TBU ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2020
Login at OR BEFORE 3:15 pm
Meeting starts at 3:30 pm
Tentative Agenda:
- Call to Order
- Welcome
- Anti-Harassment Statement & Anti-Harassment Officers
- Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
- The OSSTF Pledge
- Introduction of the Chair
- Introduction of Executive and Guests
- Adoption of the Agenda
- Reports to be Received at the Call of the Chair
- Adoption of the Previous Minutes
- President’s Remarks
- Greetings from Provincial Office
- Officers' Reports
- Election of Officers (Acclamation)
- Motions for Consideration
- Other Business
- Adjournment
Platform: Zoom
Phone-in Option
Registration
How to Login to the Meeting
Online Meeting Etiquette
- It is possible to participate in this meeting using Zoom or via telephone. We prefer that you use Zoom, if at all possible, unless calling in by phone is your only option.
- If you do not have a Zoom account, you must sign up for a FREE account at https://zoom.us in advance. You will have to log into Zoom for security reasons.
- Please make sure that your Zoom username is your full first and last name, not an initial or an alias. When the meeting begins, if we don't recognize your name, we will not let you into the meeting.
- To change your Zoom username, log into Zoom > click your username in the top right corner > click "edit my profile" > make the changes > click OK.
- Please note that for security reasons, you MUST be using the most recent version of the Zoom client (at least version 5.0). Please download it at https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting in advance.
Phone-in Option
- If you connect by phone, you will have to vote verbally on every motion; members who participate via Zoom will complete an on-screen poll to vote.
- If you must connect by phone, it is a toll-free call, and you will be calling a Canadian number.
- For security reasons, only those members who have provided their phone number through the registration form will be allowed into the meeting. If we don't recognize your phone number, we will not let you into the meeting.
Registration
- Members must complete a Google Form to register for the AGM before Tuesday, May 26 at 12 noon.
- The Zoom invitation, toll-free phone number, and meeting documents will only be emailed to the members who register in advance.
- When you register, you will be required to provide both your email address and your phone number. Please make sure that the phone number you provide in the registration form is the phone number you intend to use to call in to the meeting if necessary.
- TBU Members received the registration link via email on Wednesday, May 20, and must register before Tuesday, May 26 at 12 noon.
How to Login to the Meeting
- Please log in at or before 3:15 pm; the meeting will start at 3:30 pm.
- To log in to the Zoom meeting:
- Log into your Zoom account.
- Go to your email and click the meeting link.
- The Zoom client (app) will open.
- Enter the meeting password (from the emailed Zoom invitation).
- Wait to be admitted to the meeting.
- To join the Zoom meeting by phone:
- Dial the phone number provided via email.
- When prompted, enter the meeting number, and the # key.
- When prompted, enter the password number, and the # key.
- It may take us a while to verify all names with the membership list and admit everyone. Please be patient.
Online Meeting Etiquette
- Please keep your microphone muted unless you are called on by the Chair to speak.
- Please keep your camera off unless you are called on by the Chair to speak, to cut down on video traffic. We could have as many as 331 members in the meeting. Members with limited connectivity will have difficulty participating if there is too much video traffic.
- Please do not use the chat feature for chatting with friends – we need to use the chat as a way of indicating that you have a question, or wish to participate in debate (see below).
- When the Chair calls on you to speak, you must state your name and school before you begin (ex. “Cameron, OSD, speaking in favour of the motion . . .”).
Elections
- Nominations closed on Monday, April 20.
- No voting is necessary at the AGM. There were 5 candidates nominated on time for the 5 available positions, and all have been acclaimed.
- President: Betty-Jo Raddin
- Chief Negotiator: Brian Windross
- Vice-President: Bonnie Cameron
- District Councillors: Kerrie Lynn Boys & Catherine McLeod
- The Chair will read out the names of the elected members, as well as the members who nominated them.
Reports
- Reports will be emailed to members around noon on Wednesday, May 27 (the day of the AGM).
- The Chair will call on each TBU Officer and ask if s/he would like to speak to his/her written report.
- To ask a question of a report, please type your own name in the chat, and the Chair of the meeting will call on you to speak, in order. (Please don’t type your question into the chat, just your name.)
- The Chair will then call on the officer who submitted the report to answer the question.
Motions
Please note: the constitutional amendments (motions for consideration) were emailed to all TBU members on April 2 and May 20. They will be emailed again to members who register for the AGM.
- The Chair will identify the motion (ex. “PROC-01” or “CON-01”).
- The reader will read the question and put the motion on the screen for members to see.
- The Chair will ask for the mover and seconder.
- The mover will identify himself/herself, name the seconder, and speak to the motion.
- Debate will begin. If you wish to contribute to debate, type your name in the chat, as well as one of the following:
- “speaking in favour”
- “speaking against”
- “question to the mover”
- “amendment”
- “call the question”
- “point of order”
- The Chair will call on members to speak in the order in which their names appear (except “point of order,” which can interrupt debate).
- When debate has finished, the Chair will call the question.
- The reader will use the polling feature of Zoom to put the question out to all members in the meeting.
- Members will have up to one minute to vote, in favour or against (or can abstain from voting). If all members have voted before one minute has elapsed, we will move on.
- Members who have called in via phone will be asked to vote verbally (i.e. you will have to say “in favour,” “against,” or “abstain”).
- If members indicate they are having technical difficulty, the Chair can ask the reader to leave the poll open until the issue is resolved.
- Once everyone has voted, the reader will show the results on the screen, and the Chair will announce the result.
Please note: the constitutional amendments (motions for consideration) were emailed to all TBU members on April 2 and May 20. They will be emailed again to members who register for the AGM.
Submitting a Late Motion
- Any member of the Teachers’ Bargaining Unit can move or second a motion (but not both).
- Members who have resolutions (i.e. amendments to the TBU Constitution) that they wish debated at the meeting are requested to submit them in writing to Bonnie Cameron, TBU Vice-President (via email to bonnielynncameron@hotmail.com).
- The vote count required to pass resolutions concerning amendments to our constitution, its bylaws, policies, and/or procedures depends on when they are submitted.
- A motion that amends an Article in the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the members qualified to vote, present, and voting, provided that notice of the proposed amendment is given to the Vice-President at least thirty days prior to the general meeting (April 27, 2020). With at least ten days’ notice to the Vice-President (May 17, 2020), but less than thirty days, a three-quarters vote is required. With less than ten days’ notice, a nine-tenths vote is required.
- A motion that amends a Bylaw in the Constitution requires a majority vote provided that notice of the proposed amendment is given to the Vice-President at least thirty days prior to the general meeting (April 27, 2020). With at least ten days’ notice to the Vice-President (May 17, 2020), but less than thirty days, a two-thirds vote is required. With less than ten days’ notice, a three-quarters vote is required.
- Any other miscellaneous action motion requires a simple majority to pass, regardless of previous notice.
- Members should consult the TBU Constitution for further details.
On April 28, the TBU Executive passed a motion to make a $200 donation to each of the 17 local food banks in Grey-Bruce in lieu of purchasing gift cards and dinner at the AGM.
If you have questions about the AGM, please contact Bonnie Cameron, TBU VP, at bonnielynncameron@hotmail.com.