National Executive Meeting - June 2007 - Annex 12

UNDE BYLAWS COMMITTEE REPORT

The UNDE Bylaws Committee met in Jan and May 07 to work on various items as directed by the National President and provide the following report on the activities undertaken:

1. Discipline Regulation/Policy

   The Committee has determined the requirement to complete three separate policies on discipline procedures to facilitate Locals when conducting discipline.

   The three policies shall consist of:

   • Strike-breakers
   • Designates
   • Other Discipline

   The Committee has completed the policy and templates for Strike-breakers and Designates which will be sent to the National Executive electronically for their feedback.

   The Committee is still working on the policy and templates for Other Discipline and is using actual cases to complete that work. Requests have been made to the Reviewing Officers and Investigation Committee members to provide feedback of their experience which will be expected in the near future.

2. UNDE Harassment Policy

   The Committee has conducted a quick review of the policy and note that the policy needs to be updated. Since the policy already contains templates, the review should be able to make it more user friendly.

3. UNDE Bylaw Review

   The Committee agrees there is a need to review and update our Bylaws in order to comply with changes made at the PSAC Convention (ie Section 25 Sub-Section 7) and for preparation of our Convention.

4. Collection of Fines

   The Committee believes we need to wait for the PSAC decisions regarding this issue. We also believe that it is the responsibility of the PSAC to develop procedures on this issue and that is should be the responsibility of the PSAC to collect the fines.

   Reminder - the fines collected will be given to the body initiating discipline. This means the Locals need only to complete discipline to get the fines once collected.

5. Other

   The Committee has recognized that Discipline other than Strike-Breaking and Designates is costing the Component at the National level approximately $35,000.00 per year. Without canvassing Locals, it is impossible to calculate the actual amount spent within the Component.

The Committee believes we must be proactive in our efforts to deal with discipline and the fact that we are spending valuable human and financial resources dealing with member against member complaints and make the following recommendations:

1. National Investigation - that the members of Bylaws Committee form the Investigation Committee formed at the National level when possible. This will allow the Bylaw Committee members to be better versed in the process.
2. Review on Bylaws and Harassment Policy - that the Bylaws Committee complete their work for submission to the National Executive
3. Training Modules - finalize training modules on Discipline, Harassment and Interveners
4. Training Plan - the Committee believes that the following training be conducted:
   • National Officers - Reviewing Officer training and overview training of Discipline and Harassment
   • Locals - Specific training on Discipline, Harassment and Intervener
5. Correspondence for Upcoming Round of Bargaining - letters to members and to designates should be developed and sent to each group indicating what is expected of them in the event of a strike.