The following courses are offered “In-person”
Local Treasurer’s Course
This course is aimed at Local Treasurer and Trustees who are either NEW to the role or experienced members who are seeking a “refresher course”. The goal is to give the necessary tools and education to Local Treasurer and Trustees in order for them to fulfill their roles in the Local. It will also draw on members’ experiences to solve problems occurring with the administration of Local funds.
Health and Safety: Level Two
This course is designed for Health and Safety committee members and union activists with a strong interest in Health and Safety. Participants learn how to be more effective members of their JHSC’s as they work in small groups learning how to better identify, categorize, and control hazards.
Using case studies and examples from their own workplaces, participants learn how to improve workplace inspections, and how to begin accident and illness investigations.
The course offers the opportunity to prioritize and strategize around health and safety problems and to address problems specific to participants’ own workplaces. The course builds on the material in OPSEU/SEFPO’s Level 1 course and assumes that participants have a basic knowledge of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Making Composite Locals Work
Composite/Multi-unit Locals can be very challenging and complex for locals to organize and run.
Difficulties with communication and membership coordination are among the barriers that often prevent these locals from being inclusive and achieving their full potential. This course provides an opportunity for an in-depth working session for local executive committees of composite or multi-unit locals.
Participants will develop clear roles and responsibilities as local leaders, prepare an appropriate budget, develop local structures, and will assess the functioning of their local and its” units. Based on the work from the course, the local executives will begin to develop action plans to implement in their local.
Note: This course is not designed for individuals coming from different locals. Participants who register should complete LEC groups that are working together to build strength in their units and ultimately the local.
Union Skills for Workplace Investigations
Have you ever been called, at the last minute, to the employer’s office to “represent” a member who is being accused of serious wrong-doings? Have you wondered what to do and how best to represent this person, particularly if you suspect that they may have broken a rule or two?
This hands-on course takes you to step by step, through a workplace investigations process. It starts with the first contact with the member through to the response to the investigation findings, with lots of practice in between. Through case studies and a variety of active exercises, you’ll practice interviewing the member, anticipating the investigator’s questions, preparing the member for meeting the investigator, taking good notes at the meeting, and working with the member to respond to the findings. The Resource Toolkit has additional information about investigations in different sectors, the use of surveillance, and other issues.
Basic Grievance Handling for Union Building (French)
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 practicing communication to assess whether a member’s rights have been violated. Participants should bring their Collective Agreements to the course.
The French application package is attached below.
The following course is offered Virtually, via Zoom:
Stewards 1: Making a Difference in the Workplace (Virtual)
This updated version of Stewards 1 includes a more detailed description and history of OPSEU/SEFPO’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/SEFPO, and understand the grievance process and their role in it. Stewards 1 is a prerequisite to Stewards 2 and must be completed before taking Stewards 2.
Participants should bring their collective agreements.
A-Zoom link will be provided to all participants in advance of the class.
Times:
Saturday June 25, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sunday June 26, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
Region 4 Weekend Educational – June 25-26, 2022 – Call Out – EN
Region 4 Weekend Educational – June 25-26, 2022 – Call Out – FR
Please Note: The deadline for completed applications has been extended to Friday May 27, 2022 @ 4:00 p.m.
Email: region4@opseu.org or fax: (613) 498-3088