MC Meeting Minutes Monday June 22, 2009
Meeting opened: 7.30pm

ATTENDANCE
MC: Genevieve Derwent, Linda Grkinic (minutes), Teddy Cook, Jo Rose (chair), Sam Byrne
Others/visitors: Aidan Calabria (Shop Coordinator), Amity Lynch (Shop Coordinator), Julia Gray (Finance Coordinator), Stevie Bee (Info Coordinator), Renata Field (F+V Coordinator)
Apologies:Nija Dalal (Co-op Coordinator) (on leave), Monika Baumann (Groceries Coordinator)

CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
Proposal: That the minutes of the previous meeting be accepted as a true and accurate record.
Genevieve/Teddy CARRIED

BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES


MEMBERSHIP

NEW MEMBERS
Proposal: That Alfalfa House accept applicants with membership numbers 5518–5457 as members. That forfeitures and resignations be updated at the July meeting following Nija’s return from leave. Genevieve/Jo CARRIED

RESIGNATIONS None
FORFEITURES None

STAFFING
• Jamie Payne began in the Stock Coordinator (Fruit+Veg) role today and will fill the position while Renata is on leave July 3 to the end of January 2010. Jamie will be in training for the next two weeks.
• Janne King began work as a Shop Coordinator today and will work on Mondays.
• Andrew McNicol begins in the new Groceries Support role on June 23. He will fill the Tuesday afternoon Shop Coordinator shift and start training for the Groceries Support Role on Wednesday.

Proposal That Jamie Payne, Janne King and Andrew McNichol be appointed to their respective positions. Jo/Genevieve CARRIED

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY (OH+S)
• Water leaked from the upstairs apartment and the plumber was called. Leak traced to tenant’s defrosting fridge and water dripping through ceiling. No lights in office for few days as result. Problems now fixed.

REPORTS

FINANCE
• Teddy confirmed $500 for extra costs mentioned in Shop Coordinator’s (F+V) report not intended for costs already included in budget; $500 is available for ad hoc costs not already budgeted for.
• Year-to-date surplus is approx $30,000 (as of the end of May). If AH makes the $40,000 projected surplus by end of current FY this will place us in very good position to achieve goals we want to achieve next FY, including staff pay increases. Teddy to present detailed financial report at next MC meeting.
• Teddy drafting next FY budget and including approximate 4% staff pay increase, final figure subject to AH’s financial position. CPI currently 1.5% so increase of approx 4% is considered very good in current financial climate.
• July F+V budget $19,500, an increase of $500 on June. Ongoing F+V budget will be reviewed when Teddy presents final budget at the next meeting.
• Monika requested $50,000 for Groceries in July. This is due to five ordering weeks in month, recent high sales, and expected restocking. Teddy allocated $44,000 for July and is concerned about cash flow risk if raised to $50k. Teddy proposed increasing Groceries budget to $46,000 for July and reviewing mid-month if required, on the condition additional funds spent on items that will sell quickly for cash flow purposes.
• Julia proposed carrying over some invoices at the end of a long ordering month to keep P+L balanced.

Proposal: That the Treasurer’s Report and budgets for July be accepted, and that Julia may carry over invoices at the end of a long ordering month if required to keep P+L balanced. Genevieve/Sam CARRIED

CO-OP COORDINATOR (Presented by Renata for Nija, who is on leave)

• Renata expressed concerns about demands Rhubarb Foods has placed on staff time. Teddy offered to call and explain that while AH is prepared to offer support, this is conditional on that support not adversely affecting AH staff. Renata said the situation was OK for her to manage. She was able to fit in the shadowing with other staff training. Monika said she was unable to fit in training for Rhubarb Foods at this time. Renata and Monika invited Rhubarb members to the recent workshop and three came.
• Iona emailed AH requesting interview with someone who can discuss how AH’s HR works and how it works in relation to seeding other co-ops. She is studying at UTS and wants to write a report that could be useful to AH and Rhubarb. Teddy agreed to be interviewed. Renata to forward Iona’s email to Teddy.

Proposal: That the report be accepted. Genevieve/Teddy CARRIED

F & V PRODUCE
• Renata is making preparations before heading overseas, including getting the training manual ready. Jamie’s training is about to start.

Proposal: That the report be accepted. Jo/Genevieve CARRIED

GROCERIES (Presented by Renata on behalf of Monika)
• Monika has requested more funding for gravity bins – 2 standard bins at approx $180 each and 3 small bins at approx $100 each. Julia believes all previous funds raised for gravity bins have been spent.
• Another fundraising drive was suggested as members have been very excited about the gravity bins, e.g., guessing game at film fundraiser, trivia night. Jo, Aidan and Stevie volunteered to take part in a brainstorming session to allocate funds raised at the film night.
• Teddy proposed allocating funds for another five bins to budget for next FY. Fundraising ideas to be discussed at future meetings.

