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March 1999

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Last updated: 03/18/01

Second Notice of Annual General Meeting

Wednesday, May 12, 1999, 4:15 p.m.
2022 Dental Pharmacy

Agenda

1. Introductions
2. Approval of Agenda
3. Approval of Minutes of October 28, 1998
4. Appointment of Scrutineers
5. Reports
1. Approval of Executive Reports
1. President
2. Vice-President
3. Treasurer
4. Bylaws Chair
5. Grievance Committee Chair
1. Grievance Committee
2. Steward Committee
6. Reps' Council Chair
2. Treasurer
1. Budget
2. Auditor’s Report
3. Human Resources Committee
1. Report
2. Election of New Members
4. Negotiations
5. Joint Forum
6. Business Arising
7. New Business
8. Result of Election of Executive Officers
9. Special Resolutions
1. Proposed Bylaw Changes
2. Proposed Policy Changes
10. . Notices of Motion
11. . Adjournment

These candidates have been acclaimed to the following Executive positions:

• Vice-President - Russell Eccles, Libraries

• Bylaws Chairman - Kevan Warner, Archives

• Membership Chairman -  Anne Nield, Computing Science
  

These forums have been set up for you to come and meet the candidates:

Tim Southernwood, Chief Electoral Officer

From the President - Art Clarke

Negotiations

I would like to start by congratulating the Bargaining Team and the Focus Group for their hard work and dedication in securing the first contract for our Trust members. It took hard work, long hours and perseverance to achieve what they did. Our Business Manager and Chief Negotiator proved her ability and once again confirmed the Human Resources Committee choice of Manager.

I am pleased to tell you that we are satisfactorily settling more disputes in the early stages. NASA’s dedication to settling the issues as soon as possible is in keeping with our interest in having our members in a healthy, productive work environment. The Grievance Committee and our staff work together to ensure things are done expeditiously.

The steward programme is working fine in the areas where they are established. However, there are several areas on campus where they have not yet been elected. If you are in an area without a steward or would like to be a steward, please call the NASA office at 439-3181 or Effie Woloshyn, Chief Steward, at 492-8942. A union steward is your first line NASA representative. S/he is there for you to help solve problems with a supervisor or co-worker. The role of the steward is to assist you in making life better for you at work. The bargaining team worked hard to get this in our agreement. Now, it’s your turn to make it work for the good of us all.

In my work as a building superintendent I see and talk to many NASA members. One comment that I have heard over and over is the overwhelming workload that the members are carrying. I would like to let you know we are taking your concern to the ears of the highest level of administration and from the response we are getting I believe relief is on the way. Administration is aware that more support staff are needed if they are going to be able to attract and retain the "brightest and best students and academic staff," as the University of Alberta President’s motto says.

Although we are expecting new fulltime positions to be opening up in the administrative/clerical area, the same does not hold true for our members in maintenance, trades and supply management areas. Their work is constantly been contracted out. Contracting out affects all of us and I do not believe that it saves money. In most cases, the work is poor and our members have to fix it. In other cases, we spend hours supervising their work.

Thanks to you, the members, for approving the Executive’s recommendation for a dues increase. Your support is greatly appreciated. You have shown confidence in your executive and staff. With this dues increase, we will be able to employ new staff to be able to meet your increasing demands.

In closing I would like to thank the executive for their continuing support over the past year and their willingness to work as a team. Thank you, Barb and staff, for your dedication and steadfast hard work in times of uncertainty. You all did a great job! Keep up the good work. Help is on the way.

Sincerely,

Art Clarke, President

NASA

* * *

University of Alberta Presidential Review

President Fraser’s first term of office is coming to an end. A review committee has been appointed to evaluate and make recommendation(s) regarding reappointment for a second five-year term. As the only NASA member on the committee, I welcome opinions by phone, letter or email before April 20, 1999. Your views are important. Send you comments to me at

1-3 Fine Arts, Art.Clarke@ualberta.ca., 492-4723

Vice President - Lynda Achtem

NASA has seen many positive changes over the course of the past year. Most important among these changes has been our movement back to a grassroots organization that is attempting to communicate and listen to the needs and wants of our members. I believe that NASA can only act for the good of its members if it hears them. NASA is eager to serve the needs of its members, and when we faced the possibility of closure this year, we not only informed you, our members, but we organized brown bag lunch meetings so that we could communicate our concerns to you, and more importantly, listen to your concerns. We thank you for the strong support you gave us to continue our mandate to serve your employment needs.

Over the past year as vice-president, I have worked hard along with the other executive members to meet your needs:

• We developed a steward program so that we could get accurate information from you, our members, about your needs. I helped to develop the initial policies, attended election meetings to recruit new stewards and became a steward myself. With this program, we will be in a better position to communicate our actions and gather timely feedback from you, our members, so that we know we are serving you best. I encourage all members to talk to their stewards about their concerns.

• I was part of a team that organized a joint forum on communications to help the membership express their needs and opinions to NASA. I chaired the meeting and was impressed with the involvement of our members. We established committees to determine more effective ways for NASA to communicate with you, the members. The recommendations will be presented to the executive and other appropriate bodies.

• I began a "Profiles" section in Hot Topics to advertise the outstanding accomplishments that you, our members continually make to the University. This is a strong statement to the University of the benefits of not contracting out employment.

