Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada

Events Calendar

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Next Executive Board Meeting

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

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Next General Membership Meeting

October 2011

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Elections

Stewards are the first line of Union representation in the workplace, and your local cannot function properly without them.

The commitment includes a monthly meeting and becoming familiar with the collective agreement and local procedures.

We are usually able to send stewards for training soon after their election. Executive Board members can be released from work when it is necessary.

These are the steward positions that are open:

Steward CTV Ltd. Agincourt – 2 positions

Steward Rogers DSQ – 2 positions

All of the stewards at each location represent all members at that location.

If you need a steward for a meeting with management, please follow the new Steward Representation Policy.

To ask a question about contract interpretation, or for any other reason, please contact any of the stewards listed for your location.

CTV Unit Steward Nomination Form

Rogers Unit Steward Nomination Form

Nomination forms must be completed and returned to the local office.

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Finance Committee

Looking for Volunteers

Our Finance Committee, headed by Treasurer Andrew Townley, is seeking your participation. If you would like to share your financial knowledge and opinions on how our local's defence fund should be invested, this is the committee for you!

For more information on the finance committee, check out article 8.3.1 in the current by-laws.

If you are interested in participating, please email us at mail@ceplocal723m.com

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Schedules

The provision of schedules, Article 14.1, for all employees in the bargaining unit is not an optional feature of the Collective Agreement. The CA requires that every employee be notified two Fridays prior to every work week what hours they will be working (start time – finish time) and when their days off are. This requirement underpins many of the rights implicit and explicit in a Collective Agreement. Some employees who work the same hours “week in” and “week out”, for example, Monday to Friday, 09:00-17:30 with a half hour exclusive meal and who have Saturday and Sunday off, have a schedule that doesn’t change very much. However, when they work overtime or miss a meal the employee, management and the union understand the implications. There are premiums and penalties that arise as payments to the employee for overtime, missed meal, work on a day off, turnaround, etc. Overtime work beyond the regular work day or regular work week is not only a right under the CA it is also the law of Canada. The parties to a Collective Agreement who are the Union and the Company are obliged to follow their obligations at law which include fulfilling obligations under the CA, that means schedules for all employees.

An Agreed Schedule, Article 14.1.1, is not an avoidance of a schedule. An agreed schedule is the product of consultation between a group of employees, engaged in the same production or operational area, and their supervisor. It is an equitable schedule arrangement that meets both the operational needs of the business and the requirements of the Collective Agreement. The difference between Article 14.1 and Article 14.1.1 is that an Agreed Schedule may not fit squarely into all of the requirements of Article 14. CP-24 employees have an agreed schedule which suits their needs. Agreed schedules must be approved by the Company and the Union before they can be implemented.

It is a fallacy for a manager and a employee to think that they are free to do as they please and ignore the terms of the Collective Agreement. This is because a private arrangement undermines the rights of all workers. However, within the frame work of the relationship between employees and their managers and between the bargaining unit and their employer there is always some flexibility.

CEP Local 723M insisted many weeks ago, in collective bargaining in fact, that schedules be posted for all employees. Schedules are not “optional” and the requirement to post schedules for all employees will not be waived by the Union.