[GSA Council] Special Council Meeting Cancelled - Voting by Email

Sat Oct 15 11:38:42 PDT 2016

Hello everyone,I abstained from the vote because I am away; but if I may, I strongly recommend having the final version of the bylaws that will be presented to the GA reviewed by a lawyer first before they are presented at any GA.
CheersKero Thanks
Keroles Riad
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      From: Samer Al - Zahab <samer.alzahab at hotmail.com>
 To: Mahsa Khoshab <internal at gsaconcordia.ca> 
Cc: "gsaconcordia at lists.resist.ca" <gsaconcordia at lists.resist.ca>
 Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2016 8:19 PM
 Subject: Re: [GSA Council] Special Council Meeting Cancelled - Voting by Email

Hello Mahsa, Good Morning,Thorough and to the point as always, a pleasure to read your emails,For Section 4 AI don't mind changing the wording at all, I just wanted to put the abstract out there.For section 4 BThe idea behind it is to give us the power to eliminate positions in the collective agreement and replace them with compensated volunteers, thus keeping two or three salaried positions.For section 4 C It doesn't only circulate Mr ocheoha , but also considers internal staff-executive issues where there exists misconduct, because the legal salary we will be paying is not as fixed as we assumed (it might increase in the case we over work the firm).Wish you all a nice weekend, Thanks again Mahsa, Best Regards, Samer Sent from my Cyanogen phoneOn Oct 15, 2016 2:05 PM, Mahsa Khoshab <internal at gsaconcordia.ca> wrote:

Hello Beautiful people :) 

wish you are enjoying your weekend

On  behalf of the executive team, in response to the points raised above by Dear Samer, Bhavreet and Azam until now:

1. The critical documents have been already presented in July meeting (i.e. Annual Budget) and the updated bylaws have been sent to the policy committee for almost 2 weeks.
2. Noted
3. All the GSA members are welcomed to add any motions/agenda items in section 1.3 Approval of the Agenda.
4. For the bylaws:
A. It is a very good idea. However, the wording should change to be more specific in terms of the period and payment:
GSA Transition of Authority
After the yearly elections and the selection of a new executive team, the former executive team shall work side by side with the new executive team until the end of their mandate. The former team will still get paid until the end of their bursaries and the new team will not get paid until day one of their mandate. This period, typically one month, is considered a hands-on training period.
Yet, during this period, the former executive team is not allowed to take any decisions or perform any actions that might affect the new team’s mandate without the consent and signature of the responsible member(s) of the new executive team. 
If the team of the mandate that is about to end takes any decisions without the written consent of the new team, these decisions can be canceled in council and the former team will be held responsible for any legal or financial outcomes arising from them breaking the bylaws by this manner.
B. All the employees are considered as "Salaried" on an hourly basis as per the collective agreement. Thus, given the fact that you would like to move all the GSA positions to volunteers couldn't happen under the current setup of the collective agreement. Besides, in case, salaries are not applicable for volunteers and that is the reason why executives are taking bursaries as a form of compensation for the work they are doing for the GSA. I recommend you check the executive bursary policy on our new website to avoid any conflict between bylaws and any GSA existing policies.
C. There is no point of GSA paying for any personal ongoing fights. Thus, in the ongoing Legal case, when the claimant asked the GSA for a lawyer, the GSA refused as GSA is not here to pay for personal conflicts. Thus, it is already understood without mentioning it as no money could be spent without the approval of our council team.
5. As agreed upon at July's meeting, the budget was approved as is and as recommended by Keroles, it will be reviewed later in the winter semester and it is open to edit by us. Regarding the collective agreement negotiations, the president has carried out two meetings with the lawyer and they are in progress of proposing an amended collective agreement. As per the last meeting, the lawyer suggested that we will be ready by the 1st week of November to call for the 1st negotiations meeting. Just to inform you team: the committee is composed of 2 executives (Soliman and Mahsa), 3 councilors(Samer, Jessica, and Keroles ==> He might not be able to join all the meetings as he is away), and the lawyer (Ms. Mellouli). Another point of information, the negotiations don't take one or two days, it might take months depending on the requirements and agreement of the parties.
you may know that according to QC laws and the collective agreement we have with our employees, employer cannot apply abrupt changes in the CA (hourly salaries, weekly hours, status of position,...)  right away. All of us will be employee a day and will benefit from the positive points of such laws.

6. The executive team understands that there should be 2 GAs each semester and they are planning to have another GA late November/Early December. However, your point has been noted and it will be highly considered in planning for the next semester GAs. :)

7. Im not sure if doodleing again, gonna work, also we need time for room booking ahead.we are waiting for other team members' inputs as well :)

else! :D  Im really appreciating the time you've consumed.