• I was part of the team that successfully ratified the Regular Operating Collective Agreement last spring. I then continued to work with the Trust Operating employees on the focus group, and NASA successfully negotiated and ratified the first Trust Operating Collective Agreement. I am proud to have been a part of this process. My active participation in the focus group that supported the negotiating team afforded me a rich appreciation of the needs and challenges of both the Operating and Trust employees.

• We have continued our fight to prevent the contracting out of jobs, as we recognize the loyalty that our membership has to the University community.

• I actively participated in the Disability Management Joint Advisory Committee in an attempt to resolve NASA’s concerns about the use of this benefit. We are committed to promoting a healthy workplace and protecting support staff benefits. The result of studies such as "Wellness" has provided useful information on how we may work with the University to make meaningful improvements to this benefit.

• We have been actively involved in the integration of FOIPP into the workplace in an attempt to ensure the efficient and mutually beneficial use of this legislation. I am a NASA representative on three committees working on policies that effect support staff and the University as a whole. These committees are The Joint Advisory Committee, the Electronic Records Committee, and the Personal Records Committee.

When I was elected by you to serve as your vice president, I accepted the position with the mandate that I would work toward a new relationship between NASA and the University. I continue to hold the belief that the University does not fully recognize the loyalty and commitment of its NASA employees. I will continue to work toward making the University aware of the pride we feel in belonging to this community, and in sharing in its growth and development. With the clear support of the NASA membership, we will be able to work toward a mutual understanding with the University to stop contracting out jobs. NASA knows that its members are a proud and invaluable part of the University of Alberta.

Lynda Achtem

Thoughts from the Treasury...

I am so proud of our current office staff — to date, an all-woman staff —which will change with some upcoming new hires. They have done an admirable job in a highly demanding and understaffed situation. I'm not sure how many members realize this — but we still have not achieved the staff levels that we had 4 years ago! And times have changed — although most of the Trust employees should always have been part of our Association, this was not recognized ‘til recently, and this is a responsibility for which we must, and will be, prepared. Our staff has done an excellent job, and put in incredible hours in overtime to achieve their goals. With the inclusion of our last LRO, we can hopefully buy some well-earned time off for them — and keep our overtime costs to a minimum!

I also like the operational philosophy of our current LROs — they are not initially confrontational — they attempt to work out problems with dialogue and negotiation if possible. But let this be clear— they will not be trodden upon, and if fairness and justice gets waylaid, they are strong and effective in representing our members' rights. Many grievances are being settled out of court, satisfactorily, and our legal costs this year are underbudget and down from last year by $25,000! These are the kind of results I, and no doubt the members, like to see!

All in all, it has been a rollercoaster ride over the last year, but we sprinted effectively to the finish line in excellent position, with satisfaction finally achieved for the trust employees, impending relief for our staff, and excellent service considering manpower for our membership as a whole. I can actually say that I am excited to see what we can achieve in the new year with some of our old problems behind us. Thank you for being so supportive — and patient.

Rod Wolfe

Bylaws Chair - Kevan Warner

As you all may be aware, NASA and I have been extensively involved in negotiations over this last year. During the last twelve months, we have concluded both the operating and trust components of the collective agreement. This has involved more than 50 days of commitment. As well as the actual days of bargaining, we have had many hours of caucus meetings and a regular monthly labour-management committee meeting.

We have finally concluded what must seem like half a dozen years of debate over the dues (for NASA) and budget framework. This long-running concern has involved extensive work by Rod Wolfe. That contribution should not go unnoticed or appreciated by the membership.

Since my election we have had more than 100 executive meetings. While many of these have taken the full two hours that are allotted for those meetings, some have not. As part of the continuing review of the role of the executive, we have begun to see if we can scale back the weekly hours that the executive positions require.

In conjunction with the secretary, I was involved in the creation of a policy manual for NASA. The reliance on sporadic and anecdotal policy that has characterized NASA up until now was neither satisfactory nor fair.

Finally, I have undertaken to assist in the organization of a fall conference for AAPSIS so that all of the post-secondary unions going into bargaining this fall and spring (as we are) have the best possible support and information.

Kevan Warner

Reps' Council Chair - Russell Eccles

With Peter Matilainen’s resignation last May, the position of chair of Reps' Council remained vacant until my election in November. In the interim, the president and vice-president presided over the monthly meetings. During this period, Reps’ Council carried on as much as was possible. It has been an interesting end to the year with some major events happening in the union.

One of the major issues that Reps’ Council was involved in was the dues increase. This was a crucial issue that NASA faced. Members of Reps’ Council are to be congratulated for helping with organizing information meetings and talking to their fellow workers to convince them that this increase was very much needed to allow NASA to continue its excellent work.

Another major event that took place was the negotiation and ratification of a contract for University trust employees. Congratulations to the negotiating team on a job well done. Although Reps’ Council did not play a part in the negotiations or ratification, we encourage trust employees to become active members of the union and also to become members of Reps Council.

Reps Council has a new website up and running. Special thanks are extended to Jamie Yaeger, the editor, and Peter Matilainen for a job well done on the site. You can check out the contract for both operating and trust employees here. There is a place for "alerts," which are important notices from the union to the members. Check out the site at http://www.ualberta.ca/~rcouncil.

Reps Council has continued to see that NASA is represented on the various committees by electing members to these positions.

We will continue to be your political voice as we move into the new millennium, and, by working together with the executive, stewards and you, the members, we will build a strong united union.

Russell Eccles