Dues Referendum 2014 - where the money goes

We've let you know the reason that Council is asking your support for a dues increase, but it's important to also let you know what your dues money does…

Everything.

Your dues cover the overwhelming majority of the costs of running the association and providing services to members. They pay for negotiations, contract review, advocacy, administration of the insurance and RRSP plans, all communications to the members, membership meetings, the governance of the association by elected members, overall administration, etc. In short, all the operational costs of Equity are paid for by its members.

Based on the 2013-2014 budget, the overall costs break out as follows:

Contract Negotiation, Administration and Review.........................62%
General Administrative and Office Overhead...............................30%
Governance (Council)............................................................8%

Of course, there's lots more to a whole year's worth of numbers than that, but the financial report doesn't really translate readily into a blog post. You can find 2011-2012 audited statement here if you want more details.

Ok, so that's where the money goes. But are we using it prudently, and have we taken all reasonable steps to cut back on expenses?

Absolutely – we do that as a matter of course. The basic dues amount that used to purchase $135 of business services, supplies and manpower in 1999, now only purchases (comparatively) $90 worth. Over that time, we have steadily pruned costs wherever possible to keep pace with the reduction in purchasing power.

In the past 3 years alone we have:

• elected to not replace one senior staff member who left, despite the fact that we desperately needed someone at that level 
• cut an additional part-time position 
• cut EQ magazine from four to three issues per year 
• discontinued our one Council meeting per year held outside Toronto 
• cut staff travel to the various regions 
• cut the professional development subsidy by 75% 
• changed the honours ceremony to be held biennially, and combined it with the national AGM to save costs 
• changed how Council apportions resources to committees and advisories 

On top of that, Council recently approved another $35,000 in savings, including potentially discontinuing all remaining professional development subsidies and the honours programme.

Additionally, Council sets expense priorities (based on member input), sets tendering requirements for major expenses, and regularly monitors finances to ensure that money is being spent effectively and efficiently. With the aid of our Finance Monitoring Committee, our external financial consultant, and our auditor, there is no area of association activity that sees more monitoring attention than Equity's finances. Hey, it's our money in there, too!

When you receive your voter package, Council encourages you to vote “yes”. It’s your association – please support Equity, so Equity can support you.