Election Results and AGM Highlights

Hello Faculty Members,

As Officer in charge of the election, I am pleased to announce the results of our KFA Executive Committee elections, concluded yesterday at our Annual General Meeting. I am happy to inform you that all available positions on the KFA Executive Committee have been filled.

Please join me in thanking and congratulating our colleagues:

(NB: For those of you who were at the AGM yesterday afternoon, you will recall there were two nominees for the position of Business representative.  One nominee has withdrawn in the meantime, so there will be no election. Panteli Tritchew is acclaimed in the position.)

Please also join me in thanking our outgoing KFA Executive Representatives for their service:

Alina Rapa – Non-regular Representative (Alina has been regularized, so can no longer serve in this capacity.)

Seema Ahluwalia – Status of Women Representative (Seema has been performing double duty for a while, serving as Decolonization, Reconciliation, and Indigenization Committee Rep.)

Heather Cyr – Ombudsperson (Heather has been granted Education Leave for the coming year, so the term is one year balance of her original term.)

Michael Pope – School of Design Representative (Michael generously agreed to step into this vacant position partway through the term and has supported one of his colleagues to fill this role for the next term.)

Susana Philips – Occupational Health & Safety Committee (Susana is stepping into another role on the KFA Executive, the important role of Pension Advisory Committee Rep.)

Meeting Highlights:

Michael Conlin, of CUFA BC, was the featured speaker at our AGM, and he discussed the issues and concerns that CUFA BC member faculty associations are facing. Many of the issues are similar, and Michael highlighted the work that CUFA BC and FPSE do together to coordinate our approach.

Honorary lifetime KFA memberships were conferred upon three retired members, Bill Burgess, Karen Inglis and Jan Penhorwood. Bill served in many capacities on the KFA Executive including Social Sciences Rep and Occupational Health & Safety Committee Rep. Karen served in a number of capacities as well, including as a member of several Working Conditions Committees and Bargaining teams. Jan also served in a number of capacities, including many years as a faculty representative member of the Labour-Management Relations (LMRC) Committee, an essential role on a committee that addresses contractual and non-contractual issues. Please join us in thanking Bill, Karen and Jan for their dedicated service to our KFA.

The business of the meeting included several motions, including a motion to amend our Constitution & Bylaws, as previously detailed and circulated. All of the proposed constitutional amendments were passed by the membership at the meeting, including the creation of a new position with voice and vote for our rep to the new FPSE standing committee, Decolonization, Reconciliation, and Indigenization Committee.

Suzanne Pearce, Secretary-Treasurer, presented on the year-end summary of our finances. We will have a surplus this year, currently estimated at about $33 800 (the final figure will be determined by the auditors). There also were several motions on financial matters, including the appointment of auditors, and the disposition of this year’s surplus. The membership at the meeting passed a motion that we will increase all four of our scholarships to $1000 each, effective immediately, and will direct $7500 from our surplus towards increasing our KPU Foundation and Vancouver Foundation endowment funds so as to cover future scholarships. The membership also approved directing the remainder of the unallocated surplus to increase our defense fund, so as to allow an increase of strike pay from the current $75 per day to $100 per day, a change also approved by the membership at the meeting. Last, but not least important, the membership approved the 2018-2019 budget as recommended by the Executive, an essentially balanced budget (forecast surplus: $87).

Bob Davis, President, Raphael Lagoutin, Vice-President, Negotiations, Romy Kozak, Member-at-Large, and I in my role as Vice-President, Grievances, gave brief reports to the membership on “the state of the union,” where we are in our run up to the next round of bargaining, notes on the general nature of KFA work, and some highlights on the grievance front.

Please note: Your Working Conditions Committee is already at work, and there will be a faculty survey on working conditions. Raphael and the WCC expect this survey may be coming out as soon as the end of April or beginning of May, so watch for it, and please be sure to complete it and have your views taken into account.

If you have any questions, please contact me or any of the other Table Officers.

In solidarity,

Diane.