Committees

The Union has several committees that work together to achieve specific goals. Below is a summary of the various ongoing committees. If you are interested in volunteering for any of the committees, please contact a member of the Executive Board.

Negotiating Committee
Grievance Committee
Education Committee
Labour/Management Committee
Health and Safety Committee
Social Committee
Anti-Privatization Committee
Respectful Workplace Committee

Negotiating Committee

This is a special committee established at least 6 months prior to the expiry of the Local Union’s collective agreement and automatically disbanded when a new collective agreement has been signed. The function of the committee is to prepare collective bargaining proposals and to negotiate a collective agreement.

The committee shall consist of the President, the Chief Shop Steward and 3 members, all elected at a membership meeting. The National Representative assigned to the Local Union shall be a non-voting member of the committee and shall be consulted at all stages from formulating proposals, through negotiations, to contract ratification by the membership.

Grievance Committee

This committee will:

Oversee the handling of all local grievances.
Receive copies of all grievances.
Prepare a report on the status of all grievances to be submitted to the Executive Board, the National Representative, and to the membership meeting.
When a grievance is not settled in the initial steps provided for in the collective agreement, this committee will decide whether or not the grievance should proceed to arbitration.
If the decision is to not proceed, the grievor(s) may appeal the decision to the Executive Board.

The committee members will be the Vice President, the Chief Shop Steward and one (1) steward. The committee shall appoint its secretary from among its members. The National Representative assigned to the Local Union shall be a non-voting member of the committee and shall be consulted at all stages.

Education Committee

This committee will:

Gather information about appropriate courses, the availability of courses, and make recommendations to the Local Union on whether or not members should be attending.
Assist delegates in the preparation of reports to the membership on seminars and conferences and maintain a reference file of these reports.
Cooperate with the National Union Development Department and Communications Branch of CUPE, and with the regional Education Representative, in implementing both the Local Union’s and CUPE’s policies in these fields.

The committee members will be the Vice President, one Member-at-Large as appointed by the President and one (1) member elected at the general meeting. The committee shall appoint its secretary from among its members.

Labour/Management Committee

This committee will:

Attend joint Labour/Management Committee meetings in order to develop and maintain a continuous effective channel of Labour-Management communication.
Prepare a report on the items discussed at the Labour/Management meetings to be submitted to the Executive Board and to the membership meeting.

The committee members will be the President, the Recording Secretary, the Chief Shop Steward and one Member-at-Large as appointed by the President The committee shall appoint its secretary from among its members.

Health and Safety Committee

This committee will:

Work to educate members on the importance of workplace health and safety.
Prepare and present reports to the regular membership meetings.
Organize an April 28^th Day of Mourning ceremony each year.
Participate on the Joint Worksite Health and Safety Committees (JWH&SC) at their workplace.
Ensure that the worker representatives on the JWH&SC meet separately from the employer to prepare for meetings with the employer.
Promote safe work procedures and environments so as to prevent illness and injury as a result of workplace factors.
Immediately bring to the attention of the employer any workplace hazard that has the potential to cause members’ illness or injury.
Work to eliminate all workplace hazards, be they physical, environmental, or social.

Members of this committee should be designated as a “Certified Worker Representative” in accordance with the legislation in their respective jurisdictions (provincial, federal).

The committee members will be the elected chairperson and 2 members. The committee shall appoint its secretary from among its members.

Anti-Privatization Committee

This committee will:

Monitor the employer for attempts to contract out or privatize CUPE jobs.
Raise awareness among members and the community about privatization and contracting out issues.
Acts to challenge employer to bring more work back in-house.
Develop publication materials for the media promoting the merits of public service.

Respectful Workplace Committee

This committee will:

Monitor for any behaviour that might deny individuals their dignity and respect.
Promote positive forms of conflict resolution in the workplace so as to encourage constructive conflict and discourage destructive conflict.
Help provide a work environment that upholds the principles of respect, inclusiveness, fairness and equality.