Debbie Rebeiro – Handling Grievances Workshop

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Handling Grievances Workshop Report (CUPE course)

Friday, June 21st, 2013, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Ottawa Area Office, Ottawa

Facilitator: Kim Monette (CUPE Local 4000 – Health Care Workers)

Reported by Debbie Rebeiro

The course was a part of a two-day workshop ‘Introduction to Stewarding – Handling Grievances’. I attended a part of it to learn about ‘Handling Grievances’ since I had done earlier the ‘Stewarding’ part by itself.

The following are my notes:

  • Types of grievances were discussed:
  1. Individual
  2. Group
  3. Policy/Union Grievance
  • How to investigate a grievance and get the facts. CUPE /COPE has a grievance form which can be used to record facts.
  • Ask member for authority to view their personnel file. Get all records and history of any discipline in the past, etc.
  • All facts must be properly recorded.
  • After investigation is done, if possible try to fix the problem before filing a grievance.

What is a grievance? was role played – by experienced steward (in role) training a new steward (in role).

A grievance is when the employer is in violation of:   A Collective Agreement

Article No.

Health & Safety is violated

Workplace Policy is violated

A legislation is violated

Full redress and rectify if possible.

An exercise on ‘How to fill out a grievance form’ was done.

Mock grievance meetings were role played.

‘Non-effective grievance meeting’ vs ‘Effective grievance meeting’ with the Employer were role-played to show the difference in effectiveness.

The workshop went well and was good.

dr/cope 491

June 24, 2013

Debbie Rebeiro – Bargaining Skills Workshop (CUPE)

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Bargaining Skills Workshop (CUPE Course)

Location:  CUPE Local 4000 Hall, 32 Colonnade Road, Ottawa

May 23 & 24, 2013

It was my very first ‘Bargaining’ experience and as such was an eye-opener for me. I have learned that there are specific steps and a structure to follow.

The following handouts were given to us:

  1. Bargaining Skills Participant’s material which included – The Bargaining Process, Various Tips on how to Take Good Notes, how to Communicate, what to Observe, on Body Language, on Listening, on Making a Deal!
  2. Proposed Amendments to the Collective Agreement (Management Team)
  3. Bargaining Skills Player’s Manual – Union Team, which included:
  • The Bargaining Scenario
  • Proposed Amendments
  • A Fact Sheet on Flexible Benefits – Resisting Benefits Concession
  • Several activities on what and how to Caucus, and how to Communicate during Bargaining.
  1. A mock Collective Agreement
  2. The Collective Bargaining process in Ontario

Before bargaining commenced we needed to have in place the following:

  1. Union Bargaining Committee
  2. The Union’s Proposals
  3. Membership support
  4. A good negotiator
  5. Background information
  6. Bargaining strategy
  7. Goals
  8. Our Options
  9. Choose the best option
  10. Risk vs. Prediction
  11. Other tactics
  12. Understanding the Employer

The workshop was indeed a first experience for me and it was delivered in the form of role plays. As I went through the processes and role play I noted the following are important:

  1. Taking very good notes
  2. Everyone in our team should take notes
  3. Being very alert and observant
  4. Always noting body language of management
  5. Being aware of your own body language and what signals you’re sending
  6. Pay careful attention to what Management is offering, do not turn off a good deal
  7. Protecting our already in place benefits
  8. Being prepared, caucus effectively
  9. Seek for fair settlement
  10. Have sensible goals
  11. Discuss fully why and what
  12. Draft fairly the settlement

The workshop was well done! We held several caucuses before and in-between Bargaining. The Bargaining scenario was role-played as well.

CUPE Staff Reps Tony Cristiano and Chantale … facilitated the workshop. Both are great facilitators.

Observation: CUPE Reps take charge to take issues farther with the employer.

dr/cope 491

 

 

 

Presidents Message – June 2013

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PRESIDENTS MESSAGE – June, 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters

This reporting period has again been a very busy one for our Local on both the Local Issues and the legislative front.

Our Local is making great strides in moving us forward, through communication, education and information.  We are seeing better turnouts in all Regions, and continue to hear from our members.  Relationships created with our employer CUPE are allowing for proper practice and implementation of our collective agreement.  They are aware that it is easier to speak to us before implementing policy, and that we will raise any question where we feel needed to ensure and continue our representative of our members.

