2. By finding the aims and purposes of the United Steelworkers of America, determine what type of union it is. What is the purpose of the USWA development fund? What has it achieved? CASE DEMOCRACY AND FINANCES IN AN OPSEU LOCAL This case is about a typical local of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. Unions are nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) run by their members. All union officers are elected by the members in their workplace. The OPSEU presi- dent, executive board, and council members stand for election every two years. Job stewards are also elected from their work areas. At the heart of every union is the local union. The following information taken from the OPSEU website describes the purpose and functions of union locals. OPSEU WHERE YOU WORK-YOUR LOCAL The purpose of establishing Locals of the Union is to encourage participation of all Members in their Union. -The OPSEU Constitution Your OPSEU Local is your primary link to the union. It represents you where you work, and you elect its leaders-your stewards, your Local president and other offi- cers, your delegates to Convention and so on. It's your first step to getting involved. Locals have the autonomy and resources to do what they think is important for their members. You have a vote on those decisions. WHAT CAN LOCALS DO? • Participate in negotiating collective agreements • Process grievances to enforce the collective agreement • Establish joint labour-management committees to resolve Local or unit issues • Control their own money • Join the local Labour Council or other organizations • Organize social or community activities • Publish newsletters or websites • Elect delegates to the OPSEU Convention • Send members for union education and training • Monitor workplace health and safety • Adopt bylaws • Help craft union policy • Promote human rights and equity 164 Industrial Relations in Canada NEL OPSEU HAS THREE KINDS OF LOCALS: 1. Single unit Locals, where all members work for the same employer in the same location. 2. Multi-unit Locals, where all members work for the same employer but at different locations. 3. Composite Locals, where members work for more than one employer at one or more locations. HOW DO LOCALS WORK? For starters, democratically. Local elections normally take place at membership meetings, but in special cases, there may be polling stations. The front-line voice of the union in the workplace is the shop steward. Your Local (or your unit in a multi-unit or composite Local) decides how many shop stewards it needs, and how they should be distributed. You elect the steward for your work area. It takes a clear majority to win. From among your shop stewards, you elect your Local Executive Committee (LEC in OPSEU jargon). So every member of the LEC has already been elected as a steward. Your LEC must have a president and at least two other officers (vice- president, secretary, treas secretary-treasurer, chief steward etc.) In single unit Locals, all shop stewards are automatically on the LEC. Each unit in a multi-unit or composite Local elects one or more unit stewards from among their shop stewards to sit on the LEC, and the officers are elected from these unit stewards. Locals can define their structure in Local bylaws, which must conform to the union's Constitution. Article 29 of the Constitution governs Locals without their own bylaws. HOW ARE LOCALS FUNDED? • Local funds come from your union dues. A portion of your dues comes back to your Local. • OPSEU Locals get quarterly "rebates" from the union, depending on how many members have signed union cards. In January, April, July and October, each local gets a cheque. Composite Locals get a supple- ment to reflect their more complex structure. • Rebate levels are revised annually. • A typical OPSEU Local with 250 members would receive nearly $15,000 annually in operating funds. WHAT DO LOCALS SPEND THEIR MONEY ON? A wide variety of things, actually. In OPSEU, most member expenses are covered by the central union. This includes travel, accommodation, meals and lost wages for members attending Convention, education courses, bargaining sessions, grievance hearings, and the many other meetings and events that the union organizes or participates in cases, there may be polling stations. The front-line voice of the union in the workplace is the shop steward. Your Local (or your unit in a multi-unit or composite Local) decides how many shop stewards it needs, and how they should be distributed. You elect the steward for your work area. It takes a clear majority to win. From among your shop stewards, you elect your Local Executive Committee (LEC in OPSEU jargon). So every member of the LEC has already been elected as a steward. Your LEC must have a president and at least two other officers (vice- president, secretary, treasurer, secretary-treasurer, chief steward etc.) In single unit Locals, all shop stewards are automatically on the LEC. Each unit in a multi-unit or composite Local elects one or