executive. Deputy Vice-Presidents are attending this first meeting in the mandate, in accordance with a resolution adopted at the triennial convention.
Patrick Desormeaux – DVP NPF Rick Parenteau – DVP AB/North
Michael Carlos – DVP CSE Dennis Sheppard – DVP NL/NB
Gerry McEachern – DVP NS Kevin Hunt – DVP BC
Carolyn Handley – DVP Ontario Michel Allard – DVP Québec
Shaunna Plourde – 1st alternate to Human Rights Advisor
Absent: Glen Johnston – DVP Man/Sask and Robert Basque – DVP NCR
The National Officers and DVPs attended a teambuilding exercise provided by Dominique Dennery from Clariti Group on the first morning.
The harassment statement was read aloud and Human Rights Advisor Paul Jones was named intervener.
The hours of sessions were set as follows:
Monday, October 30, 9:00 – 12:00 / 1:00 to 5:00
Tuesday, October 31, 9:00 -12:00 / 1:00 to 5:00
Wednesday, November 1, 9:00 – 12:00 / 1:00 to termination of business.
The AGENDA was adopted as amended. M-s Kiley/Simcoe CARRIED
Honour Roll: A moment of silence was observed for the following members who have passed since the last meeting:
Brother Ron Marsh, Local 80407 Sister Linda Gagnon, Local 70608
Brother Brian James, Local 00629 Sister Mary McAvany, Local 21007
Brother Joe Lescene, Local 21008
Previous minutes from August 2017 m-s Turcq/Desbiens CARRIED
STANDING ITEMS
ADM_IE_RPOPS m-s Miller/Turcq
VP Miller presented his written report. The meeting on October 23 focused on improved communication. The following items were discussed:
DCC takeover: Alberta Garrison DCC takeover will be investigated.
Work boots: Someone will be assigned to resolve the issue of members not being reimbursed for work boots.
Apprenticeship: The Apprenticeship and Operational Development Plan (AODP) is based on the understanding that there is no guarantee to the employee at the end but instead dependent if vacancy is available
Classification: IE no longer has a dedicated classification person
Funding approval limits: Have been raised for Commanding Officers which should speed up project deliveries.
Defence Policy: There are assurances that there will be no workforce adjustments despite mention of P3s.
The next meeting is on December 14 in Ottawa, which will also be attended by VPs Kiley and Laberge. RV 1 – CARRIED
National President Update:
Meeting was had with Assistant Deputy Minister Kin Choi and Director General Gilles Moreau about the way forward and discussed ongoing issues.
Meeting to be scheduled with the new Deputy Minister Jody Thomas to talk about membership issues.
Members are encouraged to complete the Public Service Employee Survey, only 42% overall have completed it, should not fear having their identity revealed.
Phoenix: PSAC has a shortfall of $6M due to Phoenix pay issues. PSAC has advised members would finally see the start of the correction to their union dues as of the November 15, 2017 pay, including the commencement of recovering arrears and issuance of refunds. (Secretary note: the dues recovery has since been delayed by the Treasury Board Secretariat). Members who have overpaid will receive a refund of all excess monies. Members who have underpaid will see a recovery rate of not more than $75 per pay for up to a maximum of 12 months of dues owed. To put this in perspective, approximately 40 000 members owe less than $75. Members who will suffer a hardship resulting from the recovery of unpaid dues are encouraged to contact the PSAC office to arrange a payment plan which will ease the burden. UNDE members may contact Kim Brackhahn at National Office for an estimate of what is owed. Locals are reminded to check MUD sheets for accuracy and inform Kim of all inaccuracies. There was discussion that PSAC had stated they would not collect lost union dues from members affected by Phoenix, National President Winger is going to ask Robyn Benson for a letter clarifying PSAC’s stance.
PSAC Special Dues Levy: At the 2012 PSAC Convention delegates voted for a special dues levy to create a fund to ensure the long-term solvency or health of the PSAC Staff Pension Plan. The special dues levy was renewed at the 2015 PSAC Convention. The levy, which amounts to approximately $2.45 per member per month, was applied January 2017 as special payments to make up a solvency deficit of the PSAC SPP in 2016. The NBoD determined during their annual review of the levy that in August 2017 the health of the PSAC SPP had improved enough to discontinue the special payments.
