REGION 2 EDUCATIONAL
October 20 & 21, 2018
to be held at Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale
6750 Mississauga Road – just south of the 401
Mississauga, ON
Forms and information available through gmerritt@opseu.org
(the event is currently not listed on OPSEU website)
Course offering for this session:
Stewards 1: Making a Difference in the Workplace
This course is also available in French
This updated version of Stewards 1 includes a more detailed description and history of OPSEU’s equity-seeking groups. The course continues to support stewards through a range of tools and practical activities. The key aims are to strengthen steward skills to orient a new employee to the union, have effective one-on-one conversations with a cross-section of members, develop a communications strategy to enlist diverse member involvement, and develop approaches to everyday workplace problems. Throughout the course, participants are supported as they develop a profile of their members, clarify the tasks of the steward, find the resources and information in OPSEU, and understand the grievance process and their role in it. Participants must have completed Stewards 1 before registering in Stewards 2.
Stewards 2: Facing the Employer, Building Member Involvement
This course is also available in French
Prerequisite: Stewards 1
This revised follow-up to Stewards 1 focuses on investigating and writing a grievance, facing management, and involving members in worksite action. Participants will use their own collective agreements to identify grievances. They will become immersed in an evolving case study in order to interview a grievor, write up a grievance, face the employer at a step 1 and make a presentation on safety issues to the union side of the Joint Health and Safety Committee. They will examine the elements of effective mobilization and develop a campaign strategy for a local.
Stewards 3: Dealing with Discipline
Prerequisite: Stewards 1 & 2
This is an advanced level steward course. It is suggested that participants take Stewards 1 and Stewards 2 prior to signing up for this program.
Dealing with Discipline is a skills and knowledge focused workshop that will assist union activists in their duties representing members that are facing discipline up to and including dismissal. The course bridges concepts from Stewards 1 and 2, Basic and Advanced Grievance Handling and Workplace Investigations.
Basic Grievance Handling for Union Building
This course is designed to examine the grievance process from a workplace organizing perspective. Grievances are opportunities to build the union. This hands-on course helps members analyze situations to decide whether a grievance is the best approach. They will learn about different types of grievances and the remedies available through the grievance/ arbitration process. They will develop technical skills in writing, processing grievances and practice communication to assess whether a member’s rights have been violated.
Women in Unions: Getting Involved
This course is for diverse women who are just getting involved in OPSEU, who want to know how things work and how they can make a difference in the union. Participants will bring their own experience of the workplace, community and union to develop an analysis of what is needed in their locals, and how they can contribute to building an inclusive union. Through hands-on activities, women will practise making their voices heard, and will develop strategies for supporting the involvement of other diverse women in the union.
Health and Safety: Level Three
This course builds on concepts covered in OPSEU Health and Safety Level 1 and 2. OPSEU Health and Safety Level 3 is designed to help union activists, worker joint health and safety committee members, health and safety representatives, and workers to address complex hazards using their local health and safety systems and external resources. Drawing from their own experiences, participants will strategize effective approaches to complex hazards, such as investigating concerns about potential occupational cancers and ergonomic hazards. Participants will also learn basic approaches to investigating indoor air quality complaints. They will discuss the precautionary principle and the ALARA principle and understand the centrality of these two concepts in health and safety activism.
Taking Action on Workplace Stress
Is your work stressing you out? If so, you’re not alone. In Canada, one in four workers report feeling highly stressed at work. Factors such as excessive demands, lack of control, precarious work, inadequate resources and support, and workplace bullying and harassment can all took their toll on the well-being of workers.
In this new OPSEU Course, participants will be able to identify workplace factors that negatively affect workers’ health and wellbeing and gain familiarity with terminology associated with workplace stress. The course will help to develop strategies for influencing change in the workplace as well as examine ways to work with your union to address and resolve workplace stress issues.