Minutes of the 102nd Annual General Meeting

MINUTES OF 102nd SPECIAL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE JAMAICA CIVIL SERVICE ASSOCIATION AT JACISERA PARK

Friday May 28, 2021

COMMENCEMENT: 10:15 A.M.

CALL TO ORDER

The Chairman Bro. O’neil Grant called the meeting to order and invited the General Secretary to read the notice convening the meeting.

NOTICE CONVENING THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Sis. Tifonie Powell-Williams, General Secretary read the Notice convening the meeting.

INVOCATION

Chairman invited Brother Marcus Edwards from the Ministry of Industry Investment and Commerce to bring the invocation.

INTRODUCTION AND APOLOGIES

The chairman welcomed all participants including members joining online. He stated that we are not in normal times and that though persons who have wanted to attend physically, in order to comply with the Disaster Risk Management Orders issued by the Government of Jamaica members had to attend both in person and online. Bro. Grant paid homage to health care workers on the frontline for their selfless service and sacrifice during the pandemic and assured them that the Union will negotiate on their behalf for the recognition they deserve. Mr. Grant noted that there was a meeting with the Ministry of Finance to discuss the compensation review and what will happen come April 1, 2022. He assured members that the Union will continue to work hard on their behalf.

He thanked partners and stakeholders for their continued support over the year.

He acknowledged those seated at the head table including General Secretary, Sis. Tifonie Powell-Williams, First Vice President, Techa Clarke-Griffiths and 3rd Vice President, Bro. Clarence Frater. Apologies were tendered for lateness from Honorary Treasurer, Sis. Melaini Mullings-Arnold and 2nd Vice President, Bro. Kelvin Thomas.

EXCERPTS FROM THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

The life blood of any trade union is its membership and the strategies of the Jamaica

Civil Service Association have been crafted to recognize that retention and growth of the membership is critical to the work and the existence and continued relevance of the Jamaica Civil Service Association. To that end since 2004 we have been drafting and renewing our strategic imperatives with that core intent of growing the membership and retaining them…

…We have strengthened the communications capacity of the Jamaica Civil Service Association, and the membership is seeing and feeling the impact of that strengthening. We have a Public Relations Officer that’s on board; we have drafted a communications policy and we are deepening the use of technology in reaching our members. But while we are increasing the use of technology, we still recognize that as a member base… …But while we are increasing the use of technology, we still recognize that as a member base organization you need to see us, feel us and hear us in person, and notwithstanding the pandemic the newly installed officer corps last year led by your President, engaged in an island wide walk through of public sector entities…

…We have improved our member services. Our goal and intention were on several levels. We wanted to know who our members are, where our members are, what are the conditions under which you are serving. Are we the Jamaica Civil Service Association serving your interest in the areas where those interests reside?... …This is something that we must do because under section 124 (2) of the Jamaica Constitution, the JCSA, the Jamaica Civil Service Association is the representative of workers in the public sector. In some instances, there is dual membership, in some instances we are not the main union representing you, but never forget that we stand ready to represent you in any area that you have an interest, in any area that you have a concern, and in any area that you feel that your rights have been impacted. To reach you, to know who you are, where you are, what are your conditions, are we serving you and can anyone else do it better, we have come closer to you. We have established regional offices across the major regions, the three regions of the country to add to our base at 10 Caledonia…

…whilst you are there can step next door and visit the JCSA western branch of our Mini mart. This is the first in a series of expansion activities, and we have identified a few more locations that over the year we will be expanding our reach…

…We have actually started the discussion at a location in Hanover where we want to assist the members with health and wellness activities, and we are hoping that as we progress that we will be able to do so for the other locations. Our core strength, our core mandate is industrial relations, and we have a well-trained team, a very competent team of industrial relations officers led by Bro. George Thorpe. Not only have we invested in

the team at our Secretariat, we have plans to ensure that there is an industrial relations officer in every region of the country…

