General Membership meeting minutes from our local meetings on Wednesday May 6th & Friday May 15th, 2020
WEDNESDAY MAY 6th, 2020
Michael McKeown called the meeting to order at 11:10
A quorum was reached and 310 members were in attendance via zoom.
President Mike McKeown:
- The reason for this meeting is to discuss a proposal from the College Council to OPSEU regarding layoffs and mitigation across the province
- We have been asked to hold a vote in accordance with our Divisional procedures to allow the team to enter into talks with Council
- Entering into these discussions does not mean that there will be lay-offs at Durham but the result of an agreement if met, could go a long way to further protecting our rights and jobs
- The vote is only about authorizing a team to have discussions with the Provincial College Council about reducing the impact of layoffs province wide: should they come
- Judy will send out a Surveymonkey at the end of this meeting to allow you to vote
- The question will be:
“Should a delegation from our Bargaining Team / EERC accept the invitation from Council to discuss a short-term, temporary layoff process in return for enhanced entitlements for the laid off employees?”
- The results of the vote will be sent out once tallied
- Votes will take place at all 23 Sister Colleges and compiled before distribution
FRIDAY MAY 16TH, 2020
Michael McKeown called the meeting to order at 10:10
A quorum was reached and 201 members were in attendance via zoom.
President Mike McKeown:
- Welcome everyone and thank-you for joining
- I have invited Rashid Dashid, Janice Hagan and Sarah Labelle to join our meeting
- The reason for this meeting is to re-assure our Full-Time members during these trying times
- A document from College Council regarding furloughs was leaked and that document may have caused concern for some of our members
- At Durham College we are not entering into any furlough agreements
- The Executive have spoken to Jennifer Cosway in Human Resources and they are not considering this
- Layoffs for Full Time support members at Durham College are not anticipated at this time
- Some redeployments may be necessary
Janice Hagan:
- OPSEU felt that some Locals may want a furlough agreement and went ahead anyway after we voted “no” on entering into a discussion with College Council
- We were disappointed with this action and have written a letter demanding an investigation and full disclosure
- Question: in the future could we vote on a furlough agreement?
- Yes – with a vote
- Question: When did you find out about the leaked document?
- Wednesday May 13th at 7:00 pm
- We spent 24 hours going through it
- If we entered into furlough, that would remove Article 15
- Question: If you are on maternity/parental leave, do you still return to the same or similar position?
- Yes – please work with your Manager regarding this
Sarah Labelle:
- We are here to support the Local Presidents and the Division and we will get through this together
Mike: Thanks again for joining the meeting and we will let you know as soon as we know anything that could affect our members
Adjournment @11:00 am