At the 2015 PSAC Convention delegates voted for a Special Levy to the General Fund when a fall of 2% or greater of revenue – or the equivalent of $1.5 million occurs. The exact amount of this Special Levy will be determined based on the amount needed to maintain total revenue at the budgeted amount. This Special Dues Levy will not exceed $5 per member per month or $60 per member per year. Currently PSAC is projected to be approximately $6 million or 7% short of what was budgeted.
With the introduction of Phoenix, it is currently impossible to increase or decrease union dues. This inability to adjust dues prevents PSAC from discontinuing the 2012 Special Dues Levy for the PSAC SPP and prevents PSAC from introducing the 2015 Special Levy to the General Fund as voted on by the PSAC Convention delegates.
The NBoD decided at the October meeting to end the 2012 Special Dues Levy for the Pension Solvency Fund and instead apply those monies to the 2015 Special Levy to the General Fund to bridge the dues shortfall whilst employing every legal avenue to recover the missing dues from the employer. While the $2.45 per member per month falls short of what the delegates had elected the NBoD determined it was the imperative to manage the risk to membership’s pay and based on the Finance Committee’s assessment, would be sufficient in the interim. Resulting from this decision, members will not risk their pay being further jeopardised as there is no overall dues increase nor decrease until the 2018 PSAC Triennial Convention, where delegates will determine the dues rate for the next mandate.
NEW BUSINESS
Appointment of Standing Committees and OPIs – The National President presented a list of committee appointments of each of the VPs for ratification.
Motion to adopt m/s Miller-Meakin CARRIED
STANDING ITEMS
Real_Property_West m-s Simcoe/Turcq
VP Simcoe presented her written report. There will be reorganizing in the armouries but no workforce adjustments, the work will be contracted out through DCC or PSPC. The positions that are currently civilian at these armories will move back to the bases/wings.
Management is aware of the condition of the firehall in Dundurn but there is no funding for this until 2018. RV 2 – CARRIED
Land Forces 2nd_CAD_Div_Report m-s Laberge/Miller
VP Laberge presented his written report which indicated there has been no meeting due to the boycott. However, the first JLP training (UMCC) will take place in Valcartier from the 18 to 19 of November. Following this training, meetings will begin again sometime in November. RV 3 – CARRIED
Land Forces 3rd_CAD_Div m-s Simcoe/Desbiens
VP Simcoe presented her written report. The next meeting will be held in December 2017, items on the agenda are: P3s, Phoenix, Dundurn to change to Army Command from Air Force Command, Contracting out of Armories and issues with length of time for security screenings. RV 4 – CARRIED
Land Forces 4th_CAD_Div m-s Desbiens/Turcq
VP Desbiens presented his written report, the two main items discussed at this meeting were the cleaner positions at CFB Kingston which are facing a shortage, the new plan would contract out but have no job losses nor workforce adjustments. A business case would propose to bring employees back in-house.
The other item is Phoenix at CFB Petawawa, a new checkmark has been added to the Pay Action Request (PAR) so that it can be better tracked. RV 5 – CARRIED
Land Forces 5th_CAD_Div m-s Frost/Kiley
VP Frost presented his report which identified that the next meeting is in November 2017, there was no meeting during this period. RV 6 – CARRIED
Air_Command m-s Miller/Turcq
VP Miller presented his written report which indicated the next meeting will be scheduled in January 2018, there was no meeting during this period. RV 7 – CARRIED
CFHA – Canadian Forces Housing Agency m-s Frost/Wrinn
VP Frost’s report indicated that there was no meeting for this period. There was some discussion about the VPs speaking to Local Presidents about members attending LMCCs to have better understanding and gets them involved. RV 8 – CARRIED
DRDC m-s Meakin/Desbiens
VP Meakin presented his written report. With the changes in the office of the ADM, there have been no meetings scheduled at this time. RV 9 – CARRIED
CFHS – Canadian Forces Health_Services m-s Wrinn/Miller
VP Wrinn presented his written report. Health Services has now been given authority to approve and reimburse licensing fees, which will now streamline the process. RV 10 – CARRIED
Health_&_Safety m-s Kiley/Desbiens
VP Kiley presented his written report.
Work refusal – tunnel inspections in Gagetown: The level of radon gas is being monitored and an investigation is underway by local Health and Safety committee, remedial action will be taken as required.
