Kieran May, president, urges a return of the current board in the interests of further stability while Andrew Macaulay, CEO, cautions would-be candidates on the onerous workload involved in serving.
Nominations open today for the board of the Printing Industries Association of Australia, with voting in what many regard as the most important election in many years due to get underway on September 29. The vote comes after a period of unprecedented turmoil in the peak industry association, marked by a member's revolt and the resignations of two presidents, three directors and the former CEO.
In the interests of transparency the current election is the first ever to be held under the over sight of the Australian Electoral Commission.
Macaulay, who along with May is currently representing Australia at the World Print and Communication Forum in South Korea, has confirmed that all eight members of the current board will be candidates. This includes long-time board member, Chris Segaert, who was expected to stand down following the sale of his Permanent Press.
(We have been contacted by an irate Chris Segaert who insists he has not sold his successful business, Permanent Press. He has reorganised some of the production, outsourcing to a well-known Sydney firm. He reiterates that he is as engaged as ever in the printing industry. Print21 apologies for the mistake.)
The ninth board member, Craig Pearce of Tasmania, resigned last month to focus on his Launceston commercial print business, Flying Colours.
In the latest edition of Print21 magazine, the current board members outline how they see the future of print.
Kieran May as president has made a strong appeal for the board to be returned in order to consolidate the progress made in the past few months. In a phone call from Seoul he said that following a meeting in Melbourne last week, the association is now firmly committed to carrying out the new ‘Three Pillars’ strategy.
The first pillar is an expansion of the Association’s traditional transactional industrial relations function to include more involvement in IR policy creation and debate on behalf of the members. Second is a reinvigoration of the Association’s lobbying function not only with the Federal and State governments but also with large corporations in order to advance the role of printing in the communications mix. The third is enhanced communications to members so they understand the value of what the Association is doing and how they may take advantage of its resources.
“Everyone knows we’ve had a turbulent time over the past eight months but we’ve put that behind us now and it’s time to look towards the future. A stable board for the next two years will allow us to continue with the progress we’ve made,” said May.
Those interested in standing for board positions must be full financial members and be nominated by a similar member. Ballot and nominations forms are in the post today with a cut off of September 15 for anyone interested in standing to put their names forward. Although the size of the electoral role is being kept confidential, it’s reckoned around 1,000 PIAA members will be eligible to cast their vote.
While encouraging all members to become involved Macaulay makes the point that successful candidates can look forward to a full workload, especially with the establishment of the new member consultative committees. Every board member will be expected to chair at least one committee with Macaulay estimating the board roles require at least one full working day per month, with the president and treasure putting in one day a week.
“I don’t want anyone to be shocked at what is required. In light of the Kathy Jackson affair the authorities are taking the role of board members very seriously. It takes a lot of time away from people’s own businesses, as Craig Pearce discovered,” he said.
Voting opens on September 29 and runs for four weeks until October 27. Board members will serve a two-year term beginning on January 1, 2017.