Thursday, May 15, 2008, 1:30 PM
Room P208 @ Woodroffe and by teleconference from Pembroke

AGENDA

1. Call to Order

2. Agenda

3. Approval of the Minutes of May 17, 2007

4. Business arising from May 17, 2007 Meeting

5. Post-Strike Updates

6. Elections
(a)    Local President
(b)    Local First Vice President
(c)    Local Secretary
(d)    Workload Monitoring Group (1)
(e)    Union-College Committee
•    Woodroffe/Perth (1)
•    Pembroke (1)
(f)    College Employment Stability Committee (2)
(g)    Health and Safety Committee (Woodroffe)  (1)
(h)    CAAT Division (3)
(i)    OPSEU Convention (3)
(j)    OPSEU Regional (3)

7. Other Business

8. Adjournment

- Doug Brandy, Local President

• Do you find the Standard Workload Form (SWF) easy to understand?
• Can you perform the calculation for your total workload hours?
• Do you know whether you are getting the correct attribution for preparation and evaluation?
• Does you manager ever discuss your workload with you in advance of your getting your SWF?

If you answered “No” to at least one of the above, then we would encourage you to join us at a union-sponsored SWF workshop:

•     Thursday, May 8 from 9:30 - 11:30 (Room P210 Woodroffe) or
•     Friday, May 9 from 9:30 – 11:30 (Room P210 Woodroffe)

To register, please call 7716 or e-mail Jack Wilson

The Joint Task Force on Sick Leave has sent us a limited number of copies of their annual communiqué to members with details on the buyout. You should have already received a message from Algonquin HR, asking for applications.

It’s too late to apply now but you may request a copy of the communiqué to members by calling Diane at the union office, extension 7716.

A chair for the Task Force was selected in March. He is Wes Rayner, an Ontario Arbitrator. The parties have now contacted Mr. Rayner to ascertain the next steps for the Task Force.

For more info, email me.

The colleges have delayed resolution of these grievances by raising various preliminary objections. The Board advised that it was satisfied that it had enough evidence to proceed to the parties’ arguments regarding the colleges’ desire to greatly narrow the scope of the board’s jurisdiction. The hearing to present arguments on these so-called clarifications was held on March 20th.  Our evidence went in very well based on the testimony of our excellent witnesses.

At this stage, no continuation hearing dates are set.

For more info, email me.

There are 20 pilot projects now running, with about 60 faculty involved.  That is less than 1% of the faculty eligible to take part across the province. There are pilot projects at seven colleges, none at Algonquin. No more projects can be added.

For more info, email me.

We have received a nomination for Alain Peyrun-Berron to serve as one of the Stewards for the Woodroffe Campus. If any member wishes to make a further nomination, please use the email link below.

If no other nomination is received, Alain will be acclaimed.

April 4 update: Alain was acclaimed and was sworn in at the March LEC meeting. 

- Doug Brandy, Local President

On Feb 15, 2008, Bob Lovelace, a Queen’s Professor and a Professor at Fleming College, was given six months in prison and fined $25 000 for contempt of court for “failing to acknowledge” that the Crown has the ability to supersede Algonquin law. Bob was peacefully protesting with Indigenous peoples and the local settler community against the intrusion of a uranium mining company on the Ardoch Algonquin First Nations ancestral lands, in and around Sharbot Lake, Ontario.

Paula Sherman, a professor at Trent University, was also sentenced to six months behind bars, but as a single mother of three she has agreed to stop her protest to avoid jail. She was fined $15 000, all of which is payable to Frontenac Ventures a company which has had no trouble paying for a high-price team of lawyers. Harold Perry, another community leader, was also found to be in violation in the original injunctions.

All three should be commended for their sacrifices and resolve.

These activities amount to legitimate civil disobedience, in line with the activism of Rosa Parks. It is an effort to protect the integrity of Algonquin law and have the Crown and the government respect the authority of Indigenous laws, in practice long before Roman law, let alone its modern British-Canadian manifestations.

This is an injustice, on an innocent and honourable people, who’s only crime is resisting state-sponsored colonialism, the proposed environmental degradation of Algonquin land and fighting for the health of both settlers and Indigenous people who would be affected.

By joining this group you join the voices of others demanding that Frontenac Ventures immediately halts its involvement at Sharbot Lake and that all charges leveled against Bob Lovelace and Paula Sherman are dropped and punishments extinguished.

For more, see Free Bob Lovelace at Facebook.

- Doug Brandy, Local President

On March 4 – 5 we will have the opportunity to vote for the faculty member on Algonquin’s Board of Governors. The election is to replace Wayne Wilson, the past faculty member, who is retiring. I am recommending you vote for JP Lamarche.

The Board makes important decisions affecting the College. Among those with most direct impact on faculty are approvals of new programs and the suspension or cancellation of existing programs. It’s vital to have a Board member who understands how these decisions affect us and who will work decisively for our interests and the benefit of our students. I am confident JP would be effective in this role.

The local faculty union executive has unanimously endorsed JP’s candidacy. I’m asking you to vote for him in the Board election.

March 6 update: JP was declared elected and is our new Board rep. 

- Doug Brandy, Local President

Kevin Whitaker has submitted his report with recommendations on proposed amendments to the Colleges Collective Bargaining Act.

This site gives a link to the Whitaker report.

- Doug Brandy, Local President