more unit stewards from among their shop stewards to sit on the LEC, and the officers are elected from these unit stewards. Locals can define their structure in Local bylaws, which must conform to the union's Constitution. Article 29 of the Constitution governs Locals without their own bylaws. HOW ARE LOCALS FUNDED? • Local funds come from your union dues. A portion of your dues comes back to your Local. • OPSEU Locals get quarterly "rebates" from the union, depending on how many members have signed union cards. In January, April, July and October, each local gets a cheque. Composite Locals get a supple- ment to reflect their more complex structure. • Rebate levels are revised annually. A typical OPSEU Local with 250 members would receive nearly $15,000 annually in operating funds. WHAT DO LOCALS SPEND THEIR MONEY ON? A wide variety of things, actually. In OPSEU, most member expenses are covered by the central union. This includes travel, accommodation, meals and lost wages for members attending Convention, education courses, bargaining sessions, grievance hearings, and the many other meetings and events that the union organizes or participates in NEL CHAPTER 5 The Union Perspective 165 That leaves Local funds for things like sending extra members as observers to Convention, child care or refreshments at meetings, publishing newsletters or other things the Local decides. Locals can also support the local food bank or a kids' soccer team or make other contributions to their community. Some Locals set up their own strike fund to augment strike pay from the central union. Others send fruit baskets to members in hospital. It's up to the Local to decide. Source:OPSEU. The Members"Owners' Manual. Used with permission. Retrieved from http://www.opseu .org/information/members-owners-manual. QUESTION 1. After reading the information provided above and visiting the OPSEU website, describe how democracy works at the local level in OPSEU. // REFERENCES 1. Adams, R. (2002). Implications of the International Human Rights Consensus for Canadian labour and management. Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, 1, pp. 119-139. 2. Ashby, S., & Hawking, C. J. (2009). Staley: The fight for a new American labor movement. Champlain: University of Illinois Press. 3. Bamber, G. J., Lansbury, R. D., & Wailes, N. (2004). International and compara- tive employment relations (4th edition), chapter 7. London: Sage. 4. Belzer, M., & Hurd, R. (1999). Government oversight, union democracy, and labor racketeering: Lessons from the Teamsters experience. Journal of Labor Research, 20(3), pp. 343-365. 5. British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union. (2008). Article 3: Objects. Constitution 2005 (p. 7). Retrieved 26 April 2011 from http://www .begeu.ca/sites/default/files/BCGEUConstitandbylaws2008_0.pdf 6. Bryson, A., Gomez, R., Gunderson, M., & Meltz, N. (2005). Youth-adult dif- ferences in the demand for unionization: Are American, British, and Canadian workers all that different? Journal of Labor Research, 26(1), pp. 155-167. 7. Burrows, Mae. (2001). Just transition: Moving to a green economy. Alternatives Journal, 27(1), pp. 29-32. 8. Campbell, S. M. R. (2013). The applicability of commitment models in a unionized professional workplace. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 21(4), pp. 488-503. 9. Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). (15 September 1996). Agreement between Chrysler Canada Ltd. and the CAW. Retrieved 10 May 2011 from http://206.191.16.137/eng/agreement/history/0193510a.pdf. Used with per- mission of CAW-Canada. 10. Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). (2009). Statement of principles: Social unionism. CAW constitution. Retrieved 27 April 2011 from http://www.caw.ca/ en/about-the-caw-policies-and-papersstatement-of-principles.htm 166 Industrial Relations in Canada NEL 2. By finding the aims and purposes of the United Steelworkers of America, determine what type of union it is. What is the purpose of the USWA development fund? What has it achieved? CASE DEMOCRACY AND FINANCES IN AN OPSEU LOCAL This case is about a typical local of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. Unions are nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) run by their members. All union officers are elected by the members in their workplace. The OPSEU presi- dent, executive board, and council members stand for election every two years. Job stewards are also elected from their work areas. At the heart of every union is the local union. The following information taken from the OPSEU website describes the purpose and functions of union locals. OPSEU WHERE YOU WORK-YOUR LOCAL The purpose of establishing Locals of the Union is to encourage participation of all Members in their Union. -The OPSEU Constitution Your OPSEU Local is your primary link to the union. It represents you where you work, and you elect its leaders-your stewards, your Local president and other offi- cers, your delegates to Convention and so