Westman AC Mtg Minutes (Oct 21 2009)

Westman Area Council
October 21, 2009
5:00 pm
Rollin’ Pin Restaurant

Meeting called by: Glen Johnston
Type of meeting: General Meeting
Facilitator:
Note Taker: Roy R Clark
Timekeeper:
Attendees: Glen, Martin, Roy, Randy, Susan

The meeting was called to order at 5:15 PM by Glen.

Regrets
Jeff sent his regrets

Previous Minutes
Corrections to the previous meetings minutes were requested. Randy made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected, Martin seconded this. Motion Carried.

Treasurers Report
Nil

Federal Election Strategy
• There has been no direction from National as of yet; however, options are being considered. These include mail outs or the establishment of phone banks.
• Leadership convention scheduled in November. There may be direction or suggestions from that.
• We require a stronger committee presence in the community.
• Discussed the use of an all candidates meeting in Brandon held in conjunction with the Labour Council. This could also work in the other cities and towns in the region.

What can we accomplish together?
• We need to get more involvement in the committee before we can go forward with this.
• We need to send out council information to more of the local components members.
• Components members may have issues that we can help them with. We need to get the information out that we may be able to help them. Together as a group, we should be able to help each other with these issues.
• Mobilization is a concern for many; however, this builds leading up to a strike and during one. There is little interest in this at other times.

Expectations
• Council was created in late 2002 or 2003. During that time attendance has been up and down.
• The possibility of having meetings outside of Brandon was discussed. This can be done with some prior planning
• Members hoped that attendance would increase to include at least one member from each component within the area.
• Personal phone calls could be made to invite component members to the council meetings.
• We need to try to get members out to both their local meetings and the area council meetings.
• Conference calls might be a solution, although they have been difficult to arrange in the past.
• Members wanted to keep the council going, as it contributes to the workers well being.
• Many locals are struggling themselves; this makes it hard to encourage attendance with the area council.
• More events between the components should occur. These can be social in nature.
• We can cooperate with other unions, not just the public service. Partnership relationships could be created through the Brandon Labour Council.

Training & Education
• We need to get more training outside of Winnipeg. Travel associated with training makes training prohibitive for many within the region.
• Members would like to see something on Bullying in the Workplace.

From the Floor
Nil

Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 PM by Glen.
 

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