Report of the Constitution & Bylaws Committee

The Union of National Employees will amend Bylaw 2, Section 18 to read as follows:

Bylaw 2 Sec 18

The national vice-president for human rights:

a) is responsible for human rights and equity issues in the UNE;
b) establishes and maintains contact with the human rights regional representatives;
c) co-ordinates the efforts of the human rights committee;
d) presides at all meetings of the human rights committee;
e) attends all meetings of the national executive;
f) participates in committee meetings of the national executive when required;
g) presides at the UNE Human Rights Conference;
h) represents the UNE on the PSAC Human Rights committee;
i) submits a written report of that officer’s activities at each meeting of the national executive. This report forms part of the minutes of national executive meetings and is forwarded to the members of the human rights committee and all locals of the UNE;

j) files a report to the national executive on the vice-president for Human Rights’ activities and recommendations four months prior to the UNE Triennial Convention. This report is forwarded to the national executive and to local presidents and convention delegates;

k) recommends, on behalf of the committee, the expenditure of the human rights committee budget;
l) provides advice to the UNE on human rights and equity issues;
m) approves all official communications by human rights regional representatives;
n) takes responsibility for human rights communication strategies;
o) ensures that the assistant national vice-president for human rights is informed of all matters relevant to the human rights committee and the UNE; and
p) performs other duties assigned by the national president or the national executive.
q) In the event the national president and national executive vice-president are absent from a national executive meeting, the national vice-president for human rights will take on the responsibility of the chair;
r) In the event the national president and the national executive vice-president leave the podium during a convention and/or conference, the national vice- president for human rights will assume the responsi­bility of chairing the conference and/or convention.

The Union of National Employees will add a new Bylaw 2, Section 19 to read as follows (all subsequent sections will be renumbered accordingly):

Bylaw 2 Sec 19

The national vice-president for occupational health and safety will:

a) be responsible for the occupational health and safety objectives for the  membership of UNE;
b) be the point of contact for UNE members for National Policy Health and Safety committees;
c) co-ordinate the efforts of the national executive standing committee on occupational health and safety;
d) preside at all meetings of the national executive standing committee on occupational health and safety;
e) attend all meetings of the national executive;
f) participate in committee meetings of the national executive when required;
g) co-chair with the National Executive Vice President of UNE at the UNE Health and Safety Conference, in each convention cycle;
h) submit a written report of that officer’s activities at each meeting of the national executive. This report forms part of the minutes of national executive meetings;
i) file a report to the national executive on the vice-president’s activities and recommendations four months prior to the UNE Triennial Convention. This report is forwarded to the national executive and to local presidents and convention delegates;
j) provide advice to the UNE National Executive on occupational health and safety issues;
k) approve all official communications by the national executive standing committee on occupational health and safety;
l) take responsibility for occupational health and safety communication strategies;
m) take on responsibility of the chair in the event the national president, national executive vice-president and national vice-president for human rights are absent from a national executive meeting
n) assume the responsibility of chairing the conference and /or convention in the event the national president, the national executive vice-president and national vice-president for human rights leave the podium during a convention and/or conference
o) perform other duties assigned by the national president or the national executive.

The Union of National Employees will abolish Bylaw 2, Section 27 (Term Limits for all nationally and regionally elected officers) commencing in the UNE Convention cycle of 2026-2029.

Bylaw 2 Sec 27

Tenure

No member may be elected to the same UNE, national or regional officer position for more than two consecutive terms.

The Union of National Employees shall modify Bylaw 2 Section 18 new a) and Bylaw 2 section 19 new a), policy would need to be updated accordingly to have a National Executive that is compensated on a full-time basis using the following compensation rates:

President: 100% of the formula specified in Policy NEN 1.

National Executive Vice-President: 85% of the formula specified in Policy NEN 1, Section 1.

National Vice-President for Human Rights, National Vice-President for Occupational Health and Safety and Regional Vice-Presidents:  80% of the formula specified in Policy NEN 1, Section 1.

Please note: costs will have to be calculated for this matter, but the salary according to this calculation would be of $108,000 X 13 positions, or $1,414,400 per annum, less the replacement of the salary for existing expenses, which means that the salary cost for this resolution is approximately $1,300,000 per annum, allocated over an average of 23,000 members. According to the average salary of a member, i.e. $56.52 per annum or $4.71 per member per month, an increase of approximately 16% of the portion of component dues of the total PSAC dues.

Resolution CS 08 has been amended as follows: To add to the resolution: amended Bylaw 2 Sec 18 a) and Bylaw 2 Sec 19 a) to add “is a full-time paid officer”.  Policy NEN and any other policy would be updated accordingly and to remove the costing in the resolution that was provided by the submitting body.

