| Hello Everyone, As you know, CUPE has identified that they will not be moving to Phase 2 – Working from the Office Plan on the September 20th date as indicated in the correspondence dated September 14th, 2021. COPE 491 is pleased that the Employer has heard our concerns and understands that we want to keep our members safe. However, CUPE’s goal is to move back to our pre-pandemic ways of working – including in-person work, and being in the office – will be our reality in the near future. Our concern is for those of you who may have a need to be accommodated either due to your own medical condition/health concerns; a medical condition of your spouse, child or parents; or because of your family status needs. While we understand that there have been calls for CUPE to issue a blanket exemption from any need to attend work in-person for those needing some form of accommodation, this is something that CUPE has already indicated that they were not prepared to do and there is no legal requirement for them to do so. As such, accommodation requests must be made individually. To apply for an accommodation, please contact your Direct Supervisor as they have been trained to follow a process. If there is a need for formal accommodation they will send you the proper forms and put you in touch with the corresponding contact in Human Resources. If you have an issue with an accommodation you have applied for, please contact your RVP for assistance. COPE 491 is continuing to explore our rights and legal options as they relate to CUPE’s obligation to provide a safe workplace for all its staff once in-person operations recommence. We have been collaborating with the Joint Health and Safety representatives in all regions to review the updated ‘Fall 2021 – COVID Protocol’ to be sure that no region goes overlooked. Going forward, please reach out to your JOHS representative with any health and safety concerns you may have. Please stay safe, and be well. Yours In Solidarity, Brandi Kehoe Acting President, COPE 491 |
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Nominations Closed – List of Acclaimed and Nominees
Thank you to all those who let their name stand for positions. The positions that were open for elections were for the Bargaining Committee as well as two interim RVP positions.
RVP, Region 5A (Interim, one year remainder of term)
- Steve Smith – ACCLAIMED
RVP, Region 6C (Interim, one year remainder of term)
- No nominations
BARGAINING COMMITTEE
East
- Karri Patterson – ACCLAIMED
National
- Debbie Rebeiro – ACCLAIMED
Ontario
- Brandi Kehoe – ACCLAIMED
West
- Theresa Walkowski, SK
- Patty Kinahan, AB
- Corinne Iwata, BC
There will be one election, for the members in that region/area. Congratulations to those acclaimed and good luck to those nominees in the election.
Nomination Forms – January 2021
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Nomination Forms – Elections January 2021 |
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Nominations for the upcoming elections open on January 22, 2021. Click below to access the nomination form for each position up for election. |
Election Call – January 2021 – RVP, Region 6C and Region 5A
| ELECTION CALL January 2021 – RVP (Region 5A and Region 6C only) |
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Between February 17 and February 23, 2021 members will elect one (1) Regional Vice-President (Region 6C National) and one (1) Regional Vice-President (Region 5A Ontario) in accordance with the COPE 491 Bylaws. |
Nomination Forms – Election December 2020
Nominations for the upcoming elections open on November 4, 2020. Click below to access the nomination form for each position up for election. The attached nomination forms are in pdf format; for a word version of the form, please reply to this email and it will be emailed to you. Unfortunately the word version doesn’t attach properly through this email format.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Returning Officer.
Nomination-Form – Education/Communication Officer
Nomination-Form – Trustee – Three Year
Nomination_Form_RVP_Region_blank
Bylaw Amendment Vote – October 2020
| Bylaw Results – October 2020. |
| The Bylaw Amendment vote has closed and the results are in. The bylaw amendments have passed. Please see below the details of the results of the vote and link for the official results on Big Pulse. COPE491 By-Law Amendments Report date: Thursday 22 October 2020 13:09 EDT COPE491 By-Law Amendments Poll ID: 163200 As at Poll close: Wednesday 21 October 2020 23:59 EDT Number of voters: 80 · Group size: 235 · Percentage voted: 34.04 Vote counting method: V1 FPTP (first-past-the-post) Ranked by votes |
| Rank | Vote Option ID | Vote Option | Votes | % |
| 1 | 16070119 | Yes | 73 | 91.25 |
| 2 | 16070120 | No | 7 | 8.75 |
https://www.bigpulse.com/pollresults?code=1340568AWHttEuwYxDB6b2M7QEz
Returning Officer
COPE Local 491
Bylaw Vote Coming October 14
Watch your email inboxes on October 14 for the upcoming vote on changes to the Constitution and Bylaws for COPE Local 491. We have many changes to make to our Bylaws, and instead of overwhelming everyone all at once, it has been decided to break these changes down to a couple of steps.