…We have ensured that your delegates, those who you have elected from amongst yourselves, in your ministries, departments and agencies, have been trained and certified professionally as industrial relations practitioners through the Management Institute of National Development…

…first cohort of 25 members of the General Council of the Jamaica Civil Service Association and other members have completed their training in Industrial Relations and are now what we refer to as professionals in the area. So, your delegates, my brothers and sisters, are fully equipped, trained and certified and competent through their Association…

…Our advocacy does not end or reside here in Jamaica at the sub-regional level, we are fully represented at the highest level of Public Services International, where our General Secretary is the titular or the regional representative, second titular for Public Services International within the region of the Americas, and we want to just give her a special recognition for the work that she is doing at the regional level.

…Your Union continues to be a leader in the Caribbean Public Services Association, where yours truly, our General Secretary and our 1st Vice President are active members of the executive of the Caribbean Public Services Association sitting on the Board of the CPSA, working in the various sub-committees of the CPSA, leading the Women’s Movement in the CPSA, leading the Young Workers Movement in the CPSA and generally ensuring that Jamaica’s voice in the regional Movement stands strong.

… in response to the pandemic we have finally gotten our employer through the Ministry of Finance & the Public Service to put together a centralized policy for flexible work arrangement within the public sector… … This is extremely important for us as we recognize that flexible work arrangements are important, and given the new realities occasioned by Covid-19 we have seen the benefits of a flexible work arrangement policy. With flexible work arrangements come new demands and responsibilities on us as workers, and these need to be recognized by our Employer, and so we are taking the appropriate steps to ensure that our members are indemnified and protected and that the cost of offering public services is not subsidized unfairly by the members of the public sector…

…Absence management is critical to us. The issue of leave is vital to us as hard-working public officers. The Jamaica Civil Service Association has been in deep and strong dialogue with the Ministry of Finance for the crafting of an Absence Management Policy… …I wish to highlight maternity leave where currently we enjoy eight paid weeks of

maternity leave. We want to expand that so that leave in thepublic sector aligns with the standard that has been established by the ILO Convention on maternity leave, to 14 paid weeks leave in the public sector…

… Under the pandemic we have lost many loved ones, and unfortunately there is no bereavement leave in the public sector. We are pushing to ensure that bereavement leave is part of the Absence Management Policy of the public sector so that we remove the subjectivity that is often applied to the granting of leave in situations like those…

… We are currently in negotiations with the Ministry of Finance, and in my opening remarks I mentioned the compensation review for the public sector. We have started the work towards the implementation of the is compensation review, where we are reducing the over 300 different classifications in the public sector and the more than 185 allowances in the public sector to a standardized set of classifications in bands…

… we recognize that our members who live outside of Kingston, from the very mere fact that you live outside of Kingston are often times paid than your counterpart in Kingston for doing the same work. We are putting in a system that the compensation of public sector works will not be based on where you work geographically or which entity…

… On the issue of learning, your union the Jamaica Civil Service Association recognize that the path from where you are to where you need to be is not clear, and as professional public servant, as a professional and career civil servant, we want to make sure, we want to ensure that our career in the civil service has as particular pathway that takes you from…

… Training and education continue to be important. I remember two years ago I sat with Minister Nigel Clarke to discuss issues of strategic importance to the Jamaica Civil Service Association and it’s membership, and coming out of those deliberations was an understanding and the need for us to make the public sector the place of choice where professionals in the local labour market will see the Jamaica public sector as the first port of call…

…funds valuing over $1.5 billion to train and certify and equip our public servants at the very highest levels at international universities here in Jamaica, in the U.K. and in North America. I want to thank the Minister for continuing to lend an ear to the needs and the concerns of workers in the public sector… … The future of your Union is bright; the future and state of our Union is strong. We have existed for 102 years, and just last week during Workers’ Week I reflected on the national vision for Jamaica. The national vision for Jamaica is “To make Jamaica the place of choice to live, work raise families and do business.”…

