The meeting was chaired by W. Schipper, MUNFA President. SWGC participated by teleconference.

1. Approval of Agenda

   (G05:005) MOVED (R. Klein/T. Chadwick) that the agenda be accepted.
   

   MOTION CARRIED
2. President's Report

   Dr Schipper reported.

   Executive Committee: Austin Redlack, who has been Treasurer of the Association for nine years, has left the Executive. On behalf of the Executive I would like to thank Austin for his service. Ross Klein (Social Work) has replaced him as Treasurer. And Amar Sodhi has been nominated and acclaimed as the representative for SWGC.

   Proposals and Negotiations: In July the Administration notified the Association in writing that they wished to open the Collective Agreement for negotiation. There is little to report otherwise, except to note that a meeting with senior administration officials is scheduled for Nov. 2 to discuss some preliminary details. When our proposals are ready, we will call a special membership meeting to discuss them.

   Association Grievances: We are still pursuing association grievances on various issues, or waiting for some of them to go to arbitration

   1. The continuing failure in the Faculty of Medicine to observe deadlines in promotion and tenure procedures, and to follow the Collective Agreement in how P&T committees conduct their business. We have also grieved the fact that the procedures for the appointment and promotion of administrators were not followed when new associate and vice deans were appointed recently.

   2. An ongoing problem has been the failure of the Administration and the Faculty of Engineering to observe the ratio of students on work term and Cooperative Education Coordinators, and related issues. Since Article 30 was agreed on, and the details worked out, one CEC has died, another has resigned, and a third is about to retire. Yet the Faculty of Engineering, rather than making an effort to appoint some permanent CECs as replacements and bring the ratio down to 42:1, has come to the Association at the eleventh hour to get our agreement to make some contractual appointments. In addition the Faculty has farmed out some of the work to other ASMs in Engineering, to graduate students, and to engineers from the community. Repeated attempts to resolve this complex of issues have failed so far

   3. CEQs: We still have one grievance outstanding on the publication of the CEQ results. However, another arbitration on this issue, concerning irregularities in how they were being administered, has ended. During the hearing we agreed with the Administration that the arbitration board could also consider the publication of the results, and we are pleased that the board ruled that the Administration would have to ensure that students could not disseminate the results to the world at large. We are still waiting to hear just how they will achieve this restriction.

   Organizing Per-Course Instructors: As you have all heard, we have launched another campaign to organize per-course instructors. Our goal is to complete the campaign by mid-November, and to submit the signed cards to the Labour Relations Board.

   Joint Association/University Committee: There's not much to report, since we've only had one meeting since the last General Meeting. This is where we can sit down to discuss problems that arise from the collective agreement. Among the issues we've raised here are reports of asbestos and other safety problems, and how some things such as the arbitration award on CEQs will be implemented.

   Last but not least, I would like to thank Marian Atkinson, Jill Diamond, and Kim O'Reilly for their many contributions to the work of the Association. Without their hard work the MUNFA office could not function as effectively as it does.

3. Treasurer's Report

   Dr Ross Klein, MUNFA Treasurer addressed the membership and referred them to the Financial Statements for the Fiscal Year 2004-05 (Information Bulletin 2005/06:07). Dr Klein reviewed the statements with the membership..

   Dr J. MacLean (French & Spanish) referred the membership to the MUNFA Legal Support Fund (RBC Mirror Portfolio) and asked that the Executive consider the companies that MUNFA purchases shares in; there is no evidence of a policy by MUNFA on ethical and environmental investments.

   Dr Klein replied that the investments are made based on advice from RBC Financial Advisor.

   Austin Redlack (Business) gave notice that he would bring a motion to the next General Meeting to institute a way of updating how the maximum value of the Legal Defence Fund is calculated. Currently, the maximum amount is based on the value of the 1982 dollar, but there is no way to modify that to use a more current dollar value.

4. CAUT Defence Fund

   Ms Angela Lonardo (CAUT Defence Fund Trustee) addressed the members. The CAUT Defence Fund is a national fund which represents 17,000 Academic Staff Members (ASMs) in the country.

   Recently, there were two near strikes at Laurentian and Brandon Universities. Settlements were reached at the last minute.

   As of August 31, 2005, the balance of the Fund was $17 million.

5. Approval of Genera Meeting Minutes of April 11, 2005

   (G05:006) MOVED (R. Klein/C. Dennis) that the General Meeting minutes of April 11, 2005 be approved.