on. It's your first step to getting involved. Locals have the autonomy and resources to do what they think is important for their members. You have a vote on those decisions. WHAT CAN LOCALS DO? • Participate in negotiating collective agreements • Process grievances to enforce the collective agreement • Establish joint labour-management committees to resolve Local or unit issues • Control their own money • Join the local Labour Council or other organizations • Organize social or community activities • Publish newsletters or websites • Elect delegates to the OPSEU Convention • Send members for union education and training • Monitor workplace health and safety • Adopt bylaws • Help craft union policy • Promote human rights and equity 164 Industrial Relations in Canada NEL OPSEU HAS THREE KINDS OF LOCALS: 1. Single unit Locals, where all members work for the same employer in the same location. 2. Multi-unit Locals, where all members work for the same employer but at different locations. 3. Composite Locals, where members work for more than one employer at one or more locations. HOW DO LOCALS WORK? For starters, democratically. Local elections normally take place at membership meetings, but in special cases, there may be polling stations. The front-line voice of the union in the workplace is the shop steward. Your Local (or your unit in a multi-unit or composite Local) decides how many shop stewards it needs, and how they should be distributed. You elect the steward for your work area. It takes a clear majority to win. From among your shop stewards, you elect your Local Executive Committee (LEC in OPSEU jargon). So every member of the LEC has already been elected as a steward. Your LEC must have a president and at least two other officers (vice- president, secretary, treas secretary-treasurer, chief steward etc.) In single unit Locals, all shop stewards are automatically on the LEC. Each unit in a multi-unit or composite Local elects one or more unit stewards from among their shop stewards to sit on the LEC, and the officers are elected from these unit stewards. Locals can define their structure in Local bylaws, which must conform to the union's Constitution. Article 29 of the Constitution governs Locals without their own bylaws. HOW ARE LOCALS FUNDED? • Local funds come from your union dues. A portion of your dues comes back to your Local. • OPSEU Locals get quarterly "rebates" from the union, depending on how many members have signed union cards. In January, April, July and October, each local gets a cheque. Composite Locals get a supple- ment to reflect their more complex structure. • Rebate levels are revised annually. • A typical OPSEU Local with 250 members would receive nearly $15,000 annually in operating funds. WHAT DO LOCALS SPEND THEIR MONEY ON? A wide variety of things, actually. In OPSEU, most member expenses are covered by the central union. This includes travel, accommodation, meals and lost wages for members attending Convention, education courses, bargaining sessions, grievance hearings, and the many other meetings and events that the union organizes or participates in cases, there may be polling stations. The front-line voice of the union in the workplace is the shop steward. Your Local (or your unit in a multi-unit or composite Local) decides how many shop stewards it needs, and how they should be distributed. You elect the steward for your work area. It takes a clear majority to win. From among your shop stewards, you elect your Local Executive Committee (LEC in OPSEU jargon). So every member of the LEC has already been elected as a steward. Your LEC must have a president and at least two other officers (vice- president, secretary, treasurer, secretary-treasurer, chief steward etc.) In single unit Locals, all shop stewards are automatically on the LEC. Each unit in a multi-unit or composite Local elects one or more unit stewards from among their shop stewards to sit on the LEC, and the officers are elected from these unit stewards. Locals can define their structure in Local bylaws, which must conform to the union's Constitution. Article 29 of the Constitution governs Locals without their own bylaws. HOW ARE LOCALS FUNDED? • Local funds come from your union dues. A portion of your dues comes back to your Local. • OPSEU Locals get quarterly "rebates" from the union, depending on how many members have signed union cards. In January, April, July and October, each local gets a cheque. Composite Locals get a supple- ment to reflect their more complex structure. • Rebate levels are revised annually. A typical OPSEU Local with 250 members would receive nearly $15,000 annually in operating funds. WHAT DO LOCALS SPEND THEIR MONEY ON? A wide variety of things, actually. In OPSEU, most member expenses are covered by the central union. This includes travel, accommodation, meals and lost wages for members attending Convention, education courses, bargaining sessions, grievance hearings, and the many other meetings and events that the union organizes or