… whilst we are doing the negotiations for

what the employer must provide, as a Union that has on record 30,000 members and growing, we must create value for the members of the JCSA by our sheer economic will. So we have canvassed the members, we are using the Hugh Lawson Shearer Labour Studies Institute at the of University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, to tap the pulse of our members. We send out frequent surveys to hear from our members. We don’t want to just sit where we are at 10 Caledonia, and say to our members, ‘We are here and we are representing you.’ We want your voice to be reflected in the programmes that we create, in the negotiations and the partnerships that we have and to ensure that at the end of the day we create value for the organization…

…We are willing and prepared to be with you everywhere that you are, but there are some benefits that we must create using our economic power. And we use the concept: can you imagine if the 30,000 of us goes to a business and spends in that business just $1,000 for that month…

… when we engage with our partners, we speak to them in terms of creating value and sustained partnership. With this clout of economic power, we can negotiate with persons and say for the JCSA we want you to do this, we want you to that, and if you are not willing do so we will find a way to create the benefits ourselves…

…and each one that we approach, a tank of gas or $10,000. And we said “no”. The profit that you are making from our members ranges from as little as 300,000 to a high of a million dollars, and we said our economic clout is not reflected in the benefits that we are getting, so we decided to do it ourselves. We have established the Motor Vehicle Help Desk where the members can access the virtual service offered by the JCSA to import your own motor vehicle and to cut out the middleman and to save between 300,000 and a $1 million of that…

… whose 80th Anniversary Loan is set at 8 percent, and we couch our members if you want a little cash flow, you want a little assistance go to our Thrift Society to get that $80,000 loan. But our partnership with First Heritage, and I must add quickly, that I happen to be the Chairman of the Board of First Heritage, and I am going to declare as well that my advocacy for you does not constitute a conflict of interest, because it is mutually beneficial to both organizations.

…I want to say thank you to First Heritage, and I want to also recognize our General Secretary who led those negotiations with the management of First Heritage to have this bridging loan established…

…And we are encouraging how members to go to JCIA. Jamaica Cooperative Insurance Agency to access your benefit. Contact our member services unit at 9687087 and they will put you in touch with our organizational partner to ensure that you can get your inexpensive insurance…

…We talk about package benefits: Meals is part of our health and wellness programme. We are putting together a comprehensive Health and Wellness Programme for all members of JCSA. We have started this programme with our Fitness and Wellness Centre here and we are bound to replicate that. Our consumers’ benefit is being dealt with under the Health and Wellness…

… our members can go to the minimart and purchase their goods and services. We are going to be evolving that, where the members can order their goods at the mini mart if you don’t have a minimart in your parish, we will ensure that there are certain centers where the members can order their goods and go at an appropriate time and do the collection or we will arrange for those goods to be delivered to you. We are work through the logistics of that and we are ensuring that wherever you are in Jamaica that you can access the benefits of membership through the Jamaica Civil Service Association…

…We are committed to doing that, we have expanded the discussion, we are now dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s that we will be able through our JCSA prepaid master card to access those benefit…

… Under the Health and Wellness Programme we are in negotiation with a clinical pharmacist for the establishment of a Medication Centre Management Programme, where members of the JCSA who are not well, who have to live on medication just to come to work. We are ensuring that the Medication Centre Managements Program through our group benefit called the Health and Wellness Programme, that members across the length and breadth…

…This is on top of the Sagicor Health Plan that we the Jamaica Civil Service Association negotiated with Sagicor under our health plan, to establish Medigap and Medigap Plus. We your Union would have negotiated for ambulatory services that members who need ambulance services can access those at little or no cost to them…

…we have had approaches from other organizations that want to partner with us in ensuring that our members when they fall ill, anywhere that they fall ill, can be transported from where they are to where they need the help that they can get…

…Housing: Union’s Estate is now the latest of our flagship development. I would be the first to recognize that we have not done another development in a very longtime. I will be the first to say that Union Estate is in need of structure and management, and your President who chairs the board of our housing company, is doing is a few things to ensure that housing is dealt with by the members.…

