- Purpose
The Employment and Benefits Defence Sub-committee (the “Sub-committee”) is established under the authority of, and is accountable to, the National Executive Committee (the “NEC”) of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (“the Association”). The Sub-committee shall function as stipulated in these terms of reference.
- Mandate
A. The Sub-committee is responsible for working with the NEC to reduce or mitigate potential economic impacts on members as a result of an economic recovery plan.
B. The Sub-committee will review:
(i) Workforce Adjustment (WFA) provisions and/or program review provisions
General issues around and preparing for possible WFA including:
- The alternation program and how CAPE can support it
- The communication component
- The educational/training component – for the membership and local leaders
- Providing operational/organizational support to locals – Recommendations to the NEC concerning what CAPE could do to support the local leadership and members going through WFA (i.e.: employer to provide office to local leaders to deal with WFA issues, etc.
(ii) Pension, social benefits
(iii) Wage freezes
(iv) Hiring Freezes
(v) Automation
- Any potential job loss through automation must be done in consultation with the Digital Disruption and Transformation Sub-committee.
(vi) Any other issue(s) that may have an impact on CAPE’s members as a result of an economic recovery plan
(vii) Any other issue(s) that the Sub-committee deems important and relevant to the membership will be done in consultation
C. Within the first three months of forming the Sub-committee, the Sub-committee will develop an action plan, for approval by the NEC. This action plan will be affixed to the TORs.
D. The Sub-committee will come up with a budget that will be presented to the NEC for their consideration and be included in future budgets. The Sub-committee can go to the Finance Committee and/or the NEC should an urgent need arise.
- Composition
A. The Sub-committee may be composed of:
a) The President and the two (2) Vice-Presidents as voting members;
b) A minimum of five (5) NEC members and to endeavour to have more than one bargaining unit represented, as voting members, one of whom will Chair the Sub-committee;
c) Endeavour to have at least ten (10) Regular Members as non-voting members; and
d) Management and staff resources as designated by the President, as non-voting members.
B. The Sub-committee may elect a Vice-Chair, who shall be elected from the Sub-committee voting members.
C. When appointing voting and non-voting members to the Sub-committee, the NEC shall also consider:- regional representation
- linguistic diversity
- gender diversity, racial diversity and other minority voices
- employer organization
- tenure in the government
- experience with previous WFA processes
D. The Chair of the Sub-committee shall notify the NEC of the departure of any Sub-committee member at the next regularly scheduled NEC meeting.
E. If the Sub-committee membership falls below the minimum number of voting members, replenishment of the Sub-committee membership shall be the responsibility of the NEC.
F. The Chair shall ensure that a record of all decisions and recommendations of the Sub-committee is maintained. The Chair may appoint a recording secretary as appropriate.
G. The management and staff of the Association will provide other services to the Sub-committee as requested by the Chair.
- General Provisions
A. The Sub-committee derives its authority from s. 12.1 of the Constitution to review and provide recommendations to the NEC;
B. A simple majority of the Sub-committee voting members, which shall include the Chair and/or Vice-Chair, will constitute a quorum for Sub- committee meetings;
C. It is expected that decisions of the Sub-committee will be made by consensus and that formal votes will not be frequently required. Should, however, a vote be moved, it will be decided as follows: within quorum, each voting member is entitled to one vote; 50% plus one will carry the vote. In the case of a tie, the Chair shall cast the deciding vote;
D. The Sub-committee shall have a calendar of business, maintained by the Chair, for the purpose of ensuring that each meeting agenda addresses responsibilities as outlined in these terms of reference;
E. The Sub-committee shall provide an update to the NEC at every regular NEC meeting, and as requested, with 72 hours notice, at Special NEC meetings;
F. In accordance with the practices of the Association, meetings of the Sub-committee shall be restricted to the Sub-committee members, with the exceptions of persons attending by express invitation of the Sub-committee Chair (or designate);
G. In addition to the powers conferred by s. 12.9 of the Constitution, any participant in a Sub-committee meeting who may be in conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest shall recuse themselves from the portion of the meeting where the matter giving rise to the conflict is discussed. Should they fail to recuse themselves, they may be asked to leave the meeting or absent themselves from the room for a discussion should they be deemed, by a majority of the Sub-committee, to be in a perceived or real conflict of interest. Any refusal to comply with such a request will be noted in the minutes and reported to the NEC;
H. The Chair has the authority, pursuant to By-Law 14 (Suspension Due to Absenteeism), to ensure that attendance requirements are respected.
I. The Sub-committee meetings will initially be held on a monthly basis and will be scheduled as closely as possible to the regularly scheduled monthly NEC meetings. Subject to review at a future date, the Sub-committee may decide to change the frequency of the meetings.
J. The duration of the Sub-committee will be by project length.
These terms of reference were approved at the NEC meeting of 29 April 2022.
