COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
BASIC SKILL DEVELOPMENT
- STEWARDS’ TRAINING I (Basic)
The steward is the main point of contact between the
union, its members, management, and the larger labour
movement. The leadership the steward can give and the
effectiveness with which the job is carried out are key to
building strong and dynamic local unions. This course is
about building the skills, confidence and knowledge the
steward needs to represent, and communicate with, their
members. Participants will learn about the responsibilities
of their position as stewards, the handling of grievances
and complaints, problem-solving skills, protecting contractual
provisions in the collective agreement and current
issues for stewards. Please bring your collective agreement
with you.
- STEWARDS’ TRAINING II
(Grievance Handling)
This course is for chief stewards, committee chairpersons,
local officers and stewards with considerable experience
handling grievances. You will practice more advanced
grievance handling skills using real life case studies and
role plays. Participants will discuss discipline grievances,
harassment, drug and alcohol issues, and different styles
of management. The course will deal with procedures
before the process of arbitration. Please bring your collective
agreement with you. Knowledge of the first stages of
the grievance procedure will be assumed.
Prerequisite: Stewards’ Training I or equivalent union
course
- PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE AND
PUBLIC SPEAKING
This course deals with how to run a union meeting; the
duties of a chairperson and the rules of order; the principles
and characteristics of effective speaking; how to
organize and build a speech; the use of humour and gestures;
how to be convincing and persuasive; the art of
impromptu speaking; introductions and speeches of courtesy;
and to provide first-hand experience in speaking
before a group. This course is excellent for local union officers
and aspiring politicians.
Good communication cuts through the clutter. It does this
by getting the right message, in the right medium, delivered
by the right messengers, to the right audience. This
hands-on course will provide union members with the
skills to effectively use communications to educate, motivate
and mobilize their members and communities, and to
get Labour’s message across to the public. Topics include
dealing with the media and on-camera training, message
development and delivery, earned media vs paid advertising,
designing eye-catching newsletters, leaflets, buttons,
t-shirts and other stuff, lobbying for change, and effective
use of email and the internet. Participants will work in
teams to put together a communications strategy. This
course is a must for any union who has something to say
and wants to learn the best way to say it.
This course offers union women an opportunity to develop
and enhance their leadership skills and knowledge in a
variety of current and emerging labour issues. A major
component of the course will cover communication and
motivational skills that are important for women activists.
Participants will leave the course ready to take an active
role in their union.
This course is designed to give young union activists the
skills they need to effect change in their workplace. The
course will cover public speaking, how meetings run, how
to read your contract, grievance procedure basics (what is
a grievance, how to file a grievance, and grievance steps
up to and including arbitration), and the collective bargaining
process.
Participants are requested to bring a copy of their collective
agreement.
CHANGING WORKPLACE
This course deals with evolving employer agendas and
management styles that are used to implement new programs
in the workplace. You will learn about management’s
hard-line and soft-line approaches, various workplace
strategies for reorganization, team concepts, and
employee involvement schemes.
This course is designed to teach a critical awareness of the
latest management tactics so the union can protect and
advance its agenda. We hope to better equip participants
with some of the necessary skills to deal withmanagement
and win the hearts and minds of your membership at the
same time.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
- COLLECTIVE BARGAINING (Basic)
This course develops an understanding of the Collective
Bargaining process, how it works and the skills you will
need to participate in the process. Participants will learn
about preparations for collective bargaining, bargaining
proposals from the membership, key contract clauses and
current bargaining issues. An opportunity is provided to
analyze union and management tactics in a “mock bargaining”
session.
This course will be of interest to new bargaining committee
members and local union officers who are involved or
anticipate being involved in actual bargaining. Bring a copy
of your collective agreement and a calculator for this
course.
- COLLECTIVE BARGAINlNG (Advanced):
Bring a copy of your collective agreement and a calculator
as we work with different strategies and tactics for effectively
facing today’s challenges at the bargaining table.
How do we deal with workplace change - restructuring,
automation or new technology? What language best protects
workers against unfairness in drug & alcohol testing
or electronic monitoring? How do we prepare our membership
and the union to deal with concession demands in
pension and health benefit plans? This is a course for students
who have taken Basic Collective Bargaining and
have some experience on a bargaining committee.
