Think Tank Meeting Thursday June 7, 2007
The new CUPE 391Executive met last Thursday to:
- set meeting dates
- establish the roles of the new executive
- review committees
- update proposal to join Vancouver District Labour Council
- discuss new VESP agreement
- review campaign to save the Bindery
- set goals and objectives for the 2007/2008 term of office
The new meeting dates will be on the website shortly. The next proposed General meeting is at Central, Tuesday July 17th.
Committees:
Anti-Contracting Out Committee
The need for this committee is obvious. Please respond to Ed Dickson’s e-mail asking for member participation in this new committee. Ed has suggested the week of June 18, or June 25th. around 6.00 p.m. at the union office. Wednesday or
Thursday of either week are the preferred days.
Grievance Committee
The proposed budget for this committee will be increased substantially to reflect current activities. We have one arbitration being written up, dates set for two more and the maternity top-up grievance is at step four.
Grievances are being written with increasing frequency; as often as a violation of the collective agreement or past practice takes place. This committee can always use new members. Education is provided.
Union Contacts
Gerard Batty will continue to be the coordinator for the union contact list. Ed will be the liaison to the group. It was suggested that the union contacts have a meeting more regularly, and identify people who want stewardship training.
Proposed Pensions Committee
The arbitration over the part-time/auxiliary contributions has shown the Union that we clearly need to be more informed about our Municipal Pension Plan. This plan is a joint trusteeship with the Employers. Some of the issues being debated by the nominees of the board:
- Contribution holidays (the employer balks at paying their share of contributions when the kitty is deemed to be full. The unions say: that is our money. It can be used to improve benefits
- How the money is invested. No companies with armament connections please. e.g.General Electric is the 9th largest producer of arms in the world.
- No to P3 investment. P3’s take work away from municipal workers and cost more to run. The municipal workers invest in municipal pensions and make our future retirement safe.
Proposed Young Workers Committee:
We need to promote our young activists. Education will be forthcoming.
Vancouver Employee Savings Plan
Peter attended the VESP handover. All investments are under the same agreement with the same access. The accounts will be moving from VanCity Savings to Canada Western Trust. This will be in effect July 1. In October, more options will be coming. Formal notification will be forthcoming. The executive recognized CUPE 15 for spearheading the changeover, and for helping to clean up much of the language in the contract.
Vancouver District Labour Council
Joining this committee has been bruited about by the last three presidents. The time to take a closer look at joining this organisation has come. VDLC offers much in the way of education programs and exposure to labour issues that affect us. We will be asking Bill Saunders, the president of VDLC to attend the next General meeting
Goals and Objectives of 2007/2008
- Successful completion of contract negotiations
- Implementation of a public advocacy campaign
- Create new affiliations with other labour organizations
- Redefine union-management relationships
- Improve communications with and representation of members
The details of the goals and objectives will be available at the July 17th General meeting. The executive seeks to enrich and build the social capacity of our union and its resources. A cost-share with CUPE National has been proposed to help build strong communities. A communications plan has been developed for CUPE 391. The Communications committee will be examining it and giving feedback. We encourage your attendance and support at this meeting.