About CUPE

Phone: 604-940-8596

Fax: 604 940-8597

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is Canada’s largest union.

   With more than half a million members across Canada, CUPE represents workers in health care, education, municipalities, libraries, universities, social services, public utilities, transportation, emergency services and airlines.

   A strong and democratic union, CUPE is committed to improving the quality of life for workers in Canada. Women and men working together to form local unions built CUPE. They did so to have a stronger voice – a collective voice – in their workplace and in society as a whole.

   Together they have won the right to negotiate their wages and working conditions; to stop arbitrary action by employers; and to speak out without fear of reprisal.

   CUPE members are service-providers, white-collar workers, technicians, laborers, skilled trades people and professionals. More than half of CUPE members are women. About one-third are part-time workers

   CUPE is a modern, dynamic and sophisticated union with more than 70 offices across the country.

   Workers, united through CUPE, have the clout and expertise to deal with the growing complexities of our global economy.   (see www.cupe.ca)

2008

About CUPE

The local is you and your co-workers. It’s the employees from a specific employer or workplace.
In B.C., we have over 170 local unions of various sizes spread across the province. The smallest local has a half dozen members while the largest has almost 7,000 members. There are more than 2,650 CUPE locals across Canada. Nearly every community in the country has one or more CUPE locals.
Members decide for themselves how to run their local union. Locals set their own bargaining demands, work with the national representative to negotiate their collective agreement, handle grievances with employers, and decide what issues the members want to support.

What is a CUPE Local ?

Paul Moist

President

of CUPE National

Barry O’Neill

President

of CUPE BC

Colin Pawson

President

of CUPE Local 1091

Local unions

When a group of workers choose CUPE to represent them, they form their own CUPE local or join an existing one.
With more than 2,200 local unions, CUPE is a union that thrives on diversity. Some locals have members all in one workplace, while others span a region or province. Each local controls their own union business, guided by CUPE’s constitution.
Working with their CUPE staff rep, members determine their bargaining and workplace priorities. They elect an executive to lead their local union. They set their dues and decide how money is spent. Whatever the issue, members always have a say.
Members decide whether to accept the employer’s offer, or reject it and vote to strike. Most often CUPE’s clout helps members get good contracts without strikes.
But whenever a member or local is under attack, CUPE is there. Our massive resources and multi-million dollar strike and defence funds help members fight and win. Our successes send a clear message to employers and government that CUPE members will settle for nothing less than what they’re worth.

Local union executive

The “job” of all union leaders is to advance their members’ interests. Well-run union locals solve workplace problems and represent their members by negotiating collective agreements. They ensure that employers live up to contract commitments and legal responsibilities that affect members at work.

The local executive coordinates membership activities, providing members with information, advice, funds, knowledge and support to effectively deal with their workplace concerns.

Executive members play a key role in reaching out to involve all the members of the local, taking particular care to involve young workers, workers of colour and Aboriginal members, and members from other equity seeking groups.

They may also represent the local membership in broader community coalitions, at the district labour council and to the public.

Local President

The elected president is responsible for the local union’s administration, for diagnosing problems and for working out ways to deal with them. A president must communicate with all members and know how they feel about issues to effectively lead and represent the membership’s interests when dealing with the employer.

A president’s job includes: talking with members, chairing meetings, reporting on local union activities, assigning tasks and setting deadlines, sitting on committees, observing CUPE’s constitution and by-laws, and working with the CUPE representative and area office. As well, the president may serve as the local’s spokesperson at conventions or news conferences.

Vice-President

The elected vice-president performs duties delegated by the president and takes over the president’s responsibilities when the president is absent.

Recording Secretary

The elected recording secretary is responsible for the local’s record keeping and written communication. A recording secretary keeps members informed on issues of concern to the local and union activities. Duties include: maintain records and local’s files, take meeting minutes, ensure internal communication among the executive and members, handle external communication including forwarding contracts to CUPE National, and order office supplies.

Secretary-Treasurer

The elected secretary-treasurer is responsible for the local union’s money. The secretary-treasurer sees that the local’s spending priorities reflect the members’ goals. As the person responsible for the union’s finances, she or he develops the budget, ensures there is approval for all expenditures, prepares the necessary cheques and paperwork and keeps financial records up-to-date. The secretary-treasurer also ensure the per capita is paid to CUPE National in a timely manner.

Committees

A local union may have a number of active committees. Some are standing committees, usually with budgets, as laid out in the local’s by-laws. Others may be created ad-hoc as special needs arise. Members who serve on these committees may be elected or appointed, depending on the local union’s practice. In most cases, these committees will be most successful if they represent the diversity of the local’s membership. Examples of standing committees would be Health and Safety, Equality, Contracting Out or Political Action.

CUPE has handbooks and guides to assist local executive members understand their role and organize their work. For assistance, members can contact their CUPE Representative or the http://cupe.ca/www/UnionEducation Union Development Department.

Stewards

Stewards are local union members who help members solve problems and organize within the local. A steward’s key role is to be a vital link between the membership and the local’s elected leaders.

Some of a steward’s duties include: day to day contact with members, handling and investigating members’ complaints, filing grievances for contract violations, supporting members at grievance hearings, meeting with other stewards, documenting problems in the workplace and informing the executive.

Communicators

Member communicators take on the job of communicating with their co-workers on behalf of their local. Communicators are responsible for talking about and circulating (or collecting) any materials channeled through them by the local’s executive.

Communicators are not expected to have answers to members’ questions or handle grievances. They are a two-way channel for questions or answers and verbal or written union information flowing back-and-forth between the executive and members.

A network of communicators is a fast way to distribute information within the local. It guarantees that union information reaches and is read by every member – crucial if an important decision needs to be made.

CUPE LOCAL 1091

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Colin A. Pawson

President

Patti Price

1-st Vice President