PENSIONS
- PENSIONS – A TRADE UNION PERSPECTIVE
Pensions are an important part of worker wage and benefit
packages. Their future importancemay increase as government
commitments to social programs continue to
decline. This course will review some basic areas such as
pension objectives, the legal environment and funding
concepts. The course will assist you in evaluating your
own pension arrangement, give you ideas to improve an
existing plan or give you enough information to know what
needs to be done to establish a plan. The course will
address pension issues from a private and a public pension
perspective. The course will enable workers to make
more valuable contributions to their union's pension policy
or pension committees. Participants should bring any information
pertaining to their current pension plan to the
course.
- PENSION INVESTMENT AND GOVERNANCE:
BASIC
The basic-level course is geared for newly appointed or
soon-to-be appointed trustees, pension advisory committee
members, union executives, and staff with responsibility
for pension matters.
This course will explore the basics of pension investment
and governance giving participants an understanding of
key concepts, the overall structure of the Canadian retirement
system, the fundamentals of pension investment
strategies and how to understand actuarial valuations.
SHARE’s courses are interactive and hands-on, providing
you with the practical knowledge and skills you need to
serve plan members’ best interests.
There is a $500 surcharge to attend this course.
- PENSION INVESTMENT AND GOVERNANCE:
INTERMEDIATE
Pension trustees, plan administrators and pension advisory
committee members will develop their skills further in
order to actively oversee pension investment and plan
governance.
By the end of this 4-day course, participants will have
more confidence and be more capable and effective in fulfilling
their duties.
Key areas covered in the intermediate course include
responsible investing; plan governance and communication;
and service provider accountability.
Prerequisites: Participants should have previous trustee
training courses or at least 3 years experience as a pension
trustee to benefit fully from this in-depth course.
There is a $500 surcharge to attend this course.
LEGAL
- ARBITRATION: To Go or Not To Go?
One of themost difficult issues for facing unions is whether
to advance grievances to arbitration. It can be a legal
minefield when high emotions/expectations intersect with
the union’s limited resources. Taught by both counsel and
arbitrators, this course will focus on providing the legal
knowledge required for unions tomake informed decisions
as to the progress of grievances. Learn the law with
respect to representational obligations as well as the standard
arbitral law tests in relation to discipline, contract
interpretation, job selections and evidence. Significant
experience in the arbitral referral process as well as a
week-long Basic Arbitration course are prerequisites,
with Advanced Arbitration strongly recommended.
- LABOUR ARBITRATION (Basic)
This course is designed to introduce participants to the
practical skills required to prepare and present a case at an
arbitration hearing. Special emphasis is placed on evidence,
examination and cross-examination, the opening
statement and final argument, and you will discuss current
trends and cases dealing with the arbitration process. This
course would be useful for grievance committee members
or chairpersons, or union staff or officers who have not yet
had extensive experience with the arbitration process.
- LABOUR ARBITRATION (Advanced)
As a follow-up course to the Labour Arbitration course,
this course has an emphasis on necessary verbal and procedural
skills. It deals primarily with the conduct of the
hearing for example, with the rules of evidence, examination-
in-chief, and cross-examination. Prerequisite: This
course is recommended only for staff or officers with
considerable arbitration experience.
This course presents an overview of provincial labour leg
islation and its impact on the strategies and actions of
unions. Among the topics to be explored are: certification
and dispute settlement procedures; unfair labour practices;
the duty to bargain in good faith; strikes, lockouts
and picketing; the duty of fair representation; management
and union rights; and grievance arbitration law.
Students who take this course will attain a good understanding
of the basic principles underlying Canadian
labour law and the specifics of labour legislation in British
Columbia.
Anyone taking this course may receive credit toward a
Labour College of Canada certificate. Please contact
the Winter School Director for further details.
This course presents an overview of the new federal labour
legislation and its impact on the strategies and actions of
unions. Among the topics to be explored are: certification
and dispute settlement procedures; unfair labour practices;
the duty to bargain in good faith; strikes, lockouts
and picketing; the duty of fair representation; management
and union rights; and the grievance arbitration process.
Students who take this course will attain a good understanding
of the basic principles underlying Canadian
labour law and the specifics of labour legislation in the federal
jurisdiction. Anyone taking this course may receive
credit toward a Labour College of Canada certificate.
Please contact the Winter School Director for further
details.
