Minutes from General Membership Meetings 2011
The minutes posted here are only a brief summary. For an exact record of the minutes recorded please contact President Alvin Malcolm
USW Local 9511
General Meeting February 15th. 2011
Toronto
STANDING MOTIONS
The Standing Motions for 2011 were all reviewed and passed until the first General Meeting of 2012. Anyone wishing a copy of them can email the President at malcolmal@hotmail.com and he will send you a copy
REDUCED HOURS OF WORK
Employer will “endeavour” “to give 5 days’ notice
OPERATIONAL DIRECTIVE
Parking Brake: Still waiting for letter from Employer
LOCAL GRIEVANCES UPDATE
Grievances that were resolved over a year ago still have not been signed off by the Employer’s Lawyers.
DATES AND LOCATIONS OF GENERAL MEETINGS – 2011
April 12, 2011 - Orillia
June 14, 2011 - Cambridge
September 13, 2011 – Oshawa
November 29, 2011 – Toronto
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Bijan Ghayouri has been appointed as Province wide Health and Safety Coordinator. Bijan’s responsibilities will include coordinating all provincial Health and safety issues and will provide the local Union President with regular updates and reports. If and when there is a need to address Health and Safety concerns with management representatives, Bijan and Alvin will work with Mary Dane to address any and all concerns expeditiously. If and when it does become necessary to invoke the services of the Manager of Health and Safety for Serco, (John McLean) the parties shall work together to schedule such meetings whereby the concerns can be dealt with.
The Union is researching to see if Bijan and the Vice-President, Wes Bartley can attend the Health and Safety Conference in Vancouver in April.
USW Local 9511
General Meeting April 12th, 2011
Orillia
Effective immediately Kevin Fuller has resigned his position from the Executive because he has retired; he will be submitting his written resignation shortly.
Operation Directive appropriate use of the LCS: REMINDER never access the computer for personal use as there is a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY!!!!!!
Layoff/recall: all laid off staff have now been recalled.
Steward Training/New Stewards: a bulletin will be sent out shortly requiring Stewards at selected DTC; approximately 5 Stewards are required across the province.
Operation Directive 2010-D-003 Parking Brake update: we are still waiting for an update from Mary Dan.e
Transfers/Internal postings: reminder that copy of transfer request forms MUST be submitted to both the Employer and the Union; the Member must also keep a copy for their files.
Question was asked if cash on hand should be invested to earn the Local interest; Kevon addressed the question and said the Local did not have enough cash on hand to do this.
Grievance update: the grievances for the past year that we have been waiting for the Employer's lawyer to sign off on have been given to the Union but were returned to the Employer to have some changes in language.
Union and Employer still in talks re: bilingual staff and layoffs; snow days.
Alvin and Kevon were invited to give a Union presentation at the Supervisor conference; they discussed the importance of consistency across the province and Serco/Union interaction
It was suggested we talk further about buying a small gift for retiring Members; to be discussed at the June meeting.
Next meeting is June 14/2011 in Cambridge
USW Local 9511
General Meeting June 14, 2011
Cambridge
USEAGE OF CELL PHONES DURING WORK HOURS:
DO NOT use unless on break or lunch
Throughout the province there are issues where daycares have attempted to contact a parent at the DTC and nobody answers the phone (or other family emergencies); we are not allowed to check our personal cells throughout the day; except at lunches and breaks; the directive states that we are only allowed to use company phones for emergencies i.e. DE in accident, client in distress etc., we have been advised by the company that you should give the Supervisors cell number as an emergency contact if the office line is not accessible – please ensure you let your Supervisor know that this number has been given to daycares, family members etc and stress that it is for emergency use only. DE cell number is the last number to be contacted in the case of an emergency.
ALTERED PAPERWORK
Under no circumstances should score sheets or CSA paperwork be altered in any way after the copy has been given to the applicant. These are LEGAL DOCUMENTS and to alter them will lead to suspension without pay or dismissal: there is zero tolerance. It’s far better to take the hit for the error and NOT put your job in jeopardy
PARKING BRAKE
Use at your discretion if you feel it is required only at slow speeds
NOTE FROM DIRECTIVE: Examiners are also generally prohibited from using the parking brake at low speeds however, Driver Examiners may in exceptional circumstances, and only when there is no other viable alternate method, use the parking brake as an intervention method in accordance with prescribed training, to avoid an otherwise serious and inevitable collision, and only when a vehicle is traveling at a very low speed (e.g. In a parking lot, leaving forward from a stop, inching forward slowly in traffic etc). Should a Driver Examiner use the parking brake as an intervention method under the aforementioned circumstances, there will be no disciplinary consequences.
UNION STEWARDS
Union Stewards are required at several DTC: locations are posted on the Local Website
LABOUR MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE UPDATE:
Mileage for staff commuting to other DTC is being raised from 45.5 cents to 55 cents per kilometre
Article 2.4(b) outlines when Supervisors are permitted to perform bargaining union work: across the province Supervisors (DE and CSA) are performing our work and grievances are going in across the province
Serco will be issuing letters to Members across the province that was off on sick leave, maternity leave, layoffs etc. And the company paid for LTD benefits; the letter will be requesting repayment of money
All Health and Safety issues should be addressed to Bijan at Metro East
Some Members have been told by their Supervisors that overtime MUST be taken in cash: this is NOT the case; Members are allowed to bank their overtime
Serco is working on a new uniform code for Members: black running shoes are being looked at as an alternative in the uniform policy (however they will be required to be solid black with no colours or markings on them) – these will be acceptable, but it is advised that the style of the shoe is discussed with the Supervisor before purchase is made to ensure the shoe is following the uniform policy.