This first step (vote to start October 14th) is to bring our Constitution and Bylaws in line with current practices and to make other housekeeping changes to clean up some articles. The next stage is planned for early 2021 to start making language and changes. More information on that will be coming later.
Click on the buttons below to review the proposed changes to the Constitution and Bylaws that are being put forward to vote on. The document has the proposed changes shown in highlighted yellow with the rationale for the change shown in italics. The changes are presented as a package and will be voted on as such.
Please review these changes so you are prepared for the upcoming vote. The vote will be coming through Big Pulse and all documentation will be attached to that ballot you receive by email. If you do not receive a ballot and link to the vote on October 14, please contact your RVP. The vote will be open for one week.
If you have any questions, please forward to them to your RVP.
Thank you.
DRAFT_Constitution_and_Bylaws_and_Policy_Manual_September_2020
Sick Leave Bank Committee VACANCY
| COMMITTEE VACANCY COPE491 has one (1) vacancy on our Sick Leave Bank committee and are canvassing members to find out who is interested in working on this committee. The vacancy is for one of the positions that deals with requests from the National Office. Therefore the member must be from outside the National Office. The COPE491 Bylaws/Constitution/Policy states the following: 2.08 – Committee Appointments Local Union committee appointments will be reviewed and renewed as necessary. If a member is interested in holding a particular committee position, he/she should notify the Executive by advising their Regional Vice-President. The Executive will review the applications and make appointments. 2.05 – Sick Leave Bank Committee The Sick Leave Bank Committee shall consist of one (1) representative from the Employer and four (4) representatives from the Local Union (two from the field to deal with member’s requests at National Office and two from National Office to deal with members’ requests from the field). National Office will administer the Sick Leave Bank. |
| If you are interested in this position and meet the requirements, please fill in the information on the Application Sheet available through the button below and reply to your RVP as well as send in a copy to: 2019cope491president@gmail.com by October 15, 2020. In Solidarity, Sister Trish Sinclair President COPE491 |
More Questions about Vacation Pay Out
Thank you to all that answered our first set of questions. If you have
not yet, please see the original email below and forward your answers.
For everyone, even if you answered the first set, please answer the
following questions:
Vacation Accruals:
If you were not paid out any vacation days but did carry some over to 2020 please answer the following:
- Balance of vacation as of December 31, 2018.
- Amount of vacation allotted in 2019 (in days please)
- Amount of vacation used in 2019
- Amount of vacation paid out in 2019 (that was requested by you)
- If you asked for your vacation to be carried over, when and did you get a response?
- How many days are you carrying over in 2020?
- What is your allotment for 2020?
Please send your answers directly to Sandra Lenuik at sandral@telus.net
Questions about Vacation Pay Out
Many members recently received notice regarding pay out of vacation credits. In order to ensure we have as much information as possible to discuss this matter properly and fully, we need information in what has happened, and who has been affected.
Where you paid out any vacation days in January 2020 that you were not expecting; if so, please answer the following questions and send your answers directly to Sandra Lenuik at sandral@telus.net
- How many days did you have left in 2018 that carried over into 2019?
- How many days did you use in 2019?
- Did you request to be paid out anytime at all in 2019? If so, how many days?
- How many days did you receive as your vacation allotment in 2019?
- How many days in 2019 where you expecting to carry over to 2020?
- Did you request to carry over your days? If so, when did you submit that request? Did you ever get a response?
- Were you on any long term sick leave or approved absence?
Thank you for taking the time to assist us in gathering information on this important issue.
Note: as your Education/Communication Officer, I am committed to
fulfilling my duties regardless and as such this email is being sent
using my cell phone while on vacation in California – please excuse any
errors or omissions in the above as my WiFi isn’t great and using a tiny
screen to set this up is difficult. I thank you all for your
understanding and cooperation in this.