Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

The administration of the affairs of the Local is the responsibility of the Executive Committee. The President along with the Vice-President(s), the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Chief Steward and the Stewards’ Network constitute the basic organization which will keep the Local in good working order and able to discharge its responsibilities in accordance with the Bylaws.

The Minutes of Meetings

The Secretary of the Local has the responsibility to record the minutes of all meetings. The minutes include all the business that is transacted at a meeting, but it should not include every word that is said. Sometimes, a resume of the remarks on highly controversial issues may be recorded as “a heated discussion followed”.

A complete set of minutes will include:

• the type of meeting (regular, executive, special, annual);
• the date, time and place of the meeting;
• the time the meeting started;
• the names of the Chairperson and Secretary;
• the names of the other officers present;
• the names or number of members present;
• the adoption of the minutes of the previous meeting;
• summaries of all reports;
• all motions (names of movers and seconders whether carried or defeated);
• time of adjournment;
• signature of Secretary and Chairperson.

Everyone on the Executive, but particularly the Secretary should be able to refer quickly to any item of a previous meeting. Keeping a Minutes Book will help to facilitate this task.

The Local’s Minutes Book includes minutes of regular membership meetings, the annual meetings, the executive meetings, as well as minutes of committee meetings.

When an election is held in the Local, record in the minutes the names of all those members who are elected as officers or to committees. If a candidate or candidates are elected by acclamation, so record. After an election, advise the PSAC Regional Office and your Component of the names, the addresses and phone numbers of the new executive as soon as possible. Click for the an example of the notification form.

Here is a sample of minutes from a regular monthly meeting of a Local for your guidance.

Correspondence

Another function of the Secretary is the preparation of the general correspondence, the processing and the follow-up of letters requiring action.

Preparation of the General Correspondence

The general correspondence includes administrative letters between the Component and the Local, between the REVP and DC Locals and within the organization in general. This includes for example, changes of address, election results, forwarding minutes of general membership meetings, minutes of labour management meetings, etc. It can also include letters reflecting decisions, such as specific motions, excerpts from the minutes of the executive or from the general membership meetings. These are usually sent to the Regional Vice-President of the Component. If a Directly Chartered Local, documents are sent to the appropriate PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President and to the PSAC Regional Office for their information or required action. The annual financial statement of Directly Chartered Locals should be sent to the PSAC National President.

The Processing of Correspondence

The Secretary usually receives and processes all the correspondence of the Local. Examples of the correspondence received include all correspondence, such as computer printouts, cheques, minutes of Component executive meetings, newsletters and others. It also includes correspondence from the Alliance Centre, such as National Board of Directors’ Minutes, resolutions of records, various reports, newsletters, Alliance Magazine, campaign publicity and correspondence from Area Councils. The correspondence received can also include letters from the Federations of Labour, if the Local is affiliated and letters from the Canadian Labour Congress. Management may also be sending its correspondence via the Secretary of the Local.

When a letter is received, you need to determine whether the letter will be acted upon by the Executive Committee, a Standing Committee or the General Membership.

• Executive Committee:

Letters to be dealt with by the Executive Committee are placed in a file folder and presented at the Executive Committee meeting for their recommendations and/or for their action. These are then recorded in the Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting. A notation is made for easy reference on the letter indicating the date and a reference to the minutes containing the action to be taken.

• Standing Committee

Letters to be dealt with by a Standing Committee are handed to the Committee chairperson. Instructions include that the letter and the Committee’s recommendations be returned prior to the date set for the meetings of the Executive Committee. A record of all outgoing correspondence showing from whom it was received, date of letter, date received, subject dealt with, date handed to the Committee Chairperson is maintained in the Local’s file.

• General Membership

Correspondence to be handled by the general membership is placed in two file folders: one for those letters already actioned by the Executive Committee for the members’ ratification and information and another file for those letters that require action by the Local’s general membership. Usually, the Executive can and will make recommendations to help the members deal with the subject.

A Record of the Correspondence and Follow-up

In order to keep control over the correspondence in the Local, it is suggested that you keep a record of all the correspondence received and actioned. This will make your report easier at Executive and General Membership meetings.

General correspondence will be filed right away and a note nude on the record as to where it can be found. This will greatly improve the efficiency of the Local. Most important, however, is the use of the record to action follow-up. Click for a sample Local correspondence log. It is not uncommon to have situations which will require more than a onetime action to be completed. Furthermore, in cases where the Local initiates action, it is of the greatest importance to keep a record of what happened or did not happen. The credibility of the Local before the members and its ability to get results often depends on follow-ups.

Files

The Local needs to keep files of all correspondence including copies of letters written by the Secretary and any other officer.

It is not practical here to mention the subject headings for all the files a Local should maintain. Among the most important ones are: a file for each committee, audit reports and financial statements; grievance adjudications; local annual and/or executive meetings; newsletters; bulletins; etc. With experience, you will know when files need to be maintained for specific items and when other files of a more general nature are most useful.

An efficient filing system is a simple one. It also is one that enables everyone in the Local to locate communications quickly. Here are some suggestions to help you set up a filing system.

1. Use the subject heading for each file.

Sample subject headings:

1. Membership;
2. Grievances;
3. Education;
4. Collective Bargaining;
5. Steward Committee.
6. Women’s Committee
7. Human Rights Committee
8. Political Action Committee

2. Use a reference number for each document put on a particular file. A file reference number can consist of:
   1. Local #.
   2. The abbreviated name of the Component (if applicable);
   3. The number of Locals;
   4. The number of the document;
   5. The year of the document.

Example: AGR 16-12-98 (Agriculture Union, Local 16, the 12th document entered on file in 1998).

or

DC Local 00451 13-98. Games Bay General Hospital, the 13th document entered on file in 1998.)

3. Files should be maintained in alphabetical order by subject headings.
4. Keep files up to date. Attach reference numbers to all documents and place the documents on the appropriate files as soon as they are received. This way, when you need to make reference to a particular document you know exactly where it is.
5. On a regular basis, remove outdated documents from your current files. These may either be destroyed if the material is no longer relevant or placed as dead files in storage.
6. Keep all your files together in one place, preferably in a cabinet or desk drawer that can be locked when the files are not in use.
7. REMEMBER – All documents on the grievance file are confidential and must not, under any circumstances, be made available to anyone, except authorized officers on the Local Executive, Component, Alliance Centre Staff and PSAC Regional offices.