President MacLennan called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. following which the normal roll call was taken. At this meeting a new Provincial Executive member was welcomed - Sherri Flynn from Local 020 - Alberta Treasury Branches.

During discussion on the President's Report, Kishan Sri Thakur (Local 054 - University of Alberta) updated the P.E. on the status of bargaining with the Capital Health Authority for Local 054 and Local 056/002 (Glenrose Hospital). He noted that a strike vote had been conducted which resulted in overwhelming support for job action. He advised that if no collective agreement is reached after mediation on March 17, 1998, job action is considered their next and only alternative to achieving a fair collective agreement.

Through review of the Executive Committee Report it was noted the Executive had unananimously recommended that the 1998 AFL May Day Solidarity Award be presented to Sister Carol Anne Dean. The Provincial Executive then, by motion, unanimously endorsed this recommendation. Brother Smith advised that the decision with respect to the recipient of the award will be made at the AFL's April meeting.

During presentation of the Finance Committee Report, Brother Mardell reviewed the Union's financial statements for the period October - December 1997 and the current cashflow statement. These statements were then accepted for information.

The following reports were accepted for information: Women's Committee Report of February 28, 1998; Pension Committee Report of February 26, 1998; Members' Benefits Committee Report of January 22 and 23, 1998; Committee on Political Action/Anti-Privatization Committee Report of February 21, 1998; Membership Services Committee Report of February 10 and 27, 1998; Legislative Committee Report of February 28, 1998; and the Reports of Vice-Presidents Bohnet, Hoffman, Smith and Thompson.

Upon recommendation of the Membership Services Committee, Policy 3-8 (Grant Notley Scholarship) was amended. The amendment simply deleted from the policy a pre-requisite for admission that the Labour College of Canada no longer requires, ie. completion of the CLC correspondence course.

Upon recommendation from the Occupational Health & Safety Committee, the Provincial Executive approved AUPE contributing $500.00 towards the cost of the 1998 International Day of Mourning activities. It was noted that the ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions) has chosen Edmonton as the centre for international observance of this day. AUPE, in conjunction with the AFL, is sponsoring several activities that day including wreath laying and adding names to the plaque located on the 2nd floor at Headquarters as well as an evening ceremony at the Ukrainian Centre in Edmonton.

Further to the deferral of the issue of AUPE's representatives on the National Executive Board, an election was held to fill the position which Brother Mardell was required to vacate in accordance with NUPGE's constitutional provision that one of the two Board members (the President automatically fills one position) be a woman. The successful candidate for this position was Vice-President Peggy Hoffman.

The meeting adjourned at 3:55 p.m.

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