The Shop Steward program supports members with the skills they need to be effective and confident. New stewards are introduced to their responsibilities and duties, learn about handling grievances and enforcing their collective agreement.
More advanced levels cover facing management, recognizing and handling discrimination, and using grievance handling to build solidarity and activism in the work site.
Leadership Development provides members with the skills and understanding to communicate, problem-solve, inspire and organize within their worksite, their local, the union, or the labour movement.
Members don’t have to be on their local executive, or hold a position in the union, to be a leader. Becoming a member facilitator, organizing actions and events in their local, and getting involved in politics or their community are all ways HEU members can learn and apply leadership skills.
HEU’s week-long Summer or Fall Schools are open to all members and are geared to both new and experienced activists.
OH&S Training is generally aimed at members who are OH&S stewards and shop stewards, or who are committed to getting involved. Training covers the role of the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, workplace regulations, and how to resolve health and safety issues in the workplace.
OH&S training includes workshops on workplace mental health and domestic violence at work, two issues that were introduced into the language in the 2019 Facilities sector collective agreement.
Specialized Training responds to needs in the locals, as well as member development to support HEU’s long-term goals.
Needs in the workplace could include workshops for newly certified locals, conflict resolution, or issues arising out of new collective agreement language.
Other workshops in this stream support HEU’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion mandate. These workshops help deepen knowledge within locals and support members to create effective responses and inