President MacLennan called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. with a request that each member of the Provincial Executive introduce themselves. In addition, a new P.E. member - Catherine Smith from Local 054 (University of Alberta Hospital) - was welcomed; Catherine replaced Pat Bohnet who was elected as a Vice-President at Convention.

One of the main topics of discussion at this meeting was the 'dues increase' issue. A very lengthy discussion period occurred with members emphasizing the fact that, in order to obtain the dues increase, this Union followed the democratic procedures outlined in our Constitution. Since the Union's inception these procedures have been used for all constitutional resolutions - including the many years that dues increase resolutions have been brought to Convention only to fail because of the constitutional requirement for a two-thirds majority. The P.E. members were of the opinion that the Union should continue responding to any objection to the increase by advising of the process to be used to change the Constitution. It was noted that a brochure explaining the dues increase has been prepared and is available for distribution. Following this discussion, the Provincial Executive unanimously carried the following motion:

That the Provincial Executive recognize and support the democratically determined Convention decision on the dues increase and recommends that the practice of advising members of the process for amending the Constitution be continued and that every effort be made to educate those members on the benefits of belonging to AUPE.

The remainder of the morning was spent discussing negotiations - various members updated the status of their bargaining unit's negotiations. [For updates on negotiations, please refer to the negotiations button on this website.] In addition, a presentation was made to the P.E. by Kishan Sri Thakur (Local 054 - University of Alberta) and Kathy Kadyk (Local 056/002 - Glenrose Hospital) which specifically addressed issues those bargaining units are facing in their negotiations with the Capital Health Authority. Following their presentation, the Provincial Executive unanimously carried the following motion:

That this Provincial Executive support the decisions of Local 054 and Local 056/002 to take whatever action is necessary to reach a fair and just collective agreement.

During the lunch break, the Provincial Executive members viewed a video produced by the AFL entitled "Putting People First" - this video was developed as a follow-up to the Alternate Growth Summit held in the fall.

A recommendation to the Provincial Executive that the 1998 Annual Convention be held at the Edmonton Inn on November 13 - 15, 1998, was defeated on the basis of a 1996 Convention resolution which called for AUPE Conventions to be held at unionized facilities. The P.E. were advised that efforts would be made to find an alternate facility and they would be contacted by telephone roll call vote within the next week or two to decide where Convention 1998 would be held. [It has been determined that Convention will be held on November 6 - 8, 1998, at the Crowne Plaza - Chateau Lacombe Hotel in Edmonton.]

Further to direction given at the September 1997 Provincial Executive Meeting, a draft "Service Agreement" was presented to the Provincial Executive for approval prior to being presented to the four AVC Faculty Associations, whose members had previously been part of AUPE's Local 008. Following a fairly lengthy discussion period, the motion to approve the "Service Agreement" was carried.

Further to a recommendation from the Executive Committee, a motion was carried which calls for the Executive Committee to conduct a review of the current Local/Chapter structure with input from the same Locals and Chapters with the intent of streamlining inequities.

On recommendation from the Finance Committee, the monthly financial statements for July, August and September 1997, were accepted.

Upon recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Provincial Executive approved entering into a five-year lease for the Camrose Regional Office at a new location. Under the provisions of this new lease, it is estimated that AUPE will save approximately $12,500. per year.

An election was held to fill two vacant positions on the Audit Task Force - four nominations were made, two members declined which resulted in Sisters Gladys Breckenridge (Local 069) and Karen Broten (Local 061) being acclaimed as the newest members of the Audit Task Force. (NB. The third member is Larry Connell - Local 010.)

The issue of AUPE's members on the National Executive Board was raised. Currently, under the provisions of the National Union's Constitution, AUPE is entitled to two positions: the President automatically occupies the position of NUPGE Vice-President; the second Board Member position is to be designated by the component (AUPE). The only provision is that one of the two members must be a woman. President MacLennan is therefore the NUPGE Vice-President. Brother Mardell had, in accordance with P.E. Policy, been elected to fill the second position; given the NUPGE Constitutional provisio, he can no longer occupy this position. With no member objecting, this issue was deferred to the next meeting for discussion and resolution.

The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.

The next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 14, 1998, commencing at 9:00 a.m. in Boardroom #112 at AUPE Headquarters.