uncharted.ca

You're never going to get rid of hierarchies. It's part of the human psyche.

What bothers me is the lack of accountability to accompany the hierarchies.

Every level of hierarchy has to have accountability mechanisms in place, in order to counterbalance adverse behaviours.

This is what was lacking at my workplace, from at least 2002 onward.

Not one person, in any level of authority, took any responsibility for any problems that arose in the painting department.

By mid 2005 it was a horrendous free-for-all. Everybody was doing what they wanted, and certain types who shouldn't have had control had total control.

I didn't have a clue as to what was going on, and I was becoming so depressed and stressed out that I just didn't want to be there anymore.

What changed to produce such havoc?

[56) Finally, although in his decision the arbitrator referred to the importance of seniority, in my respectful view he paid no more than lip service to it. Seniority, of course, is vital to employees, a cornerstone of the collective bargaining relationship. A long-established principle of labour law is that seniority can only be affected or altered by express language in the agreement. Arbitrator Reville put it this way in Re United Electrical Workers, Local 512, and Tung-Sol of Canada Ltd. (1964), 15 L.A.C. 161 at 162:

Seniority is one of the most important and far-reaching benefits which the trade union has been able to secure for its members by virtue of the collective bargaining process. An employee’s seniority under the terms of a collective agreement gives rise to such important rights as relief from lay-off, right to recall to employment, vacations and vacation pay, and pension rights, to name only a few. It follows, therefore, that an employee’s seniority should only be affected by very clear language in the collective agreement concerned and that arbitrators should construe the collective agreement with the utmost strictness wherever it is contended that an employee’s seniority has been forfeited, truncated or abridged under the relevant sections of the collective agreement [emphasis added].

[57] In the light of this principle, Lakeport cannot rely on its general authority in the management rights clause to deprive seniority employees of the rights they have already attained. Express language, not just the general management rights clause, would be required to alter their seniority status. No such language can be found in this collective agreement.

“Seniority is one of the most important and far-reaching benefits which the trade union movement has been able to secure for its members by virtue of the collective bargaining process” (Re United Electrical Workers, Local 512, and Tung-Sol of Canada Ltd. (1964), 15 L.A.C. 161, at p. 162; see D. J. M. Brown and D. M. Beatty, Canadian Labour Arbitration (4th ed. (loose-leaf)), vol. 2, para. 6:0000, at p. 6-1).

Election Spending in Coquitlam

The candidate who raised the most money and spent the most in an unsuccessful bid to win election to the Coquitlam board of education in November was George Caldow.

The former teacher, principal and school district employee received $10,406.26 in contributions and spent slightly less than that on his campaign in Port Coquitlam, but he lost. His resume says he was the district's chief negotiator from 1985 until his retirement in 2000, sitting across the table from support staff and teachers. He also handled grievances, arbitration, staffing and discipline on behalf of the district -- yet his main campaign contributions came from unions. He received $6,000 from the Coquitlam CUPE local 561 and $600 from the Coquitlam Teachers' Association (CTA). He also received an endorsement from the Canadian Labour Congress ..........

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(emphasis hers)

Mr. Ginter is still actually employed by the Coquitlam School District, and has been during the entire time that he's also been the full-time President of CUPE 561,...

C. Leave of Absence for Union Office
1. An employee who is elected by the Local or selected by the Local to a full or part time position with Local
561 shall be granted leave of absence provided:

a) The leave is requested by the Local in writing.

b) The Local shall request in writing each year a renewal of such leave.

c) Adequate notice of the leave requested is given to permit the Board to arrange a suitable replacement.

d) It is understood the employee may return to his/her former position at any time following
completion of his/her term of office.

e) The employee who replaced the full-time officer shall be advised of d) above when offered the
position and upon the return of the full-time officer the employee being replaced shall be issued
layoff notice.

f) Upon receipt of a request for leave under this Article 6.3 C, the employee shall receive pay and
benefits as provided for in this Agreement. The Union shall reimburse the Board monthly for all
costs.

Worker unrest at Waterloo

Joe (S.) left his work with the university janitorial department one day before he was to be accepted as a fulltime member of the staff. He brought accusations against the union and the work conditions. In the following interview (Joe S.) explains his reasoning and his actions.

Chevron:

Why did you leave your position in the janitorial staff of the gym of this university?

(Joe S.):

I didn't think I could stand by any longer and watch what was being done to my fellow workers in the shop, and I was a person who could do something about it. All my fellow workers were very dependent upon their jobs, I needed mine less than they. The situation needed to be brought to the attention of the union here, and the other workers in the university

..............

Chevron :

Couldn't your complaints have been taken through the usual channels, your shop-steward to the union and settled, perhaps, in that way rather than you having to leave?

(Joe S.):

In a normal situation that would have been the case, but there are some peculiarities to this case. In my shop the shop-steward turned out to be the lead-hand as well. The lead-hand gets twentyfive cents an hour more than the other workers, tells the other workers what to do, and when to do it - he is well on his way to becoming management, a foreman.

I have never heard of such a thing happening, where the lead-hand who is to all intents -and purposes, management, is also your union representative. Of course, that is handy for management because then the workers have little hope for representation or any way to complain about anything.

Also, I was still within the university’s probation period - a time when the worker has little or no rights. I was not told about anything - and did not find out about the shop-steward until I had been working there for a couple of months. No one showed me the contract between CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) and the university until I had been there a long time. It seems to be university policy and union negligence keeping the workers in the dark about as much as possible.

Also, a problem in this particular case was that a large number of my complaints were directed towards Mike (B.) the lead-hand and shop-steward, So I obviously could not bring the complaint through him to the higher union officials.

.............

Supervises, trains, assigns, coordinates and monitors the work of the maintenance trades, uncertified trades; monitors and follows up on absenteeism; implements policies as directed.

Writes probation and trial reports and performance reviews for, and issues verbal and written reprimands to assigned staff; testifies at grievances and arbitration hearings as required.

C. The parties agree that casual employees who are terminated have access to the grievance procedure.