   MOTION CARRIED
6. Matters Arising from General Meeting Minutes of April 11, 2005

   1. Report of MUNFA AF&G Triennial Review Committee: The membership, for the meeting of April 11, 2005, received a copy of the Committee's report that covered the period of January 1, 2001 - December 31, 2003. The report contains six recommendations.

      Recommendation 1: That MUNFA make sufficient resources available for the Committee to build a database (as specified in E(iv) in the terms of Reference) to record pertinent information about each grievance and its resolution.

      Recommendation 2: That grievors be explicitly instructed to send to the MUNFA office a copy of all communications with the administration.

      Recommendation 3: That, when a complaint is received the committee advise the ASM in writing that no formal action can be taken with the administration until the ASM has signed a Grievance Form.

      Recommendation 4: That, in the event that the Committee decides not to pursue a complaint as a grievance, it contact the ASM and ask whether he/she agrees with this decision. If the ASM agrees, this shall be documented in the minutes and case file, If the ASM disagrees, the Committee shall document its reasons and inform the SM of his/her right to appeal to the Executive of MUNFA.

      Recommendation 5: That the Committee consider adopting a rule that would allow it to close a case after a specified number of months if no satisfactory resolution had been reached. Such a closure would be documented in the files and communicated to the ASM.

      Recommendation 6: That MUNFA adopt as a policy for the Committee that it shall not subordinate an individual's interest in a grievance in order to advance the organization's other goals.

      It was noted that Recommendations 2, 3 and 4 are procedures that the AF&G Committee currently follows.

      Regarding Recommendation 1, K. O'Reilly completed Microsoft ACCESS software training and the data base will be compiled on a go forward basis. As time permits, past data will be input.

      Regarding Recommendation 5, the Executive determined that the AF&G Committee has the discretion to close a file and has done so in the past.

      Regarding Recommendation 6, MUNFA is committed to advancing the best interests of the Association and its members but that this must be done by MUNFA on a case by case basis. Therefore, Recommendations 5 and 6 will not be formally accepted.

7. Collective Agreement administration

   1. Report of St. John's AF&G Committee: The membership received the report of the St. John's AF&G Committee (Information Bulletin 2006/07:07). Dr. Ted Hannah (Chair) spoke to the written report. Dr. Hannah expressed his thanks to his colleagues on the committee as well as the assistance provided by the MUNFA staff (K. O'Reilly, M. Atkinson and J. Diamond-Strong). Dr. Hannah noted that Professor Averil Gardner and Dr. Jim Overton had completed their terms and that Dr. Dorothy Milne and Ms. Dianne Taylor-Harding had joined the Committee.

   2. MUNFA Representatives to the Sexual Harassment Board: The membership received a report prepared by the MUNFA representatives to the Board (Dr Ian Emerson and Dr Fern Brunger).

   3. MUNFA representative to EAP Committee: The written report of MUNFA representative Professor Kjellrun Hestekin was distributed to the membership. Dr Schipper expressed MUNFA's thanks to Professor Hestekin and noted that Dr. Raymond Penney has been appointed.

8. MUNFA Committee Reports

   1. Pension Committee: The membership received a report from the MUNFA Pensions Committee. Dr. Veeresh Gadag (Chair) was present at the meeting and spoke to the report. Dr. Gadag thanked his colleagues as well as the assistance provided by Marian Atkinson.

   2. Scholarships Committee: The report of the MUNFA Scholarships Committee was distributed.

   3. Joint Equity Committee: A report from the MUNFA representatives to the Joint Equity Committee was distributed. The 2005-06 members are: Professor Emir Andrews, Dr. Diana Gustafson and Dr. Robert Sweeney.

9. Any Other Business

   1. Chris English, History: Dr. English reiterated the importance of recruiting MUNFA volunteers and asked if the Executive is trying to get new ASMs involved in the Association. Dr. English then thanked the current Executive for its time and commitment to the Association.

      Angela Lonardo (MUNFA Executive/CAUT Council Delegate) noted that the Executive actively seeks new volunteers for the various MUNFA committees and suggested that senior MUNFA members encourage the more junior ASMs in their departments to become involved. Ms. Lonardo noted that MUNFA is currently undertaking a certification drive to include per course instructors in the MUNFA bargaining unit. A party will be hosted by MUNFA and TAUMUN on Friday, October 28, 2005 in the Junior Common Room of the R. Gushue Hall. Ms. Lonardo suggested that MUNFA members also attend the function.

10. Adjournment.

    (E05:007) MOVED (T. Hannah) that the meeting adjourn.

    MOTION CARRIED

A wine and cheese reception was held after the meeting adjourned .

Dr. W. Schipper
MUNFA President
Approved by the Membership, April 20, 2006

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