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Convention Preparation 101: A delegate's guide

to making the most of the Agriculture Union Convention

More mediation progress as four additional PI Review

generic job descriptions settled

New CFIA agreement clause lets you travel back in time!

Adjudicator gives two inspectors a 'break'

Don't miss deadlines for PSAC 2005 Unity Conference

Convention Preparation 101: A delegate's guide to making the most of the Agriculture Union Convention

(Posted May 30, 2005)

The Agriculture Union holds its Triennial National Convention this August in St. John's , Newfoundland and Labrador . The National Office has prepared this series of fact sheets to provide delegates, alternates and other interested members with an overview of Convention procedure and activities. These fact sheets are being mailed to all Agriculture Union delegates and are posted here for the interest of our membership.

TOPIC #1 - Convention and Delegate Basics

Agriculture Union members set the agenda and chart our Union 's course. The Triennial National Convention, as our Union 's supreme governing body, is critical to this rank-and-file control. It ensures that we remain open and accountable to our membership.

By now, your Local will have chosen its delegate or delegates, following the procedure set out in our union's by-laws. Each Local has the right to at least one Convention delegate. The number of delegates a Local is able to send to Convention is democratically based on its membership size.

Convention delegates discuss issues, set policy and elect our national and regional leadership. So, a knowledgeable and informed delegate is the key to a successful Convention. As he or she is the voice of your Local's members, it's also a big responsibility.

Over the course of our three-day National Convention, delegates will deal with a wide range of important issues and matters. They will be called upon to:

          • debate and vote on resolutions submitted by both the National Council and Locals;

          • set a detailed union budget for the three-year period leading to the next Convention;

          • elect our Union 's national and regional leadership from among the Convention's grassroots

                  representatives; and

          • elect Agriculture Union delegates to the Triennial Convention of our bargaining agent, the Public Service

                  Alliance of Canada (which is held the year after our own).

In keeping with the Agriculture Union's democratic principles, our Convention unfolds in a planned and predictable fashion. There are regular morning and afternoon sessions. Delegates can also vote to hold special evening sessions, if needed. Each session begins with a report by the Credentials Committee on the number of seated delegates.

Naturally enough, the opening morning of our Convention is unique, featuring a number of distinct items. Following the opening comments from the National President and guests, delegates adopt both a Convention agenda and Rules of Order. The agenda sets out the hours of sitting and blocks of time devoted to specific activities or items (such as speeches, Committee reports and elections). The Rules of Order, based on parliamentary principles, ensure that debate and discussion is conducted in an orderly and respectful fashion.

At this point, Convention delegates really get to work - considering and voting on the resolutions submitted by Locals and the National Council and other matters brought to 'the Convention floor'.

More mediation progress as four additional PI Review generic job descriptions settled

(Posted May 26, 2005)

Four more generic job descriptions flowing from the PI Review at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have been settled in mid-May mediation talks:

• EG-01 - Developmental Inspector (decision #20127);
• EG-03 - Fresh Products Program Inspector (decision #20132);
• EG-04 - Fresh Program Supervisor (decision #20146); and
• EG-04 - Inspection Supervisor (decision #20147).

The PI Review generated a total of 32 new generic job descriptions. Only two of the 26 positions grieved remain to be settled.

We are currently reviewing tentative dates for renewed mediation in June and July.

New CFIA agreement clause lets you travel back in time!

(Posted May 19, 2005)

There's a new clause in the Traveling Time article of the recently-signed collective agreement for our members at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

And guess what? For a limited period, it actually let's you travel back in time!

The new Travel Status Leave clause provides a CFIA employee with 15 hours of leave following 40 nights away from home on employer business in any fiscal year. As the new collective agreement was signed in the last fiscal year, employees are entitled to claim this benefit for the 2004-2005 year.

Bear in mind that the employer will probably want proof of travel. So, if you qualify, remember to submit your travel claims along with your request for this extra leave.

Adjudicator gives two inspectors a 'break'

(Posted May 17, 2005)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency erred in not making payments to compensate two of our members whose lunch break was modified as the result of having been temporarily transferred to a different processing facility.

An adjudication decision to this effect was handed down on April 22, 2005 by the Public Service Labour Relations Board (formerly known as the Public Service Staff Relations Board).

The incidents that led to the original grievances being filed occurred in November 2002. Two inspectors, based in the Montreal region, were separately asked by management to report the same day to a facility different from their normal workplace.

Such requests are fairly common within CFIA, as inspection demands can vary markedly from day to day among different processing plants. In fact, as many as one-quarter of inspectors can be moving between facilities on any given day, with the employer maintaining a list of employee volunteers for such reassignments.

Both grievors found that the lunch break at the new plant was different by more than half-an-hour than was the case at their regular facilities. They requested the $20 premium they believed was their right under clause 24.04 of the collective agreement then in effect.

Clause 24.04 b) read:

For employees who are governed by clause 24.04(a) and who perform meat inspection duties, the Employer will make every reasonable effort to:

(i) avoid excessive fluctuation in hours of work;

(ii) post hours of work schedules seven (7) days in advance;

(iii) notify the employee(s) in writing of any changes to the scheduled hours of work.

(iv) When the scheduled hours of work are changed by the Employer after the mid-point of the employee's previous work day or after the beginning of the employee's previous day meal break, whichever is earlier, the employee is entitled to a cash premium payment of twenty dollars ($20.00) in addition to regular daily pay.

(v) When the scheduled meal break is changed by the Employer by more than one-half an hour (1/2) after the mid-point of the employee's previous work day or after the beginning of the employee's previous day meal break, whichever is earlier, the employee is entitled to a cash premium payment of twenty dollars ($20.00) in addition to regular daily pay.

(vi) Total cash premium payment under clauses 24.04(iv) and 24.04(v) shall not be more than twenty dollars ($20.00) per work day.

The employer argued that the Clause was designed to apply only to lunch break change at the employees' regular place of employment, and then only in situations where the lunch break was modified due to circumstances beyond the control of either the CFIA or the facility involved. The employer also maintained that the Travel Directive rather than Clause 24.04 should apply in situations faced by the grievors.

The grievors' position was as follows:

• The letter and the spirit of Section b) clearly intend that 'hours of work' applies to the hours worked by          employees, and not the work hours of a given facility.
• As the two employees had not received the requisite advance notice of the hour-long lunch break, they were entitled to the $20 premium.

The adjudicator swept aside the employer's arguments, stating that the Clause should be broadly interpreted to include any event - rather than a specific circumstance - that extended the lunch break. She noted the Clause was designed to ensure stability in employees' lunch breaks, and that the Travel Directive had an entirely different purpose.

The adjudicator pointed out that the grievors had not surrendered their right to the premium by volunteering for temporarily transfer to the different facility, and if the employer did not follow the advance notice requirements then the grievors were entitled to the premium.

(Please note that while this decision was recently handed down, it may take some time before it is translated and posted in both official languages on the PSLRB Web site, which can be found at www.pslrb-crtfp.gc.ca/ . When posted, it will be cited as decision '2005 PSLRB 38'.)

Don't miss deadlines for PSAC 2005 Unity Conference

(Posted May 3, 2005)

The National Office has unveiled a dynamic new Web site to serve Agriculture Union members. The completely redesigned and much anticipated site went 'live' on March 31.