Posted on by anju parmar

SPECIAL GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Saturday February 18th 13:00hrs

1880 Triumph St. Lower Auditorium

(The old Union Hall)

This is an in-person meeting

Registration will start at 12 pm and the meeting will start at 1300 hrs.

(Auditorium capacity 400 people) 

Special General Membership Meeting Agenda

  • Land Acknowledgement
  • Harassment policy
  • Notices of motion

In Solidarity,

Anju Parmar, President

**Sign Language interpreters are not confirmed**

Motion 1

 Whereas when a member files a grievance, when the first level hearing is scheduled,

Be its resolved that the griever be given the opportunity by the grievance officer to be invited to the hearing.

Motion 2

10.1 MONTHLY AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

  1. Whenever possible, General Membership Meetings shall be held alternately on the fourth

(4th) Thursday at 7:00 P.M., and on the fourth (4th) Saturday at 10:00 A.M.

 

To amend article 10.1 (B) to include hybrid meetings on the fourth (4th) Thursday at 7:00 P.M. To assist our brothers and sisters who cannot make the meeting in person due to their health and welfare so they can still be involved in our Union Business and to promote unity within our membership.

Motion 3

Whereas Article 9.4(G) of the Vancouver Local bylaws reads, “To be elected as a shop steward a nominee must have completed a basic shop steward course.” 

Whereas to apply and be accepted for local union education courses one must have attended at least 1 GMM in the past 12 months, 

Therefore, be it resolved that Article 9.4 be amended to include, “To be elected as as a shop steward a nominee must have completed a basic shop steward course and have attended at least 1 GMM in the 12 months prior to and inclusive of the close of nominations.” 

Motion 4

Motion & Justification for Implementing a Cap on the Number of Shop Stewards

Whereas stewards are seen as a source of union strength on the work floor, and

whereas, at first glance, it never hurts to have more stewards than less, and

whereas our collective experience now shows that there comes a point when having too many stewards is counter-productive in previously unforeseen ways,

Therefore, be it resolved that Art.9.4 (D) and (F) of the Vancouver Local Bylaws be amended to read as follow:

(D) The maximum number of stewards in any work area shall be based on the number of members in that area, such that there shall be a basic complement of six (6) stewards, plus an additional complement of two (2) stewards for each 120 members or portions thereof. This means a maximum of 8 stewards for an installation with up to 120 members, a maximum of 10 stewards for 121 to 240 members, and so on. An exception shall be made if the circumstances in Art.9.4 (H) is encountered.

(F) To be elected during a plant gate election, a nominee must have received 10% of the votes cast.

And be it resolved that a new paragraph be added to Art.9.4 to read as follows:

(H) Members shall vote for up to half the maximum number of stewards at each plant gate election. In the event of a tie for the last spot during such election, there shall not be a run-off election. If the condition stipulated in (F) has been met by these candidates, all who received the same number of votes and tied for the last spot shall be elected for that two-year term.

During the transition from our current election format to the new format, at the March 2023 plant gate election, members shall vote for up to the proposed maximum number of stewards, such that those ranked in the top half by number of votes shall hold a two-year term (until March 2025), and the remainder will hold a one-year term.

The rationale for including a basic complement of 6 stewards is to allow for smaller work areas to have more than just 2 stewards. Despite how restrictive this formula appears, it does not affect the numbers of stewards who are currently elected, except in places where the number has ballooned beyond expectation.

The following is an accounting of the largest work areas in the Vancouver Local, listing the current number of members (as of Nov 13, 2022), the current number of stewards, and the proposed maximum.

 

WORK AREA CURRENT MEMBERS CURRENT STEWARDS PROPOSED MAX.
LCD 1&2 (including part-time and relief letter carriers) 259 6 10
NBDC (includin11: Dart-time and relief letter carriers) 120 7 8
PPC Shift 1 (including casual PO4s) 647 15 16
PPC Shift 2 (including casual PO4s) 560 18 16
PPC Shift 3 (including casual PO4s) 779 29 18

 Motion 5

 Motion for Deferring any Increase in Local Assessment for Union Dues

Whereas our members have seen in the last 12 months an unprecedented amount of inflation which has affected everything from rent to gas and grocery bills,

Whereas our members in the approaching contract negotiation are facing a potentially long and drawn-out labour dispute,

Whereas our members do not own any share of the real estate properly purchased on behalf of the local, which is a not-for-profit organization considered to be a legal entity unto itself,

Such that there is little appetite at the present time to entertain any thought of higher union dues, at least not

until well after the next contract has been signed, and after our members are able to come to terms with their new wage rate and the new normal created by potentially significantly higher living expenses which would have hopefully stabilized,

Therefore, be it resolved that any proposal for any increase in local assessment for union dues be postponed or deferred for a period of 26 months, until March 01,2025.