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Get ready for Regional Seminars!

Delays dog EG Work Description Review at AAFC

Get ready for Regional Seminars!

(Posted January 27, 2006)

The annual round of Agriculture Union Regional Seminars kicks off late next month and continues throughout March and April.

The dates for each Regional Seminar are as follows:

          • British Columbia - February 24-26;

          • Alberta - March 3-5;

          • Manitoba , Northwest Ontario and Nunavut - March 10-12;

          • Saskatchewan - March 24-26;

          • Ontario - April 7-9;

          • Quebec - April 21-23; and

          • Atlantic - May 12-14.

The scope and mandate of these Seminars are governed by Regulation 4 of the Agriculture Union's by-laws and regulations. Executive members in each region - Regional Vice-Presidents and Directors - are charged with organizing the seminars and determining content that best meets their Locals' issues and needs. This built-in flexibility ensures the maximum benefit for all concerned.

Each Local within a region selects its Seminar participants. While these men and women have the responsibility of ensuring their members' concerns are aired, they are also expected to share national and regional information on their return.

The Regional Seminars themselves are a combination of education, information-sharing and networking. Skills-building workshops and topical information is provided by educators and facilitators from the Agriculture Union, the Public Service Alliance and relevant outside organizations. The process is two-way, with Local representatives contributing the critical workplace perspective in open discussion.

Each Seminar also serves as an electoral body. The first round of Seminars after our National Convention - such as these - elects regional representatives to the Agriculture Union's Equal Opportunities Committee.

And, as the PSAC is gearing up for another round of bargaining with Treasury Board, our union's delegates to the Alliance 's 2007 Regional Bargaining Conferences are also chosen. Similarly, participants from our Canadian Food Inspection Agency Locals put forward one representative per region for election to the CFIA national bargaining team.

As you can see, these Regional Seminars are more - much more - than a 'talk shop'. If you have a concern or issue that you feel deserves attention, now is the time to ensure your Local's representative to your Regional Seminar hears from you!

Delays dog EG Work Description Review at AAFC

(Posted January 26, 2006)

Delays beyond the control of the Agriculture Union continue to dog EG Work Description Review. The latest status report provided us by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has raised concern that the hoped-for April 1 completion of Phase II will not be met.

The AAFC status report indicates that 588 of 597 work descriptions involved in Phase II have been completed. Unfortunately, a number of questions regarding the work descriptions, their relativity and consistency across the country have caused more on-site visits than expected. As a result, these visits will continue through January and February. Once the employer's follow-up from these on-site visits is completed, the work descriptions will proceed to the Classification Committee.

As a result, the National Office has requested a meeting with the employer's project leader to determine how the process is proceeding. Specifically, we are looking for firm answers as to when Phase II will be completed and how members' grievances filed as a result of Phase I will be handled.

We will keep our members informed of the results of this meeting.

As with Phase I, there is an expectation that a number of positions in Phase II will eventually be reclassified upwards.

Finally, as our EG members can appreciate, their classification group takes in a broad range of jobs and positions. While the new job description assessment tool assists managers and employees to describe duties based on a number of generic science streams, there are some EG positions - such as Facilities Manager - that cannot be reviewed using this generic tool. As a result, AAFC has created a committee to review these positions and its work is almost complete. The results of this review, with updated work descriptions, will be announced in the near future.