…The joint Venture Agreement for Irwin in St. James has been signed. Grounds are being broken, as we speak, beings and we will have a formal groundbreaking ceremony where the members will be invited to see what we are

going to be doing at Irwin. But we have not stopped there…

… are in dialogue with our developer to develop those lands, where the concept is that we are going to be using the Union’s Estate model to develop some town house accepts and apartments at Albion in St. Thomas and we will also be using the area that is less flat to dividend that into lots where members of JCSA can purchase the lots and build their own homes at Albion, and thediscussions on those are advanced…

… when we recognized that the cost of the unit to the members would have been too high, and we needed to revisit Hague in Trelawny. We are doing that, and we have several options that we are exploring, deliver housing solutions to our members at Hague in Trelawny. We are revamping our Housing Company; we have a project that we are highlighting where the members of the Jamaica Civil Service Association will be able to access your mortgages through the Jamaica Civil Service Housing Company. They are going to be revamping the company not to just joint venture with the NHT, we are going to revamp the company to partner with developers to accelerate the establishment of housing development for JCSA members…

,,,partner with entities like the NHT and the housing company and the HAJ, and with institutions like Jamaica National with whom we are now negotiating a MOU to ensure that members of JCSA can access shelter, can access housing, can access housing solutions, whether it be land or the units themselves. Your JCSA is work assiduously on your behalf…

… The third evolution of our Housing Company will see is the housing Company entering into what is novel in our landscape, which is the prospect of our members who are retiree. I’d like to use the old adage that we have trained and educated our children to own their own, “Mother have their own, father of their own, blessed is child that has their own.”….

…and so we don’t have the extended family living with us anymore, and a lot of our retirees are living at home by themselves and the cost of maintaining the big house in which we raise the children or even the little house in which we raise the children is now something that we need to preserve…

… You don’t have to rent out a room, you don’t have to rent out the house, you don’t have to sell the house. That house can pay you in your retirement and we are ensuring that we secure our members. The strategic mantra of the JCSA is to move our members, using our economic clout, we are looking after the work conditions, we are looking after all of that…

… We want to make sure that every single member of the JCSA, it doesn’t matter how modest your circumstances are, can say that, yes, my Union has moved me

from merely surviving to thriving, and so we have benefits that we have created, and we are sustaining, and we are improving on those benefits…

…My colleagues, we are here at the Annual General Meeting, this is where we as your leadership come and account to you. This is where we in the leadership tell you how we have safeguarded and affirmed your interest over the past year…

…In the Annual Report you would see how we have managed the finances of the organization. Through the Annual Report we will give you an indication of where it is that we are taking our Union…

… The JCSA with its 30,000 members represents a significant voice in the Jamaican Labor Movement, and we are making that voice heard. Every opportunity that we are invited to address the nation we take it, we do not resile from that responsibility because we recognize that a strong public sector union is necessary for a strong and successful nation

. … The biggest challenge that we have right now is the security of employment. We have too manypersons work in established jobs in the public sector that are not able to benefit from the security of that employment. You are working in jobs that are of indeterminate scope, indeterminate duration.

…We have lost many public officers not just because of the poor compensation but we have lost many public officers because of the lack of job security. Notwithstanding the 25 percent gratuity that is there. many workers have said that. President, my leaders within the JCSA, we want to ensure that when we retire, we are retiring on a good pension, and we all know that our pension is calculated on our basic pay and if you don’t get a good basic pay our pensions will be poor. So under the compensation review for the public sector, we are not just looking at what is the bread and butter for the here, the now, the today, we are looking at what we refer to as our deferred income…

…And so your Union is lobbying strongly under the compensation review, that the establishment of the Jamaican public sector must also be reviewed under the compensation policy and the compensation philosophy of the Government of Jamaica, and must move away from contract employment…