Return to work: The Office of Disability Management (ODM) has a working group developing the RTW program, it has started in the NCR and will expand across the country. Reports of injuries that are on leave without pay (LWOP) need to be sent to VP Kiley and/or EVP Turcq. Members need to be educated before returning to work. RV 11 – CARRIED
Real Property_Ontario_Region m-s Desbiens/Turcq
VP Desbiens presented his written report. There is a new co-chair, LCol Donald Henley.
Phoenix update: there are currently 275,000 outstanding cases, instructions on how to resubmit will be sent out to units along with a guide on how to read pay stubs regarding retro pay.
Workstations: It was identified that 30% of the workforce requires sit-stand workstations. The Commanding Officer has authorized the purchase of these without the need of an ergonomic assessment.
Central Heating Plant: In Trenton a meeting identified that a change from a central to a unit heat distribution was being studied. The result would produce no workforce adjustments, although there may be a need for more personnel for regular maintenance of these new systems. In the NL/NB region they are have reclassified the HP3 back up to HP4 since they no longer have supervision. Overtime is up 500%. RV 12 – CARRIED
NEW BUSINESS
Safety Boots – VP Laberge explained that there have been issues being properly reimbursed for safety footwear. They are not a taxable benefit, like safety glasses. EVP Turcq will bring this up at the next CFMG meeting.
REGIONAL REPORTS
Newfoundland/Labrador, New Brunswick m-s Frost/Desbiens
VP Frost presented his written report and gave an update on each of his Locals. Phoenix still being the biggest issue, even casuals are not being paid. He will be submitting business cases for Classification Training for the Treasury Board Locals and Workplace Violence Training for both the Treasury Board and Private Sector Locals through PSAC. RV 13 – CARRIED
Nova_Scotia m-s Kiley/Miller
VP Kiley presented his written report outlining various meetings he has attended for this period. One meeting was with the new manager of MARLANT, Rear-Admiral Craig Baines, they discussed various subjects including an employment equity plan, one that is fair, respectful, inclusive and supportive of diversity. The region also had a successful Phoenix demo. RV 14 – CARRIED
Quebec m-s Laberge/Meakin
VP Laberge presented his written report which identified the meetings and activities he attended during this period. His region organized a Phoenix demo with a low turnout.
Joint Learning Program: this program is being rolled out in the Quebec Region for all members, in other regions across the country it is not mandatory but strongly encouraged for all members to attend. RV 15 – CARRIED
National Capital Region m-s Wrinn/Meakin
VP Wrinn presented his written report which outlined meetings and activities he attended during this period. The first OGUL meeting (Ottawa-Gatineau Union Locals) of his mandate was successful. Working on the reorganization of his Locals as the NCR members are now in 47 buildings and this will be going down to 8. RV 16 – CARRIED
Ontario m-s Desbiens/Simcoe
VP Desbiens presented his written report, there was a regional conference call in early September will his Locals to discuss the way ahead for the mandate. He gave a bargaining update from Local 00639 who have entered conciliation. RV 17 – CARRIED
Communications Security Establishment m-s Stone/Frost
VP Stone presented his written report which identified meetings he attended for this period, including a brief bargaining session held on 11 October. CSE Management have not yet received a mandate from Treasury Board so no meaningful discussions could be had.
There was some discussion on where CSE reports to in terms of a Health & Safety Policy Committee, this will be added to the next National Executive meeting agenda. RV 18 – CARRIED
Non-Public Funds m-s O’Kane/Laberge
VP O’Kane presented her written report which gave a detailed update on each of the region’s Locals and where each is at in the bargaining process. She has been travelling across the country to attend each of the AGM meetings. The Goose Bay Local is still in trusteeship, she is going there at the end of November to work on either forming their own Local or join other existing Locals.