participates in NEL CHAPTER 5 The Union Perspective 165 That leaves Local funds for things like sending extra members as observers to Convention, child care or refreshments at meetings, publishing newsletters or other things the Local decides. Locals can also support the local food bank or a kids' soccer team or make other contributions to their community. Some Locals set up their own strike fund to augment strike pay from the central union. Others send fruit baskets to members in hospital. It's up to the Local to decide. Source:OPSEU. The Members"Owners' Manual. Used with permission. Retrieved from http://www.opseu .org/information/members-owners-manual. QUESTION 1. After reading the information provided above and visiting the OPSEU website, describe how democracy works at the local level in OPSEU. // REFERENCES 1. Adams, R. (2002). Implications of the International Human Rights Consensus for Canadian labour and management. Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, 1, pp. 119-139. 2. Ashby, S., & Hawking, C. J. (2009). Staley: The fight for a new American labor movement. Champlain: University of Illinois Press. 3. Bamber, G. J., Lansbury, R. D., & Wailes, N. (2004). International and compara- tive employment relations (4th edition), chapter 7. London: Sage. 4. Belzer, M., & Hurd, R. (1999). Government oversight, union democracy, and labor racketeering: Lessons from the Teamsters experience. Journal of Labor Research, 20(3), pp. 343-365. 5. British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union. (2008). Article 3: Objects. Constitution 2005 (p. 7). Retrieved 26 April 2011 from http://www .begeu.ca/sites/default/files/BCGEUConstitandbylaws2008_0.pdf 6. Bryson, A., Gomez, R., Gunderson, M., & Meltz, N. (2005). Youth-adult dif- ferences in the demand for unionization: Are American, British, and Canadian workers all that different? Journal of Labor Research, 26(1), pp. 155-167. 7. Burrows, Mae. (2001). Just transition: Moving to a green economy. Alternatives Journal, 27(1), pp. 29-32. 8. Campbell, S. M. R. (2013). The applicability of commitment models in a unionized professional workplace. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 21(4), pp. 488-503. 9. Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). (15 September 1996). Agreement between Chrysler Canada Ltd. and the CAW. Retrieved 10 May 2011 from http://206.191.16.137/eng/agreement/history/0193510a.pdf. Used with per- mission of CAW-Canada. 10. Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). (2009). Statement of principles: Social unionism. CAW constitution. Retrieved 27 April 2011 from http://www.caw.ca/ en/about-the-caw-policies-and-papersstatement-of-principles.htm 166 Industrial Relations in Canada NEL CASE DEMOCRACY AND FINANCES IN AN OPSEU LOCAL This case is about a typical local of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. Unions are nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) run by their members. All union officers are elected by the members in their workplace. The OPSEU presi- dent, executive board, and council members stand for election every two years. Job stewards are also elected from their work areas. At the heart of every union is the local union. The following information taken from the OPSEU website describes the purpose and functions of union locals. OPSEU WHERE YOU WORK-YOUR LOCAL The purpose of establishing Locals of the Union is to encourage participation of all Members in their Union. --The OPSEU Constitution Your OPSEU Local is your primary link to the union. It represents you where you work, and you elect its leaders-your stewards, your Local president and other offi- cers, your delegates to Convention and so on. It's your first step to getting involved. Locals have the autonomy and resources to do what they think is important for their members. You have a vote on those decisions. WHAT CAN LOCALS DO? • Participate in negotiating collective agreements • Process grievances to enforce the collective agreement • Establish joint labour-management committees to resolve Local or unit issues . Control their own money • Join the local Labour Council or other organizations • Organize social or community activities • Publish newsletters or websites • Elect delegates to the OPSEU Convention . Send members for union education and training • Monitor workplace health and safety • Adopt bylaws • Help craft union policy • Promote human rights and equity Industrial Relations in Canada NEL OPSEU HAS THREE KINDS OF LOCALS: 1. Single unit Locals, where all members work for the same employer in the same location. 2. Multi-unit Locals, where all members work for the same employer but at different locations. 