We are sure that many of you are wondering about the status of our new
Collective Agreement. This process is taking longer than expected, but
rest assured the bargaining committee is actively working with the
Employer to finalize the document.
In the meantime, please continue to use the last Collective Agreement in
conjunction with the signed Memorandum of Settlement. Those two
documents together contain all the clauses that are in effect.
Your new fully proofread and signed Collective Agreement will be
prepared and distributed as soon as possible and we appreciate our
members continued patience as we work through this process. We are
working to ensure this process continues to move forward.
In Solidarity,
COPE491 Bargaining Committee
Button Campaign
COPE491 is starting a campaign regarding Hours of Work. Soon you will
be receiving buttons to wear at work to stand in support of members who
feel pressured to work through lunch hours and work in excess of 6 hours
with no overtime as per our collective agreement.
We work 6 hours a day. We have 1 hour for lunch. We should not
have to take calls or direction during our lunch hour. We should not be
working more than 6 hours a day without being paid for overtime.
These issues may not affect you or your workplace, but we want everyone
to wear the buttons to show our support and solidarity with our sisters
and brothers across the country who are faced with these issues.
If you have any questions or concerns with this, please contact your RVP.
In Solidarity,
COPE491 Executive
Call for Interested Parties – RETURNING OFFICER
As you are all aware, our elections are done electronically using Big
Pulse. The program that we use requires some training and experience in
order to use it efficiently. In the past, we have had one Returning
Officer and have usually used them fairly exclusively, but it would be
beneficial to have more than one person to turn to. We would like to
have a couple different members that would be interested in acting as
Returning Officer start some training on the program so that our local
has more flexibility when coming across the need to appoint a Returning
Officer for an election.
If you feel this is something you would be interested in, please advise your RVP by the end of day on May 17th, 2019.
In Solidarity,
COPE491 Executive
Update on Collective Agreement
We have had members asking what the status of the new Collective Agreement is. Currently, the Bargaining Committee has the draft copy and is in the process of reviewing it to make sure there are no errors or omissions. They are working on getting it finalized as soon as possible.
COPE491 and Social Media
In the world of technology and ever changing media platforms, our local has started to create an online social media presence.
COPE Local 491 now has a Facebook group. This is a place to come and chat with other members, find interesting labour community events and information or share positive experiences and make a connection with your COPE Local 491 Sisters and Brothers.
In order to join the group, you will have to request permission and answer 3 questions; are you a current COPE Local 491 member, which office and region you work in and if you will follow the equality statement in your posts and comments. Once you have requested permission to join, an administrator or moderator of the group will approve you. The group will remain a “closed” group which means: you can search the group on Facebook, but only members of the group will be able to see what is posted there. Membership in the Facebook group is strictly OPTIONAL; the emails and webpage will remain the main vehicles for sharing COPE Local 491 official communications.
Visit us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cope491/
Stay tuned for more social media platform information in the coming weeks!
National Vice President Election RESULTS
Good morning,
The results are in for the National Vice-President election that just closed. Congratulations to Sandra Lenuik!
Click the link below to see the official Big Pulse results page.
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Poll Result
By-Election: National Vice-President
Report date: Thursday 14 March 2019 00:53 EDT
National Vice-President
Number of voters: 142 · Group size: 253 · Percentage voted: 56.13
Ranked by votes
| Rank | Candidate ID | Candidate | Votes | % |
| 1 | 15974803 | Sandra Lenuik | 56 | 39.44 |
| 2 | 15974801 | Tammy Laurin | 49 | 34.51 |
| 3 | 15974802 | Lindsay Mills | 37 | 26.06 |
Retro Pay Information
As the pay statements were just received today; many members have been asking about the retro pay. We inquired about it this morning and were advised by the Employer that the retroactive pay is being processed. It is being worked on and and requires a number of manual calculations that are time consuming. We do not have information on the exact time frame; however if we find out anything further we will let everyone know.
Notice from Joint Employment Equity Committee (JEEC)
Please click the link below for an important letter/notice from the JEEC regarding a letter and survey all members will be receiving soon from CUPE.
BIOGRAPHIES of all nominees – Election March 2019 (National Vice-President)
Below you will find the bios of all the nominees for the upcoming election. As bios are submitted, this post will be updated.
Click on the name to see the bio of each person.
National Vice-President
List of Nominees and Acclaimation
| List of Nominees and Acclaimation |
| The nomination period for the upcoming elections is now closed. Thank you to all who participated in the process and either nominated someone or allowed their names to stand for election. There is one position that has been acclaimed and will not require an election. Congratulations: Sister Heather Farrow – acclaimed as Regional Vice-President, National Region The following is a list of the nominees that will have an election. NATIONAL VICE-PRESIDENT: Sister Lindsay Mills Sister Sandra Lenuik Sister Tammy Laurin The election for the above position will commence on March 6 and run until March 13, 2019. Ballots will be sent to all members via email using Big Pulse. If you do not receive a ballot on March 6, please contact your RVP. Bios for the candidates will begin to be posted this week. Congratulations to Sister Heather and good luck to all the NVP candidates! |