The President of our AFS group, Mr. Ray Lazzara has decided to travel the country and give ‘Lunch and Learn sessions’. These sessions are very expensive since all the costs associated are reimbursed to Mr. Lazzara. The session held in Montreal could have easily been done by Patrick Sioui.
What is absolutely disgusting about the meeting in Montreal is that Mr. Lazzara did not want to answer any questions up front but stated that he was willing to answer questions after the meeting on a one to one basis. However, he quickly disappeared after the meeting.
Some of the questions we would have liked to ask are the following:
When we signed our last Collective Agreement back in July 2012, we got pay increases which were in direct line with other public servants, a volunteer day was changed to a personal day, and then we lost our unlimited vacation carry-over which was something all AUs greatly enjoyed. As a result of losing the unlimited vacation carry-over, a Manager can now schedule our members’ vacations.
We also gave up our right to engage in timesheet actions in future bargaining rounds. And then to top it all off, we even lost our severance pay, something you had repeatedly said you would fight for, and yet the AFS Group rolled over with the Employer’s first offer.
Incidentally, the Union of Taxation Employees (UTE), CRA’s non-professional staff, have retained their severance pay since they have not agreed to the conditions of their Collective Agreement; which means that they get an extra 2 weeks of severance pay when they retire.
Mr. Lazzara, please tell us why you have flipped flopped on the severance issue? I would appreciate if your response does not contain the dreaded excuse of the government legislating its conditions unilaterally since it has never done so to date. I am also curious to know what are the costs associated with Collective Bargaining for our group? (the AFS Group). How much does it cost in salaries? Meals and travels as well as other costs? We seem to be getting the exact same deal as all other groups in our union and others.
Mr. Lazzara it is very nice of you to come to the Montreal TSO to attend this event (Lunch and Learn) so that you have the opportunity to meet members of this office. May I ask you if you take the same initiative when members request services from their union? For example, back in 2009 when the RCMP raided these offices, did you come to this office to meet any members that were directly or indirectly affected by this incident?
What is the added value of your attendance at the lunch and learn event? Is the purpose of a Lunch and Learn to effectively engage members of the union to better understand how it works and what it does for its membership? Is this not a task that the local union executive could undertake so that someone at your level could be liberated to engage in more serious affairs such as members who are being unfairly disciplined, preparing a line of defence for the new Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policies, which is completely intrusive, and likely violates privacy issues?
Mr. Lazzara, why did the AFS Group blindly agree to the new policies around staffing, which seemingly give Management the right to do whatever they want?? It’s our understanding that the AFS Group was consulting with CRA Management on these policies for more than 2 years, and despite the fact that there are significant adverse implications for our members, the AFS Group did not raise any alarm bells, or try to engage the membership to speak out against the changes? Was it because the AFS Group was too busy travelling the country doing non-essential business, or were you just asleep at the switch and not even knowledgeable enough to realize the damage these policies will do to our members?
Mr. Lazzara, are you here on a volunteer basis or are you being compensated for your time and travels? If you are, can you tell us who pays for your time and travel and the amounts?
Mr. Lazzara, are you aware of the new TB Policies regarding Performance management and the statements made by Minister Tony Clement in that the percentage of people fired from the Public Service because of the performance is much less than the percentage of workers fired in the private sector for poor performance. Does such a statement set-off any alarms in that government policies concerning performance review will take a sharp turn for the worst? Mr. Lazzara, I would like to know what you and the AFS Group plan to do about this, and please do not give me a politician’s response.
The cost of Membership in this union has consistently gone up, we just witnessed another dues hike of $7.00 per member per month which equates to an increase of almost 15%! I understand that as in any other business, the costs of operation increase every year. However, I would like to know if you have held a cost cutting exercise, just like the government has undergone in the past 7 or 8 years. If the government is able to identify some cost savings measures, why are you unable to do the same? In your opinion, is the AFS Group using all the membership funds efficiently or are there areas it can improve on its spending so that we may get better value for our money. For example, I’m not sure why you are here doing this Lunch & Learn, when we have an AFS Quebec Regional Representative who is more than capable, or the PIPSC Quebec director?? How much is this event costing the AFS Group??
Mr. Lazzara, while you were up for election during your last campaign, we noticed that the AFS Elections Committee suspended the election process for a period of a few months. Can you tell us why this was so? We also realized that during that time, you had been removed as President of the Group. Can you tell us why and if the two events are linked, because we believe that they were. Many of our members have heard rumours that you had been caught falsifying your expense reports for more than $50,000, but possibly far greater since the audit of your expenses was terminated; sure is nice to have friends in high places!
EVENTS OF THE LUNCH AND LEARN
During the Lunch and Learn Mr. Lazzara spent his time promoting the new Conflict of Interest Policy and giving examples of the possible violations of section 241 of the Income Tax Act. This was absolutely unbelievable. Is Mr. Lazzara working for Management? Well the answer is yes. Mr. Lazzara seems to be quite close to Mr. Claude Tremblay as can be seen by the attached picture. Therefore Mr. Lazzara is a complete traitor and he has been mandated by Management to promote policies that hurt our members. Shame on you Mr. Lazzara!
Shame on you Mr. Lazzara for falsifying your expense reports and for stealing time when you took vacation without it being reflected on your time sheets. Is this what you’re afraid of?
Mr. Lazzara, you are a traitor, since you sleep with Management and since you have abandoned your members.
Your actions are criminal and you should be fired because after all you are like Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin.
Do the right thing Mr. Lazzara, admit that the party is over and leave before it gets embarrassing.
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