E-News

News / Business

PIAA board ups the ante and calls its own SGM

Dissension in the ranks of the peak industry body
 

The Printing Industries Association of Australia (PIAA) has launched a surprise counter-move after lobbying led by a group of disaffected Queensland members for a Special General Meeting (SGM) on February 6. In response, on Friday afternoon the board gave notice of its own SGM to its 1000-strong membership via a letter signed by honorary secretary Craig Pearce.

The SGM, which is the first to be held in the PIAA’s 170-year-old history, will be held at the Graphic Arts Club in Mascot on Tuesday, February 23. Items on the agenda for discussion are the financial position of the Association; strategy, members’ concerns, confidence in the board; and the road ahead.

High on the list of concerns by members is the composition of the new board following the departure of Susan Heaney, David Leach and Stephen Edwards, The key positions of president and deputy president were filled by Ross Black and Keiran May respectively, neither of whom are working printers; Black is employed by BJ Ball Papers and May is principal of ACT-based consultancy Across Business. According to the PIAA’s constitution suppliers, consultants and print brokers have previously been able to join the Association, but only as associate members with limited voting rights.

Other concerns are the number of staff who have departed in all states since the appointment of Jason Allen as CEO eight months ago. Allen has also come under fire for the decision to sell the PIAA headquarters in Auburn and lack of communication on the Association’s proposed three-year strategy. In January he signalled his intention to stand down from April 1, although lobby group members have requested his termination immediately.

Subsequent to the announcement of the SGM, the PrintingIndustries Member Action Group –   formed by close on 10% of PIAA members – haslabelled aspects of the SGM and the proxy form distributed by the PIAA board as‘biased, misleading, deceptive, wrong and/or do not comply with the PIAA rules’.

The group is now seeking assurances that a new proxy form beredistributed to all PIAA members prior to the SGM on February 23 to correctthe misconception surrounding the appointment of a proxy. Spokesman TomEckersley has also requested that motions contained in their submission to theboard on February 6 be included.

The dissension in the ranks comes at a vulnerable time forthe PIAA. Over the past two years membership in the non-profit organisation hasbeen declining, with many querying its relevance as well as its ability tochange in the world of multimedia. The incoming board will require a mix ofskills, including consultation and clear communication, if it is going to servethe needs of its members into the future.


 
Tell friends Print this page
 1391