She also had a conference call with Labour Relations in consultation about NPF Benefit Renewal, although it seems they had already decided on the way forward, NPF members want more input into what their benefits are. RV 19 – CARRIED
Manitoba-Saskatchewan m-s Simcoe/Wrinn
VP Simcoe presented her written report which provided highlights of each of her Locals. All of the AGMs have been completed with the exception of Shilo. Also, VP Simcoe has applied to attend the Canada Labour College program in 2018. RV 20 – CARRIED
Alberta and the North m-s Meakin/Simcoe
VP Meakin presented his written report. Working on potential upcoming training sessions in Alberta as there has been interest in a few of the modules. Monthly teleconference calls with the Locals in the region will be starting on November 20th 2017. RV 21 – CARRIED
British Columbia m-s Miller/Desbiens
VP Miller presented his written report listing his activities for this period as well as new elections for his Local executives, AGM cycle still to follow. The anti-contracting out & anti-Phoenix rally during Convention was a success and got VP Miller a meeting with the Commanding Officer of the Fleet Management Facility. Separate employer Local 21018 continues to struggle with the employer concerning their bargaining process, meetings will continue in February. RV 22 – CARRIED
Human_Rights_Advisor m-s Desbiens/Meakin
Human Rights Advisor Jones presented his written report which outlined his activities for this period. His main priority this mandate is to implement a Human Rights Policy which needs to be adopted at the UNDE Triennial Convention. Also, to create a UNDE Human Rights network which will enable the development of a communication system, to include the current Facebook page. There are currently three regions without a Human Rights Coordinator. RV 23 – CARRIED
NATIONAL OFFICE
EVP Turcq’s presented his written report. The EVP Report includes grievance lists by region and the Labour Relations Officer (LRO) reports. The COMTRA update confirmed the next Local Presidents Conference will take place in Ottawa on February 23 and 24, 2018.
Phoenix issues still a major problem across the country, National Office looking at re-hiring a consultant since the last one did not work out. Anyone who is has a pay problem is asked to continue to send it by e-mail to payissues@unde.org. Attendance at regional rallies need to increase before there can be a National Day of Action, to hopefully have this in February 2018 which would be the 2-year anniversary of Phoenix. We need new ideas on how to get members out at these rallies, some members are worried that there will be repercussions from their managers. RV 24 – CARRIED
NEW BUSINESS
Mandate for 2017-2020 – Carried Business from Convention
The National President went through each resolution that was carried at Convention to identify the party responsible for the follow-up action.
National Human Rights Policy – Way forward
Human Rights Advisor Jones presented the policy with a few grammatical corrections. Discussion included whether an annual conference was necessary or not since PSAC already has a National Human Rights Conference and that there is an annual UNDE Human Rights Coordinators meeting. It was also noted to change the wording for Human Rights Coordinators to include the CSE and NPF representative and not have them separate.
Motion to Amend m-s Meakin/Turcq
To amend the policy to remove the conference entirely and correct the HR Coordinator wording for the regions. RV 25 – CARRIED
On amended National Human Rights Policy m-s Wrinn/Simcoe RV 26 – CARRIED
STANDING ITEMS
Apprenticeship m-s Miller/Desbiens
VP Miller declared a nil report since there has been no meeting since the last one in August. RV 27 – CARRIED
Bylaws m-s Miller/Simcoe
VP Miller presented his written report which provided updates to the UNDE Bylaws as well as the Harassment Policy. These new updates policies will be send to all Local Presidents by e-mail electronically. VP Miller reminded the VPs to send him their quarterly regional harassment reports. The next Bylaws meeting will be in December 2017 or January 2018 where they will work on a Travel Policy mandated from Convention, comments or options for this are welcomed by all. RV 28 – CARRIED
Employee Assistance Program m-s Wrinn/Turcq
VP Wrinn presented his written report. The National EAP 35-year celebration in October was well attended. The National President will be attending an EAP National Joint Declaration signing on Dec. 7th where she will mention founding UNDE member Bob Percher as spear-heading the program. RV 29 – CARRIED
Finance m-s Wrinn/Turcq
VP Meakin presented the written Finance report as well as the financial statements and the membership spreadsheet.
Audited Financial Statements: VPs are reminded to ensure Locals submit their audited financial statements for the year ended September 30, 2017 as well as the AGM minutes by the end of December. If not received by January 1st, rebates will be withheld and Locals will not be eligible to attend UNDE functions until these documents are received. Both the financial statements and the minutes should be sent directly to Amanda Agnew, not to anyone else at national office.
Claims: If claims are being sent electronically they should be sent to the e-mail address claims@unde.org along with all the receipts. A new online claim submission will be developed in the new year. RV 30 – CARRIED
Firefighter m-s Desbiens/Laberge
VP Desbiens presented his written report. The FR Committee had a successful meeting on October, the meeting minutes can be found on the UNDE website. With FR pensions’ not being equitable, Heather Finn from PSAC is preparing a lobbying document to present when meeting with MPs. The next Wellness meeting is scheduled for Dec 12. A new group was formed by the CFFM on the “cancer prevention” file, that group will meet early December, their scope will be developed at that time. Future FR Steering Committee meetings will be scheduled to coincide with the national firefighter’s memorial commemoration following the second Sunday in September. RV 31 – CARRIED
Honours_&_Awards m-s Kiley/Laberge
The Honours and Awards Committee Chair, VP Kiley, presented the Committee’s written report in two parts.
