Tuesday, November 1, 2022

The "Boys" Meet Gloria

And more than meet their match.

By Henk de Zoete, President, CLAC National Board

A peculiar thing happened early in 1990: an NDP government was elected in Ontario, but no one would admit to voting for them. We at CLAC looked at this unexpected turn of events with some trepidation since NDP governments weren’t known to be friends of union pluralism, i.e., unions outside of the established labour union movement.

As it turned out, the new government did a few positive things for organized labour that didn’t negatively affect us. One such measure could even be said to possibly have been inspired by CLAC’s emphasis on cooperative approaches to resolving labour-management disagreements and conflicts.

Within the Ministry of Labour, a Grievance Settlement Branch was soon established, staffed with grievance settlement officers (GSOs) experienced in dealing with and resolving grievances. This was a very useful and positive service that helped clear grievance backlogs and assisted parties in finding creative ways to resolve issues, without having to resort to a lengthy legal process. It helped de-escalate tensions in bargaining units and often resulted in member grievances being resolved in a more timely, satisfactory, and less anxiety-inducing way.

CLAC representatives used the services of a GSO on a regular basis, enhancing our representational effectiveness. One instance especially stands out in my mind. At one of the auto parts plants we represented, a change in management had resulted in a small backlog of grievances.

Gloria, the GSO appointed to help us, called me to arrange a meeting with our tough, all-male stewards committee. This was in the early 1990s when it was still fairly rare for women to assume leadership roles in these types of settings. But from our conversation, I quickly knew that she would be able to handle them.

When I told the stewards that the GSO appointed was a woman, they looked skeptical. I assured them that Gloria was more than qualified and capable to deal with our issues.

On the day of the meeting, one of the stewards decided to test Gloria’s mettle by telling an inappropriate joke. She remained coolly unperturbed and got down to the business at hand.

The first couple of grievances were quickly and competently resolved with her expert assistance, impressing the stewards. But the third issue wasn’t as easily dealt with, and we had a rather long wait for the company’s response.

Although the banter was cordial and easy, another steward again tried to throw Gloria off stride. This time she came back with a joke that put these “boys” in their places, resulting in flushed faces and awkward silence. Point made and scored!

After a long day, we had resolved all the outstanding issues and grievances, almost all of them in the union’s favour. The stewards now expressed their genuine admiration and respect for Gloria.

With handshakes, best wishes, and “We’ll ask for you when we need help again!” the meeting was over. The experience paved the way for the election of women members to this committee.

Women have come a long way in the workplace since the 1990s. They should never have to face such inappropriate behaviour or respond in kind to earn respect in the workplace. CLAC advocates for women’s respected inclusion and leadership in occupations and trades that have traditionally been slow to accept them as peers.

The "Boys" Meet Gloria

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