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The
CEP National Education Program has enjoyed considerable success
since we started to set it up shortly after our merger. Over
3,000 members now attend courses each year, and the demand
is increasing.
Read the letter from the president
Unions
have always been actively involved in the education of their
members.
One
of the many advantages of our 1992 merger to form the Communications,
Energy and Paperworkers Union was that we could combine resources
and improve our education services. We started to build a
comprehensive, national education program.
The
program aims to:
Contact
your steward, a member of your local executive or your national
representative for more details.
The programs we offer include the following:
Who
should attend?
The
Steward 1 course is designed for new stewards.
If
you've been elected as a steward within the last couple
of years, and have not received much previous steward training,
this is the course for you.
What
is covered?
The
Steward 1 course lets new stewards know what they're supposed
to do, and how to do it.
First,
you explore the various aspects of the steward's job. You
understand the personal changes involved in taking on union
responsibility.
The
course then helps you develop the skills and confidence
you need to represent your fellow members. You develop a
better understanding of the collective agreement. You practice
grievance handling, from meeting with the aggrieved member
through presenting the union's case to management.
New
stewards on Steward 1 also review CEP's history and structure,
learn to recognize employer practices that promote divisions
among workers, and identify ways of building unity in the
workplace.
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Who
should attend?
Steward
2 is for experienced stewards.
If
you have been an active steward for several years, or if
you have already received some basic steward training, you
should seriously consider taking this course.
(If
you recently took Steward 1, don't be in too much of a hurry
to take Steward 2. Wait at least 6 months after Steward
1, so you can put your learning into practice.)
What
is covered?
It
builds on the knowledge and skills learned on Steward 1,
and introduces you to some additional aspects of your important
job.
As
an experienced steward on the Steward 2 course you improve
your ability to represent members, particularly in the grievance
process. You follow cases through all the stages, including
arbitration.
You
also improve your skills in communications, team-work and
public speaking.
An
important part of the course is for experienced stewards
to learn about important issues and changes we are currently
facing as workers and how we can respond as union activists.
You
learn a great deal from the experience of other participants,
as well as from the course leaders.
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Who
should attend?
Local
Officer 1 (formerly Leadership 1) is for new local executive
members, committee chairs and experienced stewards, or for
other members who will likely become executive members in
the near future.
This
course is for you if you were elected to the executive within
the last couple of years, if you serve as the chair of a
local committee or if you are likely to become an executive
member soon.
What
is covered?
Local
Officer 1 covers the basic knowledge and skills required
to fulfill a formal leadership role within the local.
On
Local Officer 1 you write job descriptions for the different
members of the local executive. By the end of the course,
you know what you are supposed to do, what each executive
member is supposed to do, and how to work together collectively
to ensure the local runs smoothly.
You
develop leadership skills -- how to plan and chair meetings,
how to motivate members, how to avoid stress and burn-out.
By
exchanging ideas and experiences with other participants,
you expand your own fund of knowledge and experience. You
return to your local with a better understanding of what
you can do to make your local more effective.
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Who
should attend?
Local
Officer 2 is for experienced local officers.
Take
this course if you have at least a couple of years' experience
as an executive member, and have attended other union training,
such as Local Officer 1
What
is covered?
Local
Officer 2 builds on knowledge and skills learned on Local
Officer 1.
The
experienced local executive members on this course teach
each other - how to motivate members, how to improve attendance
at meetings, how to set up committees.
You
learn how to run executive meetings, membership meetings,
and conventions.
You
discuss current problems the union is facing and how to
solve them through collective bargaining, political action
and sound planning.
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Who
should attend?
The
Financial Officers course is for Treasurers, Financial Secretaries,
Secretary-Treasurers and Trustees.
Everyone
who is responsible for any aspect of the local's finances
should attend this course.
What
is covered?
The
Financial Officer course covers all aspects of the local's
finances.
First,
you examine the roles and responsibilities of local financial
officers.
Then,
you learn how to keep the books, how to authorize expenses,
how to work with money - dealing with cash transactions,
handling cheques, banking.
Financial
officers learn how to budget and how to prepare reports.
Trustees learn how to make quarterly audits.
You
learn how to calculate the dues, how to maintain a membership
list, how to operate a roster.
Exercises
and sample calculations make the material easy to understand.
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Who
should attend?
Basic
Collective Bargaining is for negotiating committee members.
Sign
up for Basic Collective Bargaining if you have been elected
to represent your members in an upcoming round of negotiations.
What
is covered?
Basic
Collective Bargaining introduces you to the negotiations
process and helps you develop basic bargaining skills.
You
will see how legislation, political institutions and economic
circumstances influence collective bargaining.
Basic
Collective Bargaining introduces you to basic costing and
the dynamics of bargaining
Simulated
bargaining sessions allow you to practise what you have
learned.
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Who
should attend?
Union
Judo is for union leaders and activists from locals facing
workplace reorganization.
This
course is full of practical advice for local activists and
leaders in workplaces which management is reorganizing through
process reengineering, high velocity culture change, down-sizing,
team conCEPt, TQM, etc.
What
is covered?
Participants
share experiences about changes that are taking place, and
analyse the forces driving these changes.
The
course shows you how to represent your members in direct
confrontation (karate tactics) and how to use management's
momentum to bring them to your level (judo tactics).
You
will learn how to increase union involvement in decisions,
maintain the union's identity among the members and build
an independent capacity to address new issues and management
initiatives as they arise.
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CEP
is in the process of developing other courses, on topics
like public speaking, facing management, health and safety,
rules of order, fighting harassment, our rights as unionists,
my union (an introduction to CEP) and strike preparation.
Why
should I attend?
There
are many reasons to take advantage of union education.
CEP's
national education program helps you to understand your
role in the union. And you'll acquire knowledge and develop
skills and confidence that will be useful to you as a union
activist.
You'll
also meet union activists from other sectors and other locals.
It's an opportunity to learn from unionists with different
experiences, people who may have already solved problems
that you cannot find a solution to, people with another
approach.
In
return, you can help other course participants. Your experiences,
union or general, are a valuable resource you can share
on course with other activists like yourself.
Finally,
skills you learn at a union course are useful in your every
day life as a worker, family member and citizen. For example,
the listening and problem solving skills you acquire on
the Steward 1 course can be applied in many areas of life,
as well as when you are helping a fellow member with a grievance.
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Funding
The
CEP national education program is being developed by the
national union. It pays for developing courses, producing
support materials such as videos and manuals, training staff
course leaders, and providing staff to lead the courses.
Your
local pays the cost for you to attend a CEP course.
Local
policy varies on what expenses are covered, how payment
is made, how much is paid and who is eligible. Contact your
steward, a member of your local executive or your national
representative for more details.
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