Recent human rights decisions from the Supreme Court of
Canada have expanded the duty of employers and unions
to accommodate workers on the basis of sex, race, disability and religious beliefs with both positive and negative
implications for unions. It can be difficult to understand the
extent of the duty and the point at which accommodation
becomes undue hardship. Participants will gain an understanding
of human rights law and skills in identifying
appropriate accommodations and in implementing strategies
to reduce the potential for negative impact on the bargaining
unit.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY
- WORKERS’ COMPENSATION (Basic)
All workers should know their rights related to Workers’
Compensation and how the Board functions to provide
financial, medical and rehabilitative help for workers with
work related injuries and diseases. This course provides a
review of the Workers Compensation Act, procedures for
filing claims, WCB policies for adjudicating claims, and the
appeals process. This is a basic course and will interest
those union members just starting to handle WCB claims
and appeals. This class will observe a hearing presentation
to a panel of the Review Division.
This is an advanced course for advocates wanting to
improve their technical skills for the appeal process. This
course includes a review of evidence gathering and preparing
submissions. Participants will prepare a case study
appeal andmock present to a panel of the Review Division.
- HEALTH AND SAFETY LEVEL I
This introductory Occupational Health & Safety Course introduces
new OH&S Committee members, worker representatives
and activists to the basic principles of workplace
health and safety and provides them with the critical
tools and skills necessary to help prevent accidents, injuries
and illnesses at their workplaces. Participants will
learn about the OH&S Regulation, the Workers Compensation
Act and have an opportunity to put theory into
practise in various interactive exercises in the course.
• The course meets the criteria for the eight-hour
annual educational leave that OH&S Committee
members and worker representatives are entitled to
under the Workers Compensation Act.
- HEALTH AND SAFETY LEVEL II
This Advanced OH&S Course has been designed to allow
participants to develop tools, resources and strategies to
tacklemore complex issues at their workplaces and to discuss
barriers facing Joint Committees. Participants will
have an opportunity to develop such strategies as identifying
allies, bargaining language, and developing political
action campaigns. They will also use sector specific case
studies to practically apply the tools, resources and strategies
necessary to solve OH&S problems.
Prerequisite: Participants must have already taken a
Basic OH&S Course prior to registering in this Advanced
Course.
• This course meets the criteria for the eight-hour
annual educational leave that OH&S Committee
members and worker representatives are entitled to
under the Workers Compensation Act.
- INSPECTIONS & ACCIDENT/INCIDENT
INVESTIGATIONS
Just what are you looking for when you do a workplace
inspection? How do you really know what is happening on
the shop floor? This course will assist committeemembers
to conduct effective inspections in order to identify hazards
and then make recommendations for solutions.
An accident or near miss incident happens at your workplace.
An investigation by the employer and the OH&S
Committee must take place. It is your responsibility to
gather the facts, objectively assess those facts and arrive
at appropriate measures to prevent any further injuries.
How do you conduct an effective investigation in an oftentraumatic
atmosphere? Prerequisite: Participants must
have already taken a Basic OH&S Course.
• This course meets the criteria for the eight-hour
annual educational leave that OH&S Committee
members and worker representatives are entitled to
under the Workers Compensation Act.
SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
- ADVOCACY FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION
This course is about understanding the issues in public
education. It is about how we can organize in our unions
and in our communities to ensure that education remains
public, free and that it delivers on its mandate to prepare
students for active citizenship skills in a democratic society.
The course will focus on advocacy, organization, and
communication skills as it addresses issues of funding,
equity, privatization, accountability, and classroom conditions
in BC schools. There will be an examination of the
teacher’s protest action in 2005 that helped build member
and public support for progressive changes.
This course is intended to appeal to activists who have an
interest in becoming involved in the struggle to defend and
support public education. It will provide an overview of
issues facing public schools today and help to develop
skills and strategies for collectively addressing those
issues.
Workers in a variety of jobs can be exposed to critical incident
stress (CIS) not just emergency responders. This
course will cover stress and stressors, policies and guidelines,
communication skills, recovery processes from CIS
and practical sessions. At the end of the course, participants
will be more aware of what CIS is, how to recognize
it and how to best deal with those exposed to it. This is an
advanced course for graduates of Union Counselling I.
