How time flies – almost a year has passed since the Regional Vice-Presidents were liberated.
It seems that our roles have changed significantly during this time. We have gone from being mentors/advisers to our Local Executives to becoming counsellors and case managers for our members on issues dealing with human resources, pay/finance, labour relations, disability claims, etc. The questions and expectations are becoming more and more complex, as the employer refuses to see and accept that the Department is failing its employees in a very large way.
Management’s refusal to show compassion and empathy during this time has increased the need to file grievances and the most common ones we now handle are requests for 699 leave, especially as Treasury Board Guidelines have changed effective November 2020. With every telephone call we make and every decision we receive it seems that it is the Human Resources Advisors who are making decisions and not the delegated Managers.
In Ontario, I find that most of my cases files are in one Area. It takes up a lot of my time trying to solve small issues, which could have been easily sorted out with the Local Presidents/Executives if Managers were permitted to use their delegated authority. Unfortunately, most of these Managers are Actors in their positions and have not been provided proper training.
What has kept me busy in the last six months? Just a general overview.
- Attending various Local Labour Management Consultation Committee (LMCC) meetings as some Locals have new executives who required mentorship
- Holding consultations with new executives to prepare them for upcoming LMCC meetings and how to plan for these meetings
- As I hold the Bureau of Pensions Advocates Portfolio (BPA) attending and planning for BPA – LMCC meetings;
- Attending and Planning monthly meetings with Local Executives;
- Presenting and preparing for 7 grievances – denial of 699 leave – had 3 successes – one is waiting to go to Level III – 3 did not wish to proceed further.
- Extensive work with a member file on Duty to Accommodate and many hours spent educating the Manager on his responsibility- Success at last! This has been an ongoing issue for 3 years now;
- Many long hours spent on consultation with members on various issues the most common being the effect of working from home and family-life balance;
- Attending Committee meetings as required by the National President:
- Finance Committee
- Human Rights Committee
- Attending Regular debrief sessions
- Attending the National LMCC meeting;
- Attending National Executive Officer (NEO) meeting;
- Attending various webinars and on-line courses;
- Attending various Annual general Meetings (AGM) – only 2 Locals have not had yet their AGMs and are planned for end of March 2021;
- Co-Facilitating ten (10) Joint Learning Program Sessions (JLP) on the Grounding Ourselves Series – unfortunately, none for VAC;
- Presented my first Discrimination Grievance – awaiting the decision from Level II;
- Presented my first grievance for Job Description – awaiting decision from Level I;
- Arranging and planning a joint training session for all Local Executives across Ontario with the help of PSAC- NCR and Ontario Region – to be held March 24th.
In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank those local Executives who have retired or resigned; Toni Mathews; Deanne Gosselin; Robert Switzer; and Lauraine Johnston. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication and for all the support you provided me with over the years. I will miss you all.
In Solidarity,
Zarina Khan