To the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union

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WELCOME To the Canadian Office and
Professional Employees Union Local 378

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Introduction

• Local 378 of the Canadian Office Professional
  Employees Union (COPE) represents around 14,000
  union members at public and private sector
  employers such as
• - Accenture Business Services - Fortis BC
• BC Hydro - Greyhound
• - BCAA - Hastings Entertainment
• BC Transit - ICBC
• Capilano University - Translink- Coast
  Mountain Bus Company - Yellow Pages
• And many more, including car rental companies,
  credit unions, taxi companies, union offices,
  insurance companies, housing societies, and
  others.

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Largest local of our Canadian union which
represents over 33,000 members.Affiliated
to the BC Federation of Labour, the Canadian
Labour Congress and District Labour Councils.
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Union Mandate

• Promote democratic and collective action to
  improve working conditions and the standard of
  living for workers
• Social Unionism means we strive to reconcile a
  community perspective with workplace interests
  what we wish for ourselves, we desire for all

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We Are the Union
Through the Labour Relations Board, COPE 378 is
certified as the sole and exclusive bargaining
agent to represent our members in all matters of
employment during the duration of the collective
agreement and during collective bargaining. As
an employee here, you are now a member of COPE
378. The union is not a third party. It is made
up its members, who democratically elect their
leaders from amongst their peers to direct the
affairs of the organization. We are all the
union.
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Why Unions?
A union represents and provides security in the
workplace, dignity on the job, and provides the
means to create a better life. This is achieved
through our collective strength. As the saying
goes united we stand, divided we fall.
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Collective Agreement
John P. Sanderson, in the book The Art of
Collective Bargaining, wrote In a general
sense, a collective agreement is a collection of
commitments in writing by an employer, a union,
and group of employees to do certain things and
not to do other certain things. More importantly,
it is a living record of the continuing
relationship between an employer, a union, and a
group of employees, binding on them all, to be
respected or reviled but, in any event, to govern
the relationship of the parties and to provide a
code of conduct for them to follow and enforce
against each other.
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Collective Bargaining

• Both sides, union and employer, enter the process
  with definite goals they want to accomplish.
• The contest comes from the fact that labour and
  management have clearly opposing interests, and
  different points of view.
• Each collective agreement has a specified term
  (usually 1, 2, or 3 years) and must be
  renegotiated each time it expires.
• A member of the full-time staff usually leads
  negotiations, assisted by a committee elected by,
  and from among, the Stewards and Executive
  Officers of your bargaining unit.

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Structure of COPE 378

• Executive Council
• Senior policy making body of the union. Council
  members are responsible for policy, the annual
  budget and all major financial decisions.
• 1 Executive Councilor per
• 80-100 members.
• Minimum 5 meetings/year.
• Bring forward suggestions
• from stewards and members on
• how the union can improve
• policies and member services.
• Act as Chief Job Stewards, recruiting and
  advising job stewards in their constituency.

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The Executive Board The Executive Board is made
up of 20 members. The board is the executive
management body of the union and meets monthly to
discuss administrative and operational issues.
The board reports to Council on policy and
financial matters.   The Executive Board
suggests ways the union can improve its policies
and services to members. Board members must
represent the interest of all members in their
respective workplaces. They also sit on the union
negotiating committee during bargaining and hold
workplace membership meetings.
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President The President assigns all staff
responsibilities, manages the union office,
chairs meetings and acts as the union's
representative to all outside organizations Tabl
e OfficersThe President, the three
Vice-presidents and Secretary Treasurer are the
Table Officers. They represent the interests of
all union members in discussions at Executive
Board and Council meetings on matters regarding
administration, policies and financial decisions
of the union.
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Staff
Union Representatives Union Reps are full-time
employees in the union office who provide
technical advice to stewards and Councilors and
teach new stewards how to handle complaints and
stage one grievances. Reps handle more complex
grievances, keep members up-to-date on grievance
status, take members' cases to arbitration and
act as coordinators of bargaining teams during
contract negotiations. Administrative Support
Staff The Administrative Support Staff are
responsible for ensuring membership, steward and
councilor address and phone lists are up-to-date,
recording information on grievance files,
advising members about meetings, ensuring that
union officers have appropriate forms, bulletins
and union booklets to perform their duties.
Professional and administrative support staff are
employed in the union office.
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Your Representatives
Vice President Union Rep Executive Board
Members
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Committees
Advisory Arbitration Review Audit Constitution By-laws Multicultural Education Electoral Environment Events Social Planning Health Safety Human Rights Pension Political Action Staff Relations Youth Action Womens
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If You Have a Problem
Anything to do with your employment wages,
promotions, overtimes, benefits, discipline, etc.
See your Job Steward. It is very important that
you enlist the stewards aid in processing your
complaint.
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Just Cause
Just cause is the proof the employer must produce
that discipline is warranted and necessary. The
onus or the burden of proof is on the employer to
prove a case not on the employee to prove s/he is
not guilty. It is only after the employer has
presented the proof that the employee is called
upon to disprove.
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Grievance Procedure
A grievance procedure ensures an orderly and
timely process for resolution of a problem in the
workplace. Members should read over the
grievance procedure and let their job steward
know if they have any questions.
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Seniority
The Union movement fought long and hard to
establish the principle of seniority. Seniority
is your length of continued service within a
bargaining unit as a member in good standing of
Local 378. Seniority plays an important role in
shift and holiday sign ups, as well as job
competitions.
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Dues
As a member of COPE Local 378, you will pay dues
at a rate of 1.5 of earnings. These dues are
the primary source of income for our
organization. They allow the union to run its
office, employ its Union Representatives,
Administrative Staff, and Elected Officials,
fight grievances, hire arbitrators, fight
strikes, and carry out all other activities that
are fundamental to our ability to protect and
serve the members of the union.
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Member Responsibilities

• Members Bill of Rights and
• Responsibilities
• Attend union meetings
• Abide by your Collective
• Agreement
• Do not make private
• deals with management
• Do not cross picket lines
• Support your fellow union members
• Abide by our Constitution and By-laws
• See your job steward if you have any questions or
  concerns