Policies

How Members’ Money is Being Spent

The previous administration’s mismanagement of our member’s money brought to light gaps in policy that were abused. Sara has brought numerous motions to the board to close these gaps so that financial misuse wouldn’t occur again. The current administration did not support these safeguard measures. Purchasing and awarding service contracts are continuing to be done without following even the policies we have in place. Sara has asked for full disclosure of the substantial costs of our litigation involving the previous administration and our staff unions and has been denied.

If elected President, Sara will:

• Introduce policies to ensure members’ money is never misused again

• Restore transparency and accountability to the membership of all financial matters

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Hiring Practices

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We invest significant resources in training and educating our activists and staff. We spend years and thousands of dollars developing our members, yet when jobs become available, they are too often given to outsiders: friends or family of officers or administrators. Individuals who don't have years of intimate knowledge of the inner workings and struggles of locals.

This practice:

• Wastes talent from within the union

• Leads experienced members to leave for other labour organizations

• Brings in staff without the same knowledge or experience

Without knowledgeable, skilled staff, we cannot effectively advance members’ issues.

If elected, Sara will:

• Follow current hiring policies

• Respect staff collective agreements

• Prioritize union members for positions whenever possible

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Organize — The Lifeblood of Our Union

Organizing is not just internal, it is bringing non-unionized workers into the labour movement and giving them the benefits of a collective agreement.

When we organize:

• Dues revenue increases

• Bargaining power strengthens

• Sectors and divisions grow

• Worker rights expand

Sara has been fortunate to work with amazing staff organizers to grow her sector. Under her leadership, the Hospital Professionals Division grew from 13,000 to over 30,000 members. Members helped organizers meet the goal of unionizing previously unorganized hospital workers.

If elected, Sara will:

• Work with sector and division leadership and the organizing department

• Ensure organizers have the resources to grow every sector and division

• Support new units with experienced staff to negotiate strong collective agreements in a timely manner

• Ensure resources are spent on members priorities, such as organizing, campaigns, bargaining and enforcement of collective agreements.

Staff Relations

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Currently, the union is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting and settling collective agreement breaches with staff. These funds could instead be used for:

• Hiring additional staff to reduce workload

• Providing more education and training for members

• Supporting locals and sectors

Filing unfair labour practice complaints against our staff unions, and defending against complaints filed against them, creates the appearance of a union at war with its own staff, which is an embarrassment to the labour movement.

If elected, Sara will:

• Hire management staff who respect and follow staff collective agreements

• Ensure the best working conditions for staff, which leads to the best outcomes for members

What we want for our members, we will also ensure for our staff.

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Fighting Privatization and Precarious Work

We need to start working proactively and collaboratively on campaigns to fight the bigger issues impacting all our sectors and members. Privatization is eroding all our workplaces and the public services we deliver and depend on. Precarious work is negatively impacting our bargaining units, bargaining strength and the lives of our members.

If elected, Sara will:

Work with all levels of union leadership to develop long term strategies and develop sustainable campaigns to achieve results.