In order to ensure that certified members on joint committees
remain accountable and responsible to the local union and the members they
represent the following policy has been developed by the OPSEU's Board of
Directors. It is based on the principle that the local union is the basic
building block of our union, and that it is the elected officials of the local
union that have been empowered to represent the interest of its members vis a
vis the employer:
- Certified members to the joint health and safety committee must be
appointed by the local union executive and are directly responsible and
accountable to the local executive and serve at the discretion of the local
executive.
- All certified members are required to undergo political orientation by
completing OPSEU's course on health and safety.
- Certified members will be appointed for a set term of office determined by
the local executive. However, the local executive may remove any certified
members who has not satisfactorily represented the health and safety
interest of the members.
- Worker certification instructors must be selected by the union and undergo
union orientation in health and safety by completing OPSEU's BPL course on
health and safety.
These measures have become more and more necessary due to the
shift to bipartite training development and the increase in lax legal
enforcement in health and safety. While employers promote the popular myth that
health and safety is non-adversarial and based on partnership, in reality
workers and unions have no more say in health and safety decision making then
they did at the turn of the century. The employer objective is to disarm our
representatives by viewing them as safety technicians who are not first and
foremost local union officials who are representative and accountable to their
members.
Health and Safety Index
