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 Powering the Labour Movement since 1987 |
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A project of the Toronto & York Region Labour Council in partnership with George Brown College.
[COPE 343]
Training for Adjustment Committee Representatives
Working with employers and government officials on an adjustment committee is very different from collective bargaining. Most local union activists aren't experienced in this area. After all it isn't every day that the employer announces that they're shutting down and laying everybody off.
Labour adjustment committees have an important role to play in helping laid-off members. Committees are responsible for complex tasks such as training needs assessments, working with government, community employment service providers and training institutions. Adjustment committees are normally responsible for setting up a workplace career counselling or "action" centre, training peer coordinators and counsellors, along with preparing financial and statistical reports for government agencies.
The Labour Education Centre was the first labour organization in Ontario to promote training for adjustment committee representatives. Today, training is a standard practice. LEC offers two types of training to help union representatives with the adjustment process.
Union Adjustment Committee Member Training
Paying the Price is a modularized course that deals with all aspects of the adjustment process from a labour perspective. We start with our module on "Early Warning Signs" and include information on how to set up a committee, conduct a training needs assessment, and operate an Action Centre. This comprehensive course along with the manual outlines the necessary steps to meet the ideal goals for adjustment:
That in their new jobs workers receive:
- Same or better pay and benefits
- Same or better working conditions, including health and safety
- Same or better opportunities for skills training and job mobility
- Unionized workplace
Because the course is taught in modules, it can easily be adapted to meet your local union's needs whether you are facing lay-offs right now or simply want to prepare for the possibility of future lay-offs.
Union committee member training provides an environment where you can prepare for the issues you are likely to encounter dealing with labour adjustment. You'll also learn how to establish the issues your local will bring to the joint labour/management committee.