Proposal: That the report be accepted and that funding for five gravity bins be allocated. Genevieve/Sam CARRIED

STAFF MEETING (Presented by Aidan and Amity (staff delegates))

• Amateur documentary makers have offered to make a film about AH at no cost. Renata has called for more information and the call hasn’t been returned as yet.
• At the last Staff Meeting there was a lot of discussion about the stocktake sale and the way MC meetings are conducted. Aidan and Amity shared the following concerns from the recent staff meeting:
a Staff would like more inclusion in decision-making, more advance notice for discussion, and more meaningful consultation; would like to discuss issues that concern staff at staff meeting (first Tuesday of the month) before the MC meeting. Staff felt they did not have enough time to plan when heard about stocktake sale
b At recent facilitation workshop some staff shared that they did not feel they have the chance to speak at MC meetings.
c Staff would like to re-establish the MC/Staff liaison system and the staff buddy system.
• Sam and Teddy thanked the staff delegates for raising a potentially difficult topic and acknowledged some staff have found it difficult to speak up at MC meetings.
• Genevieve expressed concern about a breakdown in communication, with staff delegates not always briefing others about the MC meeting at the staff meeting, e.g., not passing on all information about stocktake sale or the film night. Genevieve noted communication responsibilities of staff delegates and Co-op Coordinator.
• Teddy expressed concern staff rarely attend MC meetings. While staff delegates and those in key roles such as Co-op Coordinator are required to attend, all staff are always welcome. Teddy said while MC can take further steps to help ensure everyone attending an MC meeting has the chance to speak, individuals still need to take personal responsibility for speaking up. Teddy stressed that there is no need for staff to feel pressure to make decisions on the spot at MC meetings, e.g., it is perfectly okay to say “I feel I need more time to think this through” or “I would like to discuss this at the staff meeting before making a decision”. Teddy felt troubled and disheartened about staff feeling they don’t have a voice when MC welcome and encourage all contributions. She is not sure why there seems to be an MC/staff divide, emphasising MC are volunteers who care passionately about AH.
• At previous MC meeting when stocktake was discussed, staff said they felt the matter had already been decided and was not open to discussion. Jo emphasised this was definitely not the case. There was a lot of discussion and staff ideas had been sought. Julia explained she and Monika were surprised when the idea of a stocktake sale was raised and weren’t sure what to do. They felt unable to participate in the discussion at that time and hadn’t felt involved in the process. Teddy asked what needs to change. Julia said she wants to feel she can speak freely and be heard, and be respected. Teddy asked why people may not always feel they are being heard and respected, suggesting this may be because of a tendency to interrupt during the meeting.
• Genevieve said in the future if anyone feels intimidated at an MC meeting it is far better to speak up in that moment, rather than share major concerns after the event. She said she finds it difficult to accept some people feel like they don’t have a voice, as she knows from experience staff are very willing to speak up in emails or on the phone even if they haven’t raised concerns at a meeting.
• Amity acknowledged staff participation at MC meetings has been lax and staff can take some responsibility for that. Amity suggested that if something is coming up on an MC meeting agenda that affects staff, MC email staff beforehand so they can consider the issue.
• Teddy responded that 2 weeks before the last MC meeting treasurer’s report was emailed to all staff and MC, and everyone was asked to come up with ideas for an end of year promotion prior to the next MC meeting. Staff explained they thought “promotion” meant fundraising, although promotion was intended to refer to a sale.
• Renata said she feels the facilitation at MC meetings can be improved, e.g., would like a speaking list to take turns to speak, and the facilitator to intervene if someone is speaking over another person. Stevie said he wanted to echo what Renata had said. Stevie said if the consensus decision-making process is not followed we can spend a lot of time discussing what went wrong. He proposed a joint consensus decision making workshop for staff and MC.
• Jo said it came as a surprise to see an email with staff concerns (about the stocktake sale) three weeks after the MC meeting. She feels there should have been opportunities to raise any “bad feelings” earlier.
• Aidan said he would welcome an MC delegate at the staff meetings (in the same way staff delegates attend MC meetings), although this would need to be discussed at a staff meeting.
• Julia said staff felt disenfranchised from the decision-making process. She said if staff don’t feel like they are part of the process they can feel disempowered and won’t embrace decisions. She said she didn’t think this was anyone’s intention, but it is happening and now concerns have been raised we all have an opportunity to do something about it.
• Aidan said he would report at the staff meeting and ask everyone to think about ways for staff and MC to work together more effectively. Amity said staff should accept more responsibility in the staff delegate role, including reporting all key information at the following Staff Meeting. MC agreed to a more structured facilitation approach at MC meetings to help ensure everyone feels comfortable speaking freely, e.g., speaking lists and ensuring people don’t interrupt. Aidan thanked all at the MC meeting for listening. Followup discussions to take place at the next MC meeting.