Since my last report many things have occurred.  I attended with Ontario RVP’s COPE Ontario’s Annual General Meeting, COPE Ontario Executive Board Meeting, and CUPE NEB meetings.  In April we had our bi-annual face to face Executive Meeting in Moncton, NB, where as is practice invited our members from the Atlantic and Maritime Regions. The turnout was great and it was nice to meet new faces. The Executive looks forward to continuing to meet our members at their Regional meetings.

Labour Movement

As we all know there are legislative changes occurring all over the country.  As we are employed by CUPE it can affect our work and personal lives.

In mid December parliament adopted Bill C-377, which places significant costs on all unions in terms of financial reporting requirements.  C-377 is not law until it is passed by the Senate, where lobbying is currently being done by all Unions. We see USA legislation being pushed by some of our government members.  This includes the Canadian version of “Right to Work”, and the RAND formula legislated in the 1940’s.

This bill would have drastic effects on CUPE’s finances, thus our jobs.  It is time for us to prove importance in the work place.  We all need to be aware of these situations and make sure we are doing the work of our bargaining unit.

Porter Airlines

Our brothers at Porter Airlines (Toronto) are still on strike trying to seek their first collective agreement.  Union support in general has been overwhelming and continues to give support and allow these members to fight for their right to a fare wage, good working conditions, and benefits.  I was very proud and pleased to provide COPE343 a donation of $2,000 ratified by our members.

Pensions

We continue the discussion and negotiate with CSU and CUPE as we are all settlers.  As we are aware our CEPP is currently in a Solvency Deficiency.  We are working together and with FSCO to seek exemption.  This will be a long process and may continue into negotiations.  I will keep everyone posted moving forward. A “Working Group” has been created with actuarial representatives from each party. Their mandate is to report to the Settlers with a process on seeking Solvency.  It should also be noted that at no time will JSPP be discussed.  Meaning there will be no Joint Responsibility for any Solvency Deficiencies.

Job Postings

When first became President of our Local, it was evident from members that they had concerns with outstanding job postings and the lack of posting positions on time.  I am very please to say that we currently have not outstanding postings in accordance with our collective agreement.  The practice of raising our concerns or asking the question to CUPE proved sufficient for this process and I will continue moving forward.

Retirements

As we are all aware, Member’s retirements now are recognized on behalf of the President to all members.  The positive feedback from Retirees and current members continue to flow in, and is creating a connection member to member throughout the country.  We are proud of our members and their accomplishments during their career.

Bargaining

Elections for our Negotiating Committee will commence soon, and will adhere to our bylaws.  Our current collective agreement expires December 31, 2013 and there is a lot of work to be done to prepare for this.  More information and process will be distributed to members.

I look forward to the rest of my term as President and working with you all and the employer to achieving the goals set out for our Local.

In Solidarity,

Steve Smith

President, COPE491

Canadian Office and Professional Employees

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Madeleine Vachon – Education Report

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Dealing with Workplace Conflict

Workshop held at COPE Ontario office, Toronto

April 4, 2013

I feel very privileged to have been able to participate in this training session.  As an administrative assistant, I think this workshop is of utmost importance to help deal with conflicts in the workplace.

We begin with an overview of definitions and sources of potential conflicts in the workplace; we were given several concrete examples in a first attempt to identify what conflicts are.  Disagreements are unavoidable; however, they do not always escalate to become a conflict. Varying opinions and approaches to the business side of your workplace can bring about disagreements. It can become a distraction and be disruptive, or it can help bring about changes.  This workshop presented us with strategies in order to settle disputes before the issues need to be dealt with through mediation or arbitration.

Conflict occurs when people have different wants, needs or expectations, which is what we find in most workplaces.  However, it is important to know that there are three different types of conflict: manager and employee conflict, work team conflict and peer to peer conflict.  The two most common sources of conflict are susbstantive conflict and interpersonal conflict.  The fact that this session brought together unionized workers from various workplaces and employers, I found the discussions around these two common sources very interesting and enriching.  We were presented with possible strategies to help solve conflicts stemming from these two common sources.