…We want to ensure that the comprehensive compensation review for the public sector is a true review of compensation within the public sector. We are making sure that there is a true promise that the Jamaican public sector will be the place of choice to work, and in being the place of choice to work that Jamaica will be the place of choice to live, because we know that as public officers we have set the standard for compensation in this country; we set the standard to have employment practice within this country, and we want to make sure that every single

worker everywhere can under the Decent Work Agenda, can under the Sustainable Agreement Goal No.8 say to themselves and their children that we have created that vision for you where you have security of employment for yourselves and your family…

… We believe in dialogue, we believe in social partnership, we believe in efficient cooperation of business, government and the Trade Union Movement, we can create or we can continue to strive for the perfect working environment in Jamaica.

…We will be your statesmen and women as we advocate and lobby on your behalf. At this the 102nd Annual General Meeting of the Jamaica Civil Service Association, we are affirming that commitment to you that we will take you from surviving to thriving. Thank you my, sisters and brothers and God Bless you all.

Confirmation of Minutes The Chairman notified persons that the Annual report would be shared with them virtually and that persons could also go the JCSA website to download the report. He stated that persons could place any corrections they identified in the chat, and it would be shared with the head table.

Mrs. Powell-Williams advised the participants that they could use the rise hand feature in zoom to move motions. The chairman stated that there was a correction with the spelling of his name. The spelling of the Chairman’s name is ‘O’ apostrophe, capital ‘N’.

An observation was made by Bro. Gary Mowatt that the Chairman was referred to as the President. He stated that the minutes should have read “the chair as per Section 41 of the

Constitution”. Bro Grant sated that whilst he is the chair of the meeting, he is still the President and as such there was no need to separate the roles.

Bro. Grant indicated that there were inconsistencies with the capitalization of the P in “President”. He stated that it should be capitalized at all times.

The chair asked that a motion be moves to confirm the minutes. The motion was moved by Sis. Ingrid Edwards and seconded by Brother Gary Mowatt.

Matters Arising

MIND Professional Certificate in Industrial Relations (PCIR)

The President expressed his delight with the PCIR course. He stated that other Caribbean islands expressed interest to have their members certified.

Toastmasters Club

The chairman stated that he was also proud of the progress with the toastmaster’s club. He

then invited Sis. Melaini Mullings-Arnold, Honorary Treasurer to gibe an update of what is happening in the Club. Sis. MullingsArnold stated that the club is a chartered club in Jamaica gained that status on January 29, 2021. She stated that she expected that the club would become distinguished within weeks.

Tuition Grant

President Grant stated that the Association was able to double the number of grants given to members of the JCSA for the year. He noted that though there were some challenges with the release of the funds in terms of the timing, that he was very proud that the Association was able to provide more grants to members. He encouraged members to send in their applications for the grant for the coming year.

Communication

Bro. Grant stated that when he became President, he invited a group from the Mona School of Business to do a survey to discover weaknesses in the organization. One of the main weakness that was identified was lack of communication. He stated that though the Association has made strides in strengthening communication that there was still much to be done to improve the area.

Fitness and Wellness Centre

The Chairman stated that despite the Fitness and Wellness Centre not being launched at the time originally planned, it was launched on May 6, 2021 and that we were on course to a June 1 start for the taking of membership for utilization of the gym.

JCSA Master Card

Bro. Grant advised that plans for the Mastercard were far advanced despite the fact that there were some setbacks. He stated that the contact was signed with Alliance E-pay services and that the technical and regulatory issues with the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Jamaica were being sorted out to ensure that all members of the JCSA can access their benefits through the Thrift Society. He further stated that the Association was also doing a reconciliation with the thrift to sort out to ensure that members dues for the association were kept separate from the thrift so that this would not affect members accessing benefits.

General Secretary’s Report The report having been circulated and examined was taken as read and adopted on a motion moved by Bro. Livingston Burnett and seconded by Sis. Charmaine Hamilton.

