Monday, October 7, 2024

What Your Rep Can Do for You

Good labour relations begins with hiring good union representatives

By Henk de Zoete, National Board President

CLAC members are served by dedicated representatives who carry out the core functions of what makes it possible for us to be the kind of labour union we are—serving and advocating for members in all kinds of situations in very different and distinct workplaces. Not only are these workplaces different by size and sector, but they’re also subject to labour laws that differ from province to province, as well as federally. CLAC representatives operate in all of these different environments.

From its beginning, CLAC placed a heavy emphasis on hiring the right people to fill representative positions. Candidates go through a rigorous interview process followed by a year-long probationary period with regular monitoring and evaluation. This process is continually reviewed to make sure new representatives are fully able to handle their responsibilities.

Before I was hired in the late 1970s, I went through a preprobationary period that involved visiting each ofﬁce in Ontario and going to job sites to interact with members, all to allow senior representatives to see whether I would ﬁt in. Several interviews later, I was hired and took a position in the union’s Chatham, Ontario, ofﬁce, which was at that time CLAC’s busiest member centre.

It was also the site of CLAC’s ﬁrst strike—a nine-week struggle for wage parity in the auto-parts industry. On-the-job training and education were intense.

Though CLAC had no formal training program in place at that time, we junior representatives learned a lot from participating in heavy-duty discussions that took place at frequent and lengthy meetings. Senior staff made detailed presentations on technical aspects of the job: labour law, employment rights, grievance and arbitration procedures, labour board and court cases involving labour relations issues, etc.

Difﬁcult situations involving grievances and negotiations were brought forward for communal problem-solving. In a way, these meetings were the best education for representatives—both rookies and veterans—and they still occur today.

Some time was set aside for formal education sessions. One of these taught us how to deal with the frequent picket lines we encountered at construction job sites, which were set up by rival unions when one of our signatory contractors was awarded the contract instead of theirs.

I remember on one particular occasion, we trainees were taken to a live picket line by the senior representative to experience the disruptive heckling and thuggish behaviour of our rivals first-hand. This trial-by-fire education provided invaluable experience that served us and our members well.

Today, CLAC still hires top-notch candidates who have what it takes to handle the rough and tumble of labour relations. But their training has become more formal, structured, and integrated and is delivered by dedicated specialists.

Every up-to-date technical tool is available to new representatives for use in their training. This ensures that your representative is a highly trained professional able to handle complex and changing workplace realities.

Your representative is there to serve you and your fellow members and make your work-life the best it can be. To find out what your representative can do for you, be sure to share insights about your workplace with them. After all, they can’t solve problems that they don’t know about.

What Your Rep Can Do for You

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