The types of managerial actions can also cause workplace conflict.  It became clear to me during this session that conflicts may arise when employees do not understand the reason for some programs or decisions, disagreements around work assignments, or even lack of leadership.  It can lead to frustration and unhappiness affecting the work of the organization.

Conflicts can have negative results, and they can have positive results.  In training sessions such as this one, we are given examples of both.  Conflict can be beneficial despite the cost of working through it.  It can bring about growth in the organization as well as strength in the workforce.

We were also presented five strategies to deal with conflict:  avoidance, accommodation; competition; compromise; collaboration.   The key to deciding an effective response is to know the results you want to achieve.

The training kit we received contained documents that I find very useful.  This document presents all the above information as well as supplementary guidelines that I keep handy.  It includes suggestions on dialogue to resolve issues as well as its key elements to provide assistance in preparing the dialogue.

In conclusion, I have enjoyed this session and the sharing of personal stories brought about by the participants from various workplaces.  I am also convinced that this one-day workshop should be presented as an introduction to the subject.  Too many ramifications are brought forward and  need to be addressed with discussing conflict in the workplace.  We may have glanced for a few minutes on the bullying aspect of relationships in the workplace. However, if my memory serves me correctly, we felt we could go on forever when this subject came up.

I look forward to other training courses in this field; the more members are aware of the definitions, outcomes and strategies, the better our workplaces can be.  We live in an uncertain time for unions in this country; the last thing we need is for the workforce within our ranks to be divided.  We need more and more training around this subject in order to avoid negative impact on our workforce and in our workplaces.

Submitted in solidarity,

Madeleine Vachon

Results – Negotiating Team Officer

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Negotiating Team member election – Officer

Report date: Friday 31 May 2013 11:29 EDT

Election Negotiating Team Member – Officer

As at Poll close: Friday 31 May 2013 10:00 EDT Number of voters: 14 · Group size: 15 · Percentage voted: 93.33 Ranked by votes

Rank Candidate Votes %
1 Carle, Karen 6 42.86
2 Wilde, Donna 5 35.71
3 Dillabaugh, Heather 3 21.43

Bargaining Committee – Karen Carle (Bio)

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I’m asking for your support for Bargaining Committee Member.

I have been the National Vice President of COPE 491 for the last 4 years.  I currently sit on the Grievance Committee, the Joint CUPE/COPE Reclassification Committee, the Joint CUPE/CSU/COPE LTD Committee and I was also a Bargaining Committee member. I have no problem taking on the Employer, providing arguments, doing research and making things right for our members.

The last round of bargaining was long and drawn out but we made some great improvements to our language regarding the Grievance Procedure, LTD Benefits and Temporary Employees.  I believe it’s important that the National Vice President be a member of the COPE 491 Bargaining Committee as they are the person responsible for preparing and presenting grievances to the Employer, working with the collective agreement on a daily basis and has a thorough knowledge of it.  As NVP I have an understanding of where our collective agreement language is lacking and what changes we need to make.  I also have heard what the Employer’s interpretation is and it’s usually quite a bit different than the Union’s.

On a personal note, I have been working in the Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Area Office over the last 11 years (7 years permanent and 4 years prior as a temp clerical).

Prior to working for CUPE, I was actively involved as a CUPE member.  I held the position of president of Local 4195 Saskatchewan Rivers School Division for 7 years, as well as sitting on the provincial Education Workers Steering Committee and on the CUPE SK Education Committee.

 As president of CUPE Local 4195, I was an integral part on the bargaining committee that merged six locals and four agreements into one.  It was a long process that included job action but we succeeded.  This was the first merged local in the province and became a footprint for the rest of the province to follow. We represented approximately 450 members and merged once again in 2006 with four more locals bringing the membership up to about 650.  We faced many challenges and came out on top when getting the employer to follow the new agreement.  I truly enjoyed my time as an activist and loved the challenges it provided.

In closing, I’m looking forward to putting my knowledge that I’ve acquired as a CUPE member and as a COPE member to work for the COPE Bargaining Committee.  If you have anything specific to discuss please feel free to contact me via email at klcarle@hotmail.com

Thank you in advance for your support!

In solidarity,

Karen