Financial Report The President invited the Honorary Treasurer to read the financial statement. She noted that this would have been circulated in the annual report and encouraged persons to take a look at them. The treasurer stated that in the report she would have provided information on the percentage increase in the Association’s income, expenses and how money was spent. The Chairman thanked the Honorary Treasurer for how she seamlessly took over

the treasury of the JCSA and opened the floor for motions and resolutions.

The Treasurer’s report was accepted on a motion moved by Moved by Bro. Gary Mowatt and seconded by Sis. Carol Clarke.

Motions and Resolutions The chairman indicated that there was one resolution. A Proposed amendment to the Constitution, Rules and Regulations of the JCSA to have an Election Code of the Conduct for the JCSA elections.

The amendment would consist of the following: (1) That an Election Code of Conduct be developed by the General Council and appropriately approved. (2) That the approved Election Code of

Conduct be incorporated into the

Constitution, Rules and Regulations at a new Clause (iii), under section 22. (3) All candidates must sign the Election Code of Conduct at the point of accepting nomination.”

This resolution was moved by brother Clarence Frater, seconded by Sis Melaini Arnold Mullings. Sis. Anastacia Clarke-Cole Sis. Sardia Morris Sis. Dionne Newman Sis.Golda Clarke Sis. Carole Brown Bro. Sheldon Graham Sis. Camille Buford Sis. Shawna-Kay Reeves Sis. Rhonda Pryce Bro Patrick Ferguson

10 Years of Service

Sis. Melaini Mullings-Arnold Sis. Ann-Marie Campbell-Bell Sis. Charmaine Gilette-McLellan Bro. Rolando Noble

15 Years of Service

Sis. Angella Burrell- Rodney Bro. Michael Thompson Bro. Michael Palmer Sis. Donna Pellington

Staff Members 5 Years of Service

Sis. Crystal Lee-Brown Sis. Helen Hutchinson-Mason

Presentation of Virtual Awards

General Council 5 Years of Service

Bro. Othniel Brown Bro. Harold McCurbin Bro. Anthony Johnson

10 Years of service

Bro. Howard Hutchinson Sis. Racquel Stephenson

15 Years of Service

Sis. Joy Tucker-Harriot

20 Years of Service

Sis. Tifonie Powell-Williams

Chapter of the Year Manchester Chapter

Committee of the Year

Member Services and Affiliation

Most Improved Chapter

Westmoreland

Departmental Representative of the Year

Sis. Jacqueline Kinghorn

President’s Award

Sis. Paulette Ferguson

Award of Honoraria A motion for the acceptance of the Honoraria to be moved from 3 million to 3.5 Million to reward the volunteers who have served on various committees and in our Chapters, General Council and Executive.

The motion was moved by Bro. Gary Mowatt and seconded by Bro. Robert Chung.

New and Other Business The President mentioned that the Association had started reengaging with the Office of Services Commission to express concerns about mental health issues that persons may be affected by within the public sector. He stated that members with were being brough in and dealt with under the code for disciplinary issues due to mental health issues. He said that the Association would be launching a renewed campaign to treat with mental health. Appointment of Auditors The Treasurer indicated that the team of Auditors led by Mrs. Karen McPherson would continue to examine the records of the JCSA.

The Motion was moved by motion moved by Sister Marva Ximines and seconded by Brother Ian Williams.

Declaration of Officers The Director of Elections Mr. Glasspole Brown Reported that Bro. Kelvin Thomas was returned to the position of second vice President with a total of 868 votes and Bro, O’Neil Grant was returned to the position of President with a total of 859 votes.

Brother Grant expressed that he was a concerned because of how elections have been conducted over the past few years. He said that the conduct of persons have had to be legislated. He urged persons to campaign in a manner that does not bring the integrity of the EOJ into disrepute or attack the personalities of other candidates.

Bro Kelvin Thomas expressed his gratitude to the members who voted to return him and President Grant. He said that he was committed to building the organization with the rest of the team of officers.

Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 5:26 p.m.