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Thank You Regards,Mahsa KhoshabVice President Internal
Graduate Students Association
Concordia University
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On Fri, Oct 14, 2016 at 11:47 PM, Mohd Azam Khan <khan.azam.mohd at gmail.com> wrote:

Hi All,I think we should have meeting to discuss these critical changes rather than sharing views on email.It is my suggestion.We have almost 3 weeks for GA. Meeting dates can be reworked again with more options.Thanks,
Azam
On Oct 14, 2016 10:48 AM, "Samer Al - Zahab" <samer.alzahab at hotmail.com> wrote:

Dear Councilors, 
Good Morning, 
I hope you all are well,
Let me start off by stating the following, the purpose of this email is to open discussion between voting members regarding the material that was supposed to be at the meeting, with that being said any defense arguments may they please be put aside because where I come from there is a saying "Argument is the defense of the incompetent" .
1- My first comment is of the last minute nature of this conundrum , I think it should have been ready in the last meeting anyway. This is crude and it feels like losing touch. 
2- I move to approve the GA Committee meeting minutes and if it is motioned I move to approve.
3- I move to edit the GA agenda by clearing stating an "Open Expression Session" for attending students to express their concerns and questions to the council at the GA, and if motioned I move to approve, if not I move to abstain. 
4- As for the Bylaws, I move to add the following three clauses:      
A- to avoid what happened with Mr. Ocheoha from ever happening again I suggest the following clause:
GSA Transition of Authority
After the yearly elections and the selection of a new executive team, the former executive team shall work side by side with the new executive team until the end of their mandate. The former team will still get paid until the end of their salaries and the new team will not get paid until day one of their mandate. This period is considered a hands-on training period.
Yet, during this period, the former executive team is not allowed to take any decisions or perform any actions that might affect the new team’s mandate without the consent and signature of the responsible member(s) of the new executive team. 
If the team of the mandate that is about to end takes any decisions without the written consent of the new team, these decisions can be canceled in council and the former team will be held responsible for any legal or financial outcomes arising from them breaking the bylaws by this manner.
B- Also for avoiding what is going on with Mr. Ocheoha, and with the staff, and in order to save the GSA a lot of dearly needed money (starting off with 24000 CAD a year), I present the following clause: 
Defining Roles, Positions, and Related Salaries
All roles and positions employed by and working within the GSA are viewed as volunteers. This includes executives, directors, and employees. Based on this definition salaried employees will have their salaries revolving between the minimum wage and the minimum wage +60%, depending on the role and type of work and years of service.Furthermore, the salaries for all executives shall be 712 CAD in today’s dollars (24th of September 2016) and can only be adjusted by inflation on a quarterly basis.
C- To avoid our newly founded legal capability be abused by elected GSA members on personal issues and internal fights, as going on right now, I propose the following clause:
Zero Liability for Misconduct
In the case found that any internal legal issue was the result of personal, racism, or personal misconduct on behalf of any legally represented GSA elected member, the GSA holds no liability to represent that person or suffer the consequences of his or her actions. This policy is to be decided and enforced by the council whenever deemed needed.
5- As for the budget , Mahsa can you clarify why the salaries are as is ? As I recall we moved to reduce them and already set a date for the negotiations to be commenced and then another semi-deadline. That number must have changed.

Thank you councilors for your time,
Best Regards, 
Samer El ZahabResearch Assistant, Concordia UniversityENCS Director at GSA ConcordiaMAC Scout Leader MSA Lebanon Scout Leader

From: meeting facilitator <meetingfacilitator.gsa at gmail. com>
Sent: October 14, 2016 9:00 AM
Subject: Fwd: Special Council Meeting Cancelled - Voting by Email Hello councillors,
As some of you may already know we have had a difficult time establishing and maintaining quorum for any of the proposed meeting dates next week. Since the GA is rapidly approaching we feel that it is necessary to accept your votes via email. The relevant documents are attached to the email. For each of you who replies back, please indicate your preference by putting an "X" next to your voting option. If you feel that any points require further discussion before making your vote, please feel free to email the whole group for discussion (gsaconcordia at lists.resist.ca) .
We need to have these resolved by end of day Monday. If their are any questions or concerns please direct to me.
Thank you for your participation.

SECTION A - GA RELATED ISSUES:1. Approve GA committee meeting minutes
For:Against:Abstain:
2. Approve GA Agenda
For:Against:Abstain:
3. Approve updated bylaws as per the policy committee recommendations
For:Against:Abstain:
4. Approve semi-final version of the budget 2016-2017 (The final version will be just in a better format and there won't be any changes in the numbers except for actual to-date figures.)
For:Against:Abstain:
SECTION B: - 2014 & 2015 FINANCIAL AUDIT APPROVAL:5. Approve financial audit documents in order to be signed by the former president.
For:Against:Abstain:

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