Proposal: That the report be accepted. Sam/Genevieve CARRIED

CORRESPONDENCE
Action: Renata to respond to High and Dry, expressing our appreciation but to decline the offer.

FOOD GRANTS None

CURRENT MATTERS

MURAL
• Jo reported that the artists had hoped to have sketches finished last week. This has been delayed and she expects to have sketch options at the next MC meeting, and for work to start around August.

FILM NIGHT FINDRAISER
• Agreement required on how to allocate funds from the film night. Genevieve suggested all funds be allocated to “shop beautification”, which could include the mural, more gravity bins, etc.
• Important to decide on payment options for the fundraiser, e.g., door price, soup and film. Amity suggested soup and film should be standard with options if people want to buy cakes etc. Amity and Aidan asked for a ‘pay what you can’ option so we don’t exclude anyone. Genevieve suggested scale that includes waged and non-waged: $20 for film, soup and sourdough waged, $10 unwaged, or pay what you can.
• Genevieve said 80–100 people would be ideal for the venue size. Food grant for this month would go to the fundraiser. She asked if staff could organise a raffle for the night, e.g., a food voucher and/or hamper. Amity suggested approaching organic wineries for stock donations or deals.
• Genevieve stressed essential for staff to participate and actively promote fundraiser in the shop. Renata said the general perception from staff seemed positive. Genevieve asked that people let her or Nassim know if they want to contribute as volunteers. Aidan holds an RSA certificate and volunteered to help Nassim with the bar. Aidan said he may know someone with a popcorn machine.
• Linda suggested even broader approach to fundraising as likely to be members who want to contribute but not able to attend film night. Suggested raffles in store as well as at the film night. Amity agreed to organise raffles.

Proposal: That the payment schedule be adopted, funds allocated to shop beautification, and raffles organised. Genevieve/Jo CARRIED

STOCKTAKE SALE
• Advertised to commence Sunday June 28. MC is mindful idea won’t work if staff don’t get behind it.
• Amity does not feel comfortable giving a 20% blanket discount for all with no extra for volunteers. Renata reinforced this. Jo said she hopes we can use the sale to promote benefits of volunteering, i.e., when people realise how much of a difference a 20% discount makes they may be more inclined to volunteer.
• Aidan expressed concern about having an indiscriminant 20% discount, as the shop is likely to sell out of limited stock very quickly. He suggested some products be exempt. Jo said she asked about this at the previous MC meeting and it was agreed by staff this would be more labour-intensive and difficult to manage at the till. Stevie said as we have advertised a storewide sale the only way to avoid selling out of popular stock early is to reserve them in the storeroom. Amity said she shares these concerns but at this point the question needs to be how to make the stocktake sale work most effectively. While we will run out of a lot of stock, we can always restock the following week.
• Genevieve proposed people who volunteer during the sale get two XDs per two hours. If a member wants to use an XD during the sale, staff should encourage them to save the XD and take advantage the 20% sale discount. If a member on a permanent XD shops during the sale they could receive an extra XD, so when they go off permanent XDs they will have one more XD available. Staff delegates supported this approach.
• Renata asked if staff should get weekend rates if the sale is going to be crazy busy. Teddy confirmed MC has already committed to extra resourcing during the sale.

Proposal: That the proposal for extra XDs for volunteers and members on permanent XDs be adopted. Teddy/Genevieve CARRIED

WORKING BEE
• Teddy suggested advertising a working bee on the next public holiday and encouraging as many volunteers as possible to turn up, knowing that some will pull out. Teddy asked Stevie to advertise the working bee in eNews and on the website.

Proposal: That a working bee be advertised for the next public holiday. Teddy/Jo CARRIED

GRAVITY BIN INSTALLATION
• Teddy to discuss Monika’s request for a couple of hours’ payment following the recent gravity bin installation with the Shop Coordinator and MC over email. MC will communicate directly with Monika and Julia regarding potential for payment.
• MC is incredibly grateful for the hard work Monika and Julia have put into the recent installation, but are concerned about time involved and impact on staff who have already worked long hours. In future, it is preferred that gravity bins installs occur in smaller batches and that staff request extra volunteer help.

Proposal: That Teddy discuss payment for extra hours with the Shop Coordinator and MC over email. Teddy/Genevieve CARRIED

MARKUPS
• Renata requested approval for the recommendations of markup committee and apply markups in the POS from 1 July.

Proposal: That markups be applied in POS from July 1, 2009.
Genevieve/Jo CARRIED

Meeting closed: 10:30pm