Customer flow cameras are being installed in some DTC throughout the province; they are to monitor the business activity of customers throughout various periods of the day and to monitor peak, slow and the better flow of customers.
Office “Net Books” are going to be installed in 20 locations for staff usage on their breaks and lunches.
LOCAL GRIEVANCE UPDATE
Many outstanding grievances are going to be taken to arbitration to get settled; the grievance regarding multiple snow days is going to be expedited, which means it will be heard within 21 days of the paperwork being filed.
It was noted that better communication is required within the Local to keep Members informed and updated once the grievances go to Step 3
We are looking at setting up a centralization of grievances so that all grievances throughout the province would go through one person and they would monitor timelines, etc to ensure everything is being done in a uniform manner and on time
PASS/FAIL RATE
Norms are based on the last three years that the business was under the MTO umbrella
DONATION
A $250.00 donation was sent to SOAR; these are retired USW members that are always available throughout multiple chapters in the province; when there is a strike these past Members help out on picket lines, etc
TRANSFERS AND INTERAL POSTINGS
Once again make sure BOTH the Employer and the President have a copy of the request
NEXT MEETING IN OSHAWA SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
USW Local 9511
General Meeting September 13, 2011
Oshawa
NON-BARGAINING UNIT STAFF CONDUCTING BARGAINING UNIT WORK
Step 3 grievance is going straight to arbitration. Mary Dane has said booking road test appointments for Supervisors will stop immediately.
LAYOFF/REDUCED HOURS
Huntsville and Timmins have already started with layoffs. As soon as hours are reduced, cross-trained and supervisors are not allowed to be on the road or the front counter.
STEWARD TRAINING UPDATE
Newly appointed stewards will not be trained right now. Elections for the new Executive and Stewards take place in March 2012. Training will take place after the elections.
ATTENDANCE/LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Letters are being issued on a regular basis across the province. If there are four occurrences in six months a letter will be issued. The letter is much softer than the original letter that was being issued. To date, there has been no disciplinary action.
EXECUTIVE AND STEWARD ELECTION MARCH 2012
The process will start in January 2012. PLEASE MAKE SURE OUR PRESIDENT HAS YOU CURRENT ADDRESS IN CASE THERE ARE ANY MAILOUTS. Give your new address to your Steward so they can forward it to Alvin.
LOCAL GRIEVANCES UP-DATE
1. Seven snow day grievances are going to arbitration hopefully in October. This is an issue that needs to be settled before the winter months.
2. Students working while seniority staff on layoffs: A tentative agreement has been reached with the Employer; however, one person was left off the list of Members eligible. The name has been resubmitted to the Employer and we are waiting for a response.
3. Seniority Member layoff vs. bilingual layoff (i.e.) if there are four bilingual examiners at a DTC when there are layoffs, the bilingual who is most senior will be kept and the remainder will be laid off according to the seniority list.
4. Steward vs. bilingual layoffs: Stewards need to be available throughout the year to be available to our Members when they are needed.
5. Pass/fail rate grievance does not have arbitration date yet.
EXECUTIVE AND STEWARD TELECONFERENCE CALLS
These calls are to be held monthly to keep the lines of communication open so we know what is happening at DTC’s throughout the province.
GRIEVANCE CO-ORDINATOR
A co-ordinator is needed to keep track of all grievances going on throughout the province. This person would be responsible for making sure all timelines are met.
NEXT MEETING IN TORONTO NOVEMBER 29, 2011
USW Local 9511
General Meeting November 29, 2011
TORONTO
NON BARGAINING STAFF CONDUCTION BARGAINING UNION WORK:
This practice has mostly stopped throughout the province, although some of the
DTC are continuing to do it. DTC are still using cross trained CSA’s in some
cases. Cross trained staff should only be used in emergencies and not on a
regular basis. Appointments should not be booked for cross trained staff.
Alvin has been invited to attend a meeting in December with Ann Blanchard
and Jim Boston
LAY-OFF AND REDUCED HOURS:
To date there have been approximately five layoffs throughout the province,
although hours are being cut in some areas. In Clinton, staff is on reduced
hours—staff are being used to cover morning and lunch breaks, but the
Supervisor is covering the afternoon breaks. This is being investigated.
EXECUTIVE AND STEWARD ELECTION – MARCH 2012:
Kevon will be having his staff make up ballots, boxes etc. Executive volunteers
will be required throughout the process to ensure the process runs smoothly.
Some of the voting may be done by mail, especially in the northern regions. If
anyone has moved since the strike – please ensure your Steward has your
current address so they can pass it along to Alvin so all staff will be included
in the voting process.
ARBRITRATION UPDATE:
January 30, 2012 is date for the Snow Day grievances. We are waiting for a
Response from Mary Dane, as the Union has requested that the Employer
Abide by past practice until the Arbitrator makes a decision. The first week
of December Alvin and Kevon are meeting with the Employer to discuss
Supervisors doing our work. This will determine if it will be taken to
Arbitration.
NEW BUSINESS:
Suggestions were put forth for the Executive and Steward monthly teleconference
calls to include time at the end of the call where the Health and Safety
Reps can join in to bring concerns forward. Bijan Ghayouri, our Health and
Safety Co-ordinator, would be available to address concerns and to speak on
important issues.
NEXT MEETING TO BE ANNOUNCED