Part A – There were a total of 11 scholarship applications received at National Office. The four successful recipients met all the requirements and were therefore recommended for the $2,000 scholarship, and they are:
Simon Derome, Local 00641, CFB Kingston, ON, awarded the Ken Green Scholarship. Simon will be attending University of PEI, Charlottetown, PEI
Nicholas Oyakawa, Local 21018, CFB Comox, BC, awarded the Pat McGrath Scholarship. Nicholas will be attending North Island College, Campbell River, BC.
Jonathan Kierstead, Local 80406, CFB Halifax, NS, awarded the Gary Smith Scholarship. Jonathan will be attending Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. NS.
Tanner McKinnon, Local 00641, CFB Kingston, ON, will be awarded the Bob Percher Scholarship. Tanner will be attending Trent University, Peterborough, ON.
m-s Kiley/O’Kane CARRIED
Part B – The Committee also received an application for a 30-year pin for Brother James Stronach, 80403 Greenwood. The Committee reviewed the nomination and is satisfied that he meets the criteria for this award.
Committee recommends concurrence. m-s Kiley/Desbiens
CARRIED
Young_Workers m-s Simcoe/Meakin
VP Simcoe presented her written report. The Committee has created new email accounts, a new logo as well as a Facebook page. They have also developed an action plan whose mandate is to: Identify, Recruit, Educate and Engage Young Workers in National Defence.
They are also working on a survey which, once completed, will be sent out through the VP of each region. RV 33 – CARRIED
NEW BUSINESS
Information bulletin – calculation of wages during acting appointment
We have been waiting on a letter from PSAC and TB concerning the calculation of acting pay back to 2013. The National President has been asked to talk to Robyn Benson about the urgency to get this letter distributed.
UNDE SC/HP Sub-Committees Members
UNDE has been allotted three seats on the PSAC HP sub-committee to represent the entire 247 UNDE HP population. The HP sub-committee will act in an advisory capacity to the PSAC SV Bargaining Team to ensure the team is informed of the issues and preferred resolutions unique to the HPs when presenting to the employer. Therefore, UNDE has organized a meeting for the HP Sub-Committee on November 21 to discuss their bargaining issues and elect advisors to the bargaining team. UNDE has further been allotted two seats on the PSAC SC sub-committee to represent the entire 70 UNDE SC population who are employed in the British Columbia and Nova Scotia regions only.
UNDE Bargaining Conference
The National President spoke of the upcoming UNDE bargaining conference this week. More than 300 demands were received. Participants will need to push through to get all demands seen in two days, as well as elect those from each group to attend the PSAC bargaining conference in March. Must have in attendance, a nominator and seconder from the bargaining unit for those wanting to be elected.
Triennial Convention – Review and Feedback
VP Simcoe asked to discuss everyone’s thoughts on the UNDE Triennial Convention in August. It was noted that the activities were good as well as the space the Convention was in. Need more time for caucuses and better spacing in future. It was great having one bilingual person on the Host Committee. A concern was expressed questioning whether electronic voting is better than paper ballot voting. The Hospitality Suite raised $3513 for a charity in Victoria.
EVP Travel
EVP Turcq asked to discuss increasing the EVP travel budget to be more in line with the National President’s travel budget. The National President stated that it was imperative the National Executive respect the decision of the convention delegates as the supreme governing body regardless of how they feel about the decision made.
Notice of Motion by EVP Turcq.
Motion m-s Turcq/Miller
Whereas the UNDE line item travel for EVP is restricted to $55,000;
Whereas the members would like to see the EVP or President on as required basis;
Whereas the National President travel line item is fixed at $150,000.
Be It Resolved that the President’s travel line item be used when the EVP travels on the President’s behalf.
The National President ruled the Motion out of order as it is outside the scope of this body to overrule a decision elected by the delegates of the UNDE Triennial Convention.
The EVP challenged the ruling of the chair. SUSTAINED
Roundtable final comments from everyone before the meeting ended.
Adjournment.