Duty to Accommodate

Provincial legislation and existing jurisprudence require employers and unions to provide accommodation short of undue hardship.

This course is designed to provide participants with an understanding of OPSEU’s obligation to accommodate members with disabilities and all other protected groups under the Human Rights Code.

Women and Unions

Strengthening Leadership

This course offers seasoned women activists a chance to analyse the advances and barriers to diverse women’s leadership in the union.  Through case studies of common problems women face in the workplace and union, the course explores issues of power, privilege, equity and effective action.  It offers the chance to develop practical strategies for strengthening diverse women’s leadership and building an inclusive union.  It will also focus on ways to strengthen women’s committees and gatherings in our locals and regions.

Women in Unions

Getting Involved

This course is for diverse women who are just getting involved in OPSEU, who want to know how things work and how they can make a difference in the union. Participants will bring their own experience of the workplace, community and union to develop an analysis of what's needed in their locals, and how they can contribute to building an inclusive union. Through hands-on activities, women will practise making their voices heard, and will develop strategies for supporting the involvement of other diverse women in the union.

Human Rights, Union Rights and Global Solidarity

This course is for OPSEU members who want to understand how global economics are affecting our workplaces and what activists worldwide are doing about it.  The course analyses how global forms of privilege and oppression operate in our workplaces and exposes the privatization of public jobs, services and resources in Ontario and globally.

Grievance Handling

This course is designed to examine the grievance process from a workplace organizing perspective.  Grievances are opportunities to build the union.  This hands-on course helps members analyze situations to decide whether a grievance is the best approach.  They will learn about different types of grievances and the remedies available through the grievance/arbitration process.  They will develop technical skills in writing, processing grievances and practice communication to assess whether a member’s rights have been violated.

Health and Safety – Level  One

This course is designed to equip members and stewards with the skills necessary to identify, monitor and attack the hazards of working life.  It will include topics such as hazard identification, investigation and reporting, establishing effective health and safety committees, workers’ rights under the law and how to apply them.

Health and Safety – Level  Two

This course is designed to provide stewards and Health and Safety Committee members with the knowledge necessary to identify hazards in the workplace.

Participants will learn to control hazards and assist in accident investigation, prioritize and strategize around health and safety problems.  This course also includes an overview of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.  Case studies, group exercises and audio visual presentations will be used in this course

Parliamentary Procedures

This course aims to clear up the confusion over procedures that interfere with orderly meetings, such as “points of order” and “amendments to amendments”.

Roberts Rules of Order will be covered in depth through discovery, learning and lecture.  Participants discuss how to prepare a meaningful agenda and how to handle problem situations.

Politics of Pensions: Pension Basics and Beyond

This course seeks to demystify the world of pensions, educate members about labour’s role in the development of pensions in Canada, increase members’ ability to influence public policy around pensions and increase member awareness of how bargaining can be used to improve pensions.

Employment Standards Act (ESA)

This course is designed so that participants will have an increased understanding of the Employment Standards Act (ESA), and how it is relevant to collective agreements and the union bargaining cycle.  They will also be given insight into the importance of knowing and mobilizing your members to ensure that their basic rights as workers are enforced.

New Stewards –
Part One

The course aims to support the new steward as part of the local leadership team.  It focuses on the roles of the steward, mapping the membership, navigating the structure of OPSEU, communicating effectively with members, and understanding our union’s struggle to challenge privatization.

Participants must have completed Part One prior to registering in Part Two.

New Stewards –
Part Two

Prerequisite: Part One

This course aims to strengthen the new steward’s skills to act effectively as part of the local leadership team.  It focuses on writing and filing a grievance and understanding the grievance procedure, facing management and mobilizing members around specific issues.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) – Level One

The first level is designed to provide an overview of the Workplace Safety and Insurance system.  Participants will review the statutory obligations of both workers and employers mandated by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.  Workers and employers will also learn their rights as provided by the legislation.  The course content includes other basic knowledge of the Workplace Safety and Insurance system.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) – Level Two

The second level is designed to provide participants with the knowledge of the benefits and service available.  This level is designed to build on the knowledge attained in Level One.  Benefits and services will be detailed, including changes as a result of legislation/bills. The course will take an indepth look at services and benefits available under the Act.

Labour History –
Part One

OPSEU members who participate in this course learn the exciting history of the Canadian labour movement and OPSEU’s role and accomplishments within it.  The course addresses the special issues and challenges of each era, including our own.  Participants analyze how the collective action of working people, against the resistance of employers and the state, has resulted in important social changes (such as medicare, unemployment insurance, maternity leave, health and safety legislation, etc.)  Special attention is given to the history of the labour movement’s response to diversity and the contributions of different racial and cultural groups to labour gains.

Participants must complete Part One prior to attending Part Two.

Labour History –
Part Two

Prerequisite:  Must have completed Part One

Part Two continues to delve  deeper into the labour movements history and our response to it.

Local Treasurers/Trustees Course

This course is aimed at Local Treasurers and Trustees who are either new to the role or experienced members who are seeking a “refresher course”.  The goal is to give the necessary tools and education to Local Treasurers and Trustees in order for them to fulfill their roles in the Local.  It will also draw on members’ experiences to solve problems occurring with the administration of Local funds.

Benefits (OPS)

This course is designed to provide members with an understanding of benefit entitlements.  Our benefit plans are increasingly at risk.  How can we fight the Employer’s attempts to take away from this important part of our financial package?  What can we do collectively to protect the gains we have made?  This course will provide you with the information you need to enhance and protect your benefits.

Local Newsletters

“A local with a newsletter is a local with a heart.  It cares about its members.”  This is a hands-on course providing he basic skills needed to put out a good local newsletter.  Participants will have a chance to learn and practice writing news reports and headlines, finding and using graphics and cartoons, use of layout and design tools and equipment.

Liquor Board Employees Division (LBED)

This course is open only to members working for the LCBO.  This course will assist members from the new Liquor Board Employees Division to find their way around OPSEU.  While the emphasis of the course is on grievance handling, it will help members and stewards to understand the role of the Labour Management Committee, the Health and Safety Committee and other roles within your new local.