No Images? Click here PCAM Newsletter March 2018 PCAM is pleased to introduce its first quarterly newsletter! We are excited to launch this new platform to be used for updating members on union news and important happenings. PCAM represents all Clinical Assistants and Physician Assistants in Manitoba. We strive to protect the “rights” of our employees, are passionate about worker safety, and play an important part in your workplace every day. PCAM’s Key Roles: · work with the employer to resolve collective bargaining agreement disputes, · represent our members with employee-employer disputes and workplace concerns that relate to the collective bargaining agreement, · bargain contracts during collective negotiations that include wages and benefits. Your human resources department is responsible for providing you with important union documents. Please note that union dues will be deducted off your paystub each pay period. Website PCAM members are encouraged to login to our website in order to access the following important documents: · mission statement · newsletter · job postings · code of ethics · how to file grievances · the listing of executive members contact info · office headquarters Please bookmark the website {http://www.pcam.ca} to quickly gain access. Volunteer Opportunities We encourage you to get involved with PCAM. We are working on a number of ongoing projects, including the recruitment of local hospital/department representatives, various working group representatives and members at large. If you would like more information about any of these projects, please contact any of our executive members. We love seeing our members being active in the community! New office location Our office has moved, please update your records with the new information: Physician and Clinical Assistants of Manitoba 386 Broadway, Suite 503 Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3R6 P: 204-975-8216 Toll free: 844-399-5694 F: 204-947-9767 W: pcam.ca PCAM Dues While on LeaveEmployees who have worked within the WRHA for at least seven consecutive months and are expecting to give birth to a child are entitled maternity leave. The same applies to parental leave, which is taken by fathers and mothers to care for a child after birth or adoption. Employees requesting maternity leave must give their employer at least 4 weeks notice. They must also provide a medical certificate indicating the estimated date of delivery. PCAM fees are $1,000/year for every PCAM member. These fees are collected biweekly for member convenience and lower financial impact. While on leave, PCAM dues are still being accumulated. It must be organized with payroll prior to your leave how these dues will be deducted. Otherwise when you return from your leave, your first pay statement will have the yearly lump sum deducted. In addition to maternity leave, deductions of PCAM dues continue for any leave of absence. PCAM continues to act on your behalf while on any leave of absence. This is why the dues are required while on leave. Please feel free to contact any of our executive members to discuss this issue further. PCAM is responsible for representing Physician Assistants and Clinical Assistants across the province of Manitoba. We are dedicated to providing safe patient care, reliable and consistent physician support and ongoing education to encourage members to strive for fulfilling their true potential. PCAM is also committed to ensuring that members have the opportunity to develop and finesse their skills to prepare for emerging opportunities in Manitoba, as well as to compete in a rapidly growing, knowledge-intensive society. We took advantage of important opportunities created at last year’s AGM, mainly in the creation of extra positions for the board to help better serve its members and ensure the various health regions respect the collective agreements. We are thrilled to have Prairie Mountain Health Region (Brandon) on board to work with PCAM. We have successfully negotiated and completed a collective agreement that began in 2016. We have been called upon to respond to numerous grievances, from the ongoing collective agreement enforcement, to the disciplinary meetings protecting both employees and the public. We have been challenged to step up, not only our resources to help the CA’s and PA’s of Manitoba, but also our advocacy and influencing work. Many of these grievances have been resolved but a few are still ongoing, requiring use of many resources, time, effort and finances. Thanks to your support, our work reached many members this year. This report provides a snapshot of some of issues/topics we discuss at regularly scheduled monthly board meetings.
We have challenging expenses such as legal fees, used to protect the members of PCAM and for bargaining our next collective agreement. We have taken steps to control our budget and this has allowed us to maintain current PCAM dues. We are still working through how these cuts will affect our programs and the people we work with. As a relatively new board, we strongly believe that taking action to address the financial challenges and risks faced by PCAM is one of our key responsibilities. It may be the most important undertaking we have in front of us at this time and we are eager to demonstrate our persistence and perseverance when dealing with potentially difficult situations. In the recent months, we hired a new management company; Strauss Event & Association Management. We made this transition due to our growth and complexity of an association. The transition has been excellent and hopefully seamless for our members. We are excited about this opportunity to move forward and welcome Strauss. Throughout the course of this past year, we’ve endeavoured to communicate PCAM’s financial situation openly with members, summarized at the AGM. As you know, PCAM’s executive is a volunteer organization and many hours are required to serve its members. With the help of our management team, we will build a much stronger association. As the bargaining climate changes, and the spread and distribution of PCAM’s member’s changes, PCAM needs to evolve as well. Provincially, PCAM’s six collective bargaining units are encompassing one vision, one voice, and one plan. This is an exciting opportunity for us to shape the kind of organization PCAM needs to be in order to remain relevant, while maximizing the impact of our work. The aim is to create a stronger PCAM that is provincially coordinated and relevant in every city in which we work. To accomplish this, we have appointed volunteer regional representatives to assist us in contacting members and discovering any ongoing issues. This has helped close the gap in many health regions. Success in any year of continuous change must be attributed to each and every member of the staff. Through hard work and dedication, PCAM has met most of its operating goals. The professionalism and enthusiasm demonstrated by all staff members are to be commended. Despite all else, the needs of the members were and are always at the forefront of our goals. Together, with teamwork between PCAM and management’s commitment to grow, build, and change, PCAM will successfully continue to meet its targets and provide a valued service to the community. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing board member, Kevin Kendal for his contributions. We also thank Robert Smith our previous Executive Director for the past two years. 2015 Member Deposit Refund Reminder to all members to cash your cheques! Save The Date! PCAM's Annual General Meeting Monday, May 14, 7:00 PM United Way of Winnipeg, 580 Main Street Call in (non-voting) access will be available for out of town members, more information will follow. |