3. Composite Locals, where members work for more than one employer at one or more locations HOW DO LOCALS WORK? For starters, democratically. Local elections normally take place at membership meetings, but in special cases, there may be polling stations. The front-line voice of the union in the workplace is the shop steward. Your Local (or your unit in a multi-unit or composite Local) decides how many shop stewards it needs, and how they should be distributed. You elect the steward for your work area. It takes a clear majority to win. From among your shop stewards, you elect your Local Executive Committee (LEC in OPSEU jargon). So every member of the LEC has already been elected as a steward. Your LEC must have a president and at least two other officers (vice- president, secretary, treasurer, secretary-treasurer , chief steward etc.) In single unit Locals, all shop stewards are automatically on the LEC. Each unit in a multi-unit or composite Local elects one or more unit stewards from among their shop stewards to sit on the LEC, and the officers are elected from these unit stewards. Locals can define their structure in Local bylaws, which must conform to the union's Constitution. Article 29 of the Constitution governs Locals without their own bylaws. HOW ARE LOCALS FUNDED? • Local funds come from your union dues. A portion of your dues comes back to your Local. • OPSEU Locals get quarterly "rebates" from the union, depending on how many members have signed union cards. In January, April, July and October, each local gets a cheque. Composite Locals get a supple- ment to reflect their more complex structure. • Rebate levels are revised annually. A typical OPSEU Local with 250 members would receive nearly $15,000 annually in operating funds. WHAT DO LOCALS SPEND THEIR MONEY ON? A wide variety of things, actually. In OPSEU, most member expenses are covered by the central union. This includes travel, accommodation, meals and lost wages for members attending Convention, education courses, bargaining sessions, grievance hearings, and the many other meetings and events that the union organizes or participates in NEL CHAPTER 5 The Union Perspective 165 OPSEU HAS THREE KINDS OF LOCALS: 1. Single unit Locals, where all members work for the same employer in the same location. 2. Multi-unit Locals, where all members work for the same employer but at different locations. 3. Composite Locals, where members work for more than one employer at one or more locations HOW DO LOCALS WORK? For starters, democratically. Local elections normally take place at membership meetings, but in special cases, there may be polling stations. The front-line voice of the union in the workplace is the shop steward. Your Local (or your unit in a multi-unit or composite Local) decides how many shop stewards it needs, and how they should be distributed. You elect the steward for your work area. It takes a clear majority to win. From among your shop stewards, you elect your Local Executive Committee (LEC in OPSEU jargon). So every member of the LEC has already been elected as a steward. Your LEC must have a president and at least two other officers (vice- president, secretary, treasurer, secretary-treasurer , chief steward etc.) In single unit Locals, all shop stewards are automatically on the LEC. Each unit in a multi-unit or composite Local elects one or more unit stewards from among their shop stewards to sit on the LEC, and the officers are elected from these unit stewards. Locals can define their structure in Local bylaws, which must conform to the union's Constitution. Article 29 of the Constitution governs Locals without their own bylaws. HOW ARE LOCALS FUNDED? • Local funds come from your union dues. A portion of your dues comes back to your Local. • OPSEU Locals get quarterly "rebates" from the union, depending on how many members have signed union cards. In January, April, July and October, each local gets a cheque. Composite Locals get a supple- ment to reflect their more complex structure. • Rebate levels are revised annually. A typical OPSEU Local with 250 members would receive nearly $15,000 annually in operating funds. WHAT DO LOCALS SPEND THEIR MONEY ON? A wide variety of things, actually. In OPSEU, most member expenses are covered by the central union. This includes travel, accommodation, meals and lost wages for members attending Convention, education courses, bargaining sessions, grievance hearings, and the many other meetings and events that the union organizes or participates in NEL CHAPTER 5 The Union Perspective 165 That leaves Local funds for things like sending extra members as observers to Convention, child care or refreshments at meetings, publishing newsletters or other things the Local decides. Locals can also support the local food bank or a kids' soccer team or make other contributions to their community. Some Locals set up their own strike fund to augment strike pay from the central union. Others send fruit baskets to members in hospital . It's up to the Local to decide. Source:OPSEU. The Members' Owners' Manual. Used with permission. Retrieved from http://www.opseu org/information/members-owners-manual. QUESTION 1. After reading the information provided above and visiting the OPSEU website, describe how democracy works at the local level in OPSEU.
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