Ontario’s Eastern District adds new participants and new training

Local Presidents have traditionally been the only participants at Ontario District Conferences, but the Eastern District opened this year’s Conference to all local executive members. The conference also made use of CEIU’s new suite of training courses, choosing to offer the Local Administration course. Both changes were judged a success.

District President Barb Irish widened participation at the conference both to bring in local leaders who were new to their union roles and to broaden participation beyond that of local presidents to the entire local executive team. Barb’s initiative was appreciated by participants and may be adopted at future conferences.

The Local Administration training was carried out by CEIU National Representative Trinette deWijk. The course shows local leaders how to operate their local effectively and is valuable for new and experienced leaders alike. According to Peterborough Local President Linda Vizza, the training was well received by participants: “It was focused and provided great group dynamics that led to a lot of valuable discussion – we can’t thank Trinette enough.”

Participants also heard from NVP’s Colleen Fagon and Val Fargie on the subject of the duty to accommodate.

The new set of CEIU courses offers training on Facing Management, Grievance Handling, Health and Safety, Human Rights, Disability Insurance and Local Administration. They are available in every region of the country and interested members are asked to contact the CEIU Regional Office responsible for their local.

National President Jeannette Meunier-McKay praised the innovation shown by the Eastern Conference, saying “The conference organizers have done great work. Our union needs strong locals and without solid training our local leaders cannot act with the knowledge and confidence they need. The new courses are critical to our development and I thank the Eastern District for bringing this training to their members.”