Adopted by the National Executive Committee, May 4, 2002
1. Principles:
The Canadian Media Guild is committed to providing training and education that will assist its members in the workplace. The Guild believes that training and education is essential to the development of its members who wish to be involved in the union.
The Guild believes that having knowledgeable and skilled union representatives is critical to the effectiveness of the Guild and leads directly to improving working conditions for members. It can also lead to better relationships with its members and a better awareness of union activities, and improved industrial relations.
The Guild strongly encourages all union activists and elected representatives to participate in courses specifically related to, without limitation, contract enforcement, mobilization and member development, and the administration of their branch or local.
2. Goals and Objectives:
*The Guild will provide training and education in a variety of courses related to improving conditions in the workplace and the working lives of its members.
*It will consult regularly with its members to make sure that their training needs are being met.
*It will ensure that all members have equal opportunity to participate in union training, covering expenses and wage replacement when necessary.
*It will commit sufficient funding and staff resources to provide a relevant, high-quality training and education program.
*It will develop a network of trainers from within the membership whose skills will be regularly updated to provide a training infrastructure.
*It will promote workers’ rights through a variety of media including in-house courses, financial support for outside union training or conferences, the development of Guild-specific print materials and the acquisition and distribution of other resources such as books, videos, CD-ROMs and on-line material.
*It will bargain the right to leave for union training in all CMG collective agreements.
3. Implementation:
A National Training and Education Committee will be established by the National Executive Committee. This committee will develop and maintain a training and education program in consultation with the branches and consistent with the principles, goals and objectives as outlined. It should include a chair and a representative from each branch of the Guild.
The branches will be responsible for communicating their training and education needs to the National committee, and for promoting the programs to their members and encouraging member participation. A branch may also establish its own education and training committee to facilitate this role
4. Funding and Staffing:
The NEC will, in consultation with the branches, establish an annual budget for training and education.
Appropriate staff resources will be assigned to training development and initiatives.
5. General Conditions:
*Guild training should be available to members during normal working hours if possible, e.g. lunch time model. Wage replacement and expenses where necessary will be paid. This will facilitate equal access to the training and education program, and recognizes that union activities are a legitimate part of members’ working lives.
*Union training must be provided by qualified trainers. Trainers must design and conduct training that is consistent with Guild policies and any specific direction given by the National Training and Education Committee.
*Union training will be participatory in nature in order to empower members.
*Union training must be available in both official languages.
*Union training will be accessible to people with disabilities.
*Members who wish to participate in a union training course or conference should explain their reasons to their branch executive, outlining why the course interests them, what they hope to get out of it and how they expect to apply the principles learned. The branch executive will forward all applications to the National Training and Education Committee with their recommendations.
6. Joint Training:
*Any joint employer/union training must be approved by the National Executive Committee.
*Any joint training must reflect the role of the union in the workplace and place an emphasis on partnerships and/or co-management processes.
*Members taking part in joint training must be fully apprised of CMG values and principles.