Bylaw 2 Sec 18 The national vice-president for human rights: 

a) is a full-time paid officer;
b) is responsible for human rights and equity issues in the UNE;
c) establishes and maintains contact with the human rights regional representatives; 
d) co-ordinates the efforts of the human rights committee; 
e) presides at all meetings of the human rights committee; 
f) attends all meetings of the national executive; 
g) participates in committee meetings of the national executive when required; 
h) presides at the UNE Human Rights Conference; 
i) represents the UNE on the PSAC Human Rights committee; 
j) submits a written report of that officer’s activities at each meeting of the national executive. This report forms part of the minutes of national executive meetings and is forwarded to the members of the human rights committee and all locals of the UNE; 
k) recommends, on behalf of the committee, the expenditure of the human rights committee budget; 
l) provides advice to the UNE on human rights and equity issues; m) approves all official communications by human rights regional representatives; 
n) takes responsibility for human rights communication strategies;
o) ensures that the assistant national vice-president for human rights is informed of all matters relevant to the human rights committee and the UNE; and 
p) performs other duties assigned by the national president or the national executive. 
q) In the event the national president and national executive vice-president are absent from a national executive meeting, the national vice-president for human rights will take on the responsibility of the chair; 
r) In the event the national president and the national executive vice-president leave the podium during a convention and/or conference, the national vicepresident for human rights will assume the responsibility of chairing the conference and/or convention.

The vice-president for each region: 

a) is a full-time paid officer;
b)follows the decisions taken by the national executive and the Triennial UNE and PSAC conventions; 
c) attends all meetings of the national executive and submits a written report of regional activities annually by April first. This report forms part of the minutes of the next national executive meetings and will be forwarded to all the locals in their respective regions; 
d) participates in the committees of the national executive as required; d) represents the UNE at meetings of the national board of directors, on PSAC committees or in other forums as required; f) files a report to the national executive on the vice-president’s activities and recommendations four months prior to the UNE Triennial Convention. This report is forwarded to the national executive and to local presidents and convention delegates from the region; 
g) is responsible to the national president and national executive for the affairs of the region and performs regional duties required by the national executive; g) contacts locals within the region on a regular basis and is available to visit locals upon reasonable request; h) has authority to attend any local meeting and to examine the records and accounts of any local of the UNE within the region; 
h) participates in PSAC activities in the region and encourages locals within the region to do the same; 
i) provides guidance to locals in the region; 
j) coordinates and monitors the activities of the assistant vice-president for the region; 
k) works cooperatively with the assistant vice-president for the region, the human rights representative and the alternate human rights representative and meets with them at least once per quarter; m) encourages membership participation in PSAC and other union-sponsored education; 
l) organizes and coordinates regional seminars within the region in accordance with the budgetary policies set at convention. (In lieu of regional seminars, the vice-president for the region of countries outside Canada will visit twice per term an overseas location where members can assemble for membership services and educational courses); and 
m) performs other duties as assigned by the national president or the national executive. 

The Union of National Employees will allow locals with 4-100 members to send 2 delegates to the UNE Conventions.

Bylaw 6 Sec 10

Election of delegates

At least four months prior to the opening date of the UNE National Convention, each local that has met the requirements of Bylaw 3, Sections 4 and 11; Bylaw 3, Section 5; and Bylaw 5, Section 9 will elect from among members at a general meeting an accredited delegate to the convention. The number of delegates per local is based on the number of members in good standing in the local six months prior to the opening date of the convention:

a)   four to 100 members = one two delegates;

b)   one accredited delegate for each 100 members or portion thereof to a maximum of five delegates for any given local.

The Union of National Employees will review the structure of the UNE and the effectiveness of the current regional system  with intent to unify the responses put forward to manage actions regarding multi-region sectors.

Amended to: The Union of National Employees will review the structure of the UNE and the effectiveness of the current regional system.

The Union of National Employees will amend Bylaw 2, Section 1, the Composition of the National Executive; namely the deletion of the national position of Occupational Health and Safety, and amend all the Bylaws, Policies and Governance Documents associated with this change and the UNE will enact this resolution immediately upon its adoption and prior to Election of National Positions at the 2023 UNE Triennial Convention.

National executive

Bylaw 2 Sec 1

Composition      

The national executive is composed of the national president, the national executive vice-president, the national vice-president for human rights, the national vice-president for occupational health and safety and eleven regional vice-presidents.

The Union of National Employees will amend Bylaw 6, Section 1 as follows: 

Bylaw 6 Sec 1   
Triennial National Convention  
The supreme governing body of the UNE, consistent with its area of jurisdiction as provided by the PSAC Constitution, is the Triennial National Convention.  

The convention will deal with all resolutions and matters brought before it by:  
• Local meetings; A local with supporting minutes; or  
• The national executive; or  
• The Human Rights Committee. • Any member in good standing who has obtained the signature of five other members in good standing of the UNE.

The Union of National Employees shall modify Section 27 of Bylaw 2:

No member may be elected to the same UNE, national or regional officer position for more than two consecutive terms.

The Union of National Employees will mandate the relocation of Full Time Paid National Officers must occur with a temporary location in the National Capital Region within 30 days of election, and obtain a lease/rental agreement, or purchase agreement within 120 days of election, or the elected officer will be deemed as vacated.