Prerequisite: Union Counselling I
This is a first level course for members interested in
becoming Union Counsellors. The participants will be
equipped to refer unionmembers to services and agencies
in the community, develop communication skills, discuss
stress as it relates to the workplace, deal with myths and
realities relating to chemical dependency with a focus on
alcoholism and drugs. The Union Counsellor will be equipped
to assist members and their families in a confidential
and appropriate manner. It is hoped that participants will
maintain an ongoing interest in this field. The course will
also cover the role of the Union and the Union Counsellor
when there is an Employee Assistance Program in the
workplace.
This is an advanced course for graduates of Union Counselling
I. Participants will be focusing on ways to implement
the Union Counselling Program in their union and
their workplace. The course will also address ways to
overcome some of the challenges and obstacles usually
encountered with that implementation. There will also be
an opportunity to further develop some skills learned in
Union Counselling I, and to broaden the participant’s
knowledge of community resources.
Prerequisite: Union Counselling I
Unions are known for mobilizing around workplace issues
such as basic working conditions, wages, and benefit levels,
but not always for their work on community and social
justice issues. An active union movement coordinates its
efforts to strengthen the community and promotes member
involvement in that process.
The course is designed to help Labour Councils and Local
Unions understand, organize and participate in communi
ty social service issues, strengthen Labour’s community
presence and develop new activists.
Students should have Union ‘Counselling’ 1 or equivalent
as a prerequisite and/or be a ‘Labour Council/Local Union
community activist.’
SOCIAL & ECONOMIC POLICY ISSUES
- HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES AND ADVOCACY
This course will help participants to: recognize how discrimination
and prejudice evolve, examine how the “isms”
are connected, explore stereotypes and our own biases,
apply the human rights test: accommodation of difference
(duty to accommodate), examine systemic barriers in the
workplace, increase awareness of the experience of equity-
seeking groups, applying conflict resolution skills for the
resolution of harassment and discrimination cases and
promote union remedies for the advancement of human
rights through changes in collective agreements, internal
policies and education, lobbying and social action.
SPECIFIC UNION COURSES
Unless otherwise noted, registration for these courses is
through the Winter School Registrar.
- BCGEU LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
If you are a member who has become active in the Union
and wants to look at advancing your skills for future elected
positions, then this is the course for you. Increase your
understanding of the BCGEU, its history and diversemembership.
Learn about the Workplace Leadership program,
the different ways that you can get involved in current
issues affecting the BCGEU and the labour movement as
a whole. Emphasis will be placed on developing leadership
skills, increasing membership participation and building
union solidarity.
Class size is limited to twenty participants plus three
youth scholarships.
Prerequisite: Involved in the Local as either a Local Officer
or Steward and/or have strong involvement in Local
activities and/or campaign initiatives. There is an expectation
that you will continue to be called upon to lead and be
involved in future initiatives of the BCGEU. Course registration
is through the BCGEU office.
- CUPE MEMBER FACILITATOR TRAINING
CUPE’s education program depends largely on trained
member facilitators. CUPE National’s Union Development
Department is providing refresher training for its member
facilitators in BC. Active CUPE member facilitators have
been invited to attend these specialized workshops that
will focus on adult and popular education facilitation techniques. For any questions about these workshops,
please contact Sister Judi Armstrong, Education Representative
at 604-291-1940. Course registration is
through the CUPE BC Office.
- LABOUR COUNCIL DEVELOPMENT
SEMINAR
This seminar is designed for Ranking Officers of B.C.
Labour Councils. Course content is designed to assist
Labour Council Officers in effectively filling their role,
developing policy, programs and campaign delivery. Topical
policy issues will be addressed.
POLITICAL ACTION
The labour movement has always been at the forefront of
political change and political action. Our movement has
forced governments to legislate important rights for workers
like workplace health and safety laws, employment
standards and social programs that make a Canadian
society that is more fair and equal for all citizens. In recent
years, governments have moved to erode many of the
gains we fought for, from Employment Insurance to hours
of work.We can bemore effective in engaging unionmembers
in the political process at the municipal, provincial
and federal level of politics.We need to keepmoving worker’s
issues forward on the political agenda.
This course will discuss the basic campaign fundamentals,
messaging and communications, campaign tactics, media
relations and the process of creating a campaign plan.
These skills can be applied to internal union campaigns,
issue-based campaigns and election campaigns.
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