Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Delegates from across the province gathered for the 2017 AMAPCEO Annual Delegates’ Conference from December 6–8, 2017.
The Annual Delegates’ Conference is the union’s highest governing body, consisting of the 16 members of your Board of Directors and approximately 170 elected Delegates representing each District and all seven bargaining units.
This year, Delegates welcomed three guest speakers:
Maya Roy, the CEO of YWCA Canada, spoke of the ongoing work and campaigns needed to support women in Canada.
Dr. Danielle Martin, the Vice-President of Medical Affairs & Health System Solutions at Women’s College Hospital and the author of Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health Care for All Canadians, shared her achievable, affordable ideas on how to fix public medicare; and
Daniele Zanotti, President & CEO of United Way Toronto & York Region, shared stories from the field and his thoughts on how to create social solidarity between the labour movement and the community.
As part of the meeting, Delegates approved the draft operating budget for 2018, accepted 2016 audited financial statements and re-appointed Grant Thornton LLP as external auditors for the 2017 fiscal year. They also adopted recommendations from the Board of Directors to revise the Labour Disruption Reserve and Dues Levy Policy. Dues collected from members will remain unchanged at 1% of gross salary, but 5% of dues revenue collected will be reallocated from the Labour Disruption Reserve to the operating budget to further enhance member services, avoid a dues increase, and maintain a balanced budget.
Also approved was a proposal to call for nominations to fill five positions on the Board Compensation Review Committee, which will make recommendations on compensation for Board members to next year’s ADC. The Delegates reviewed new or amended bylaws adopted by the Board during the previous year, voting to ratify most of the changes, including a process to resolve disputes between members and procedures to address member discipline.
Delegates adopted five policy resolutions proposed by individual Delegates or District Executive Committees:
that AMAPCEO work with ServicePlus to further enhance the products and services available for members;
that AMAPCEO develop an Alternative Work Arrangement toolkit to help AMAPCEO members understand and navigate the process;
that AMAPCEO develop a Special and Compassionate Leave Toolkit to ensure members have clear information on their rights and how to enforce them;
that AMAPCEO develop an On-Call Provisions and Overtime Rights Toolkit to help members understand their rights when it comes to on-call status and overtime and provide guidance on how to handle pressure to work overtime.
that the materials from the last ten Annual Delegates Conferences be made available to all members through the AMAPCEO website.
Five additional policy resolutions were referred to the Board of Directors for consideration:
that AMAPCEO develop communications designed to counter common myths about government workers;
that AMAPCEO either create a stand-along Fixed Term Workers’ Caucus or incorporate fixed-term workers into an existing caucus;
that a deadline be set for the Employer to officially respond to workplace accommodation requests;
that AMAPCEO consider seeking improvements to the Supplementary Health and Hospital Insurance Plan entitlement in the next round of bargaining; and
that AMAPCEO request regular reporting on surplusing match denials through ACERC and AMERC.
A number of positions to be elected by the Delegates were filled by acclamation, including Vice-President and Secretary (Cynthia Watt and Glynn Robinson were re-elected to those roles, respectively), five members to serve on the Elections and Credentials Committee and one member on the Audit Committee. Executive Director Anthony Pizzino administered the oath of office to all sixteen members of the Board of Directors in a brief ceremony that was inaugurated at this conference.