Courses

SGEU's Core Courses

SGEU offers training courses for stewards and elected officers. Please check the calendar below for upcoming courses and contact information.

UNION LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (ULD) COURSES - Winter/Spring 2013

>View January - June 2013 ULD Course Schedule

>View SGEU Upcoming Events Calendar

COURSE SUMMARIES:

ULD 10: Introduction to Role of Steward (7 hours)
• Know more about unions, SGEU, and the role of steward within SGEU
• Practice skills in  problem-solving, grievance writing, and meeting with the employer
• Become familiar with how to read a collective agreement
• Gain confidence in your ability to be a steward

ULD 11: Stopping Harassment at Work (7 hours)
• Understand the steward’s role in fighting harassment
• Work to combat harassment by our personal behaviour and our role as a steward
• Believe that fighting harassment and creating respectful workplaces are core roles of a union
• Know where to find resources on harassment

ULD 12: Know Your Collective Agreement (7 hours or self-guided)
• Become familiar looking for information in your collective agreement
• Identify needed improvements for upcoming bargaining

ULD 20: Second-Level Steward Training (4 days)
Orientating New Members
• Be able to provide perform a basic new-member orientation
Contract Knowledge
• Learn key concepts for interpreting, understanding, and applying collective agreements
Contract Enforcement
• Practice informal problem-solving, and preparing and presenting a grievance at Step 1
Stewards and Equity
• Explore concepts such as duty of fair representation and racism in the context of the union’s support for representative workforce and increased recruitment of Aboriginal workers
Steward as Communicator: Getting off the Triangle
• Develop healthy approaches to communications and to inclusive member participation in the union.

ULD 30: Third-Level Steward Training (4 days)
Contract Enforcement II
• Practise using problem-solving skills to address workplace problems
Labour Law
• Increase understanding of the Trade Union Act, Public Service Essential Services Act, and other key laws affecting workers and unions
Effective Communications with Members
• Identify practices for effectively sharing union information and mobilizing members
Current SGEU Campaigns
 • Learn about current union campaigns and how to involve more members in them

ULD 35: Mentoring Stewards to Build the Union (3 days)

• Equip senior stewards to support the next wave of stewards

• Discuss how to initiate and plan a mentoring relationship

• Examine different learning styles and practise using a range of methods to instruct new stewards on different topics related to their role

• Give and receive crticism in a respectful, helpful way

ULD 40: Training for Bargaining Committees
• Support bargaining committees to achieve the best-possible contracts for members by gaining essential technical and strategic-planning skills and by identifying ways to involve and interest rank-and-file members in the bargaining process.
• (Training provided to committees by their Labour Relations Officer; length of training is flexible, depending on available time and resources)

ULD 60: Specialized training including Facilitator Training (4 days)
• Acquaint participants with the principles and practice of popular education in a union context
• Identify participants with the potential to move on to become member-facilitators of the ULD 10

Ombudsmun Training (3 days)
• Equip participants with the information, attitudes and skills needed to act effectively in an ombudsmun role at SGEU events and on an on-going basis
• Strengthen participants’ judgment in dealing with conflict and harassment situations
• Promote a thoughtful and respectful climate of discussion in SGEU as a necessary condition for solidarity among union members

ULD 70: Unionism on Turtle Island (4 days)
• Deepen our understanding of Aboriginal history and impacts of colonialism on Aboriginal people today
• Examine the continued efforts of Aboriginal people in Canada to resist colonization and to exercise their rights
• Explore the many connections between Aboriginal struggles and labour struggles in this country
• Build the capacity of Canadian unions and Aboriginal activists to work effectively together on common and connected struggles