Guidelines for Friday Afternoon Off

Miscellaneous, Regional Issues
In our Collective Agreement, Article 12.01 provides for every second Friday afternoon off in multi-clerical offices.  The Article reads: "... In locations where there is more than one (1) employee, the Employer will allow a schedule to be established which will allow for every second Friday afternoon off..." In order to facilitate this, the Employer has established guidelines to be followed.  These were recently updated to reflect current job titles; but nothing else was changed from the original guidelines created in the 1980's.  To make sure everyone is aware of what the guidelines say and how the schedule is to be applied, COPE491 is circulating this guideline document to all members.  Click the button below to see the guidelines.  These are also be available on this website under Resources. Guidelines…
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Committee Appointments – 2018

Miscellaneous
The COPE491 Executive has reviewed the applications received for the committee vacancies and have now made the appointments. The appointments made are as follows: Sick Leave Bank (NO requests) - Sister Connie Taylor EAP Committee - Sister Shelley Douan JBT Committee - Sister Lindsay Mills The Executive would like to thank all members who put their name forward and congratulate those members appointed.
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Statement from COPE Local 343

Miscellaneous
STATEMENT FROM COPE LOCAL 343 REGARDING DISAFFILIATION OF UNIFOR FROM CLC From COPE Local 343 website: Sisters, Brothers and Comrades, As you may or may not know, Unifor decided to disaffiliate from the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). This decision will have a negative impact on the labour movement. COPE Local 343 feels that leaving the house of labour is not only divisive, but in contradiction of everything we believe the labour movement stands for. To be clear, it is our belief that this move by Unifor to disaffiliate from the CLC is directly related to the raiding actions taken by them over the last several weeks against UNITE HERE Local 75 members. This is a huge risk for members of UNITE HERE Local 75 who are in a statutory freeze…
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COPE Raid Communique #4 – UPDATE

Miscellaneous
Sisters and Brothers: I want you to know that your COPE 491 Executive is working for you and doing everything we can to protect our member's rights. As you know, an application to decertify the National Office was filed with the Labour Board on Wednesday, November 22nd. We know members have many questions and concerns about what is happening. Here is a summary of what is currently happening: Friday, November 24th, COPE 491 filed their response with the Labour Board, as required, asking that the application be dismissed. The employer also responded to the application, submitting their response to the Labour Board on November 24th, which also asked that the application be dismissed. According to the rules set out in the Labour Board process, the vote must take place 5…
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10 REASONS TO STAY WITH YOUR UNION – COPE Local 491

Miscellaneous
We currently bargain our own collective agreement and have many great assets within that agreement. If you leave COPE 491, you are NOT guaranteed to keep what we have now or gain anything more.   We do not pay additional legal expenses for legal counsel as it is provided by COPE Ontario and is included in our dues.   We have a staff representative assigned to us to advocate our rights and ensure our collective agreement is protected.   You would lose all assets, including monetary, and affiliations we currently have as COPE 491 if you join Rosie 2.   We have our unlimited Strike and Defence fund backed by 35,000 members.   We have representation on the Joint Board of Trustees.   We have seats on all joint committees.…
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Bargaining Survey

Bargaining, Miscellaneous
Below you will find the document regarding the Bargaining Survey from our Bargaining Committee.  The first page of text is below, but the document in its entirety can be accessed by clicking the link.  Thank you. Click here, BARGAINING SURVEY   Plain Text, first page: Sisters and Brothers, Your Bargaining Committee has been elected. We are preparing for the next round of negotiations with the Employer and we want to hear from you! Attached is a survey to assist us in identifying what you want changed in OUR Collective Agreement and what our priorities are for this round of bargaining. Please take some time and think about your work environment, wages and benefits. Let us know your concerns, issues and what improvements to OUR Collective Agreement you would like us…
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Interim Education/Communication Officer

Miscellaneous
Sister Rachel Roberts has taken over the responsibilities in the interim while we work toward filling the vacancy of the Education/Communication Officer position.  Please be patient as she will be working on the website and making updates and new posts as necessary.  However, it is a learning process and if you see something suddenly go missing or turn into garble, please advise by email at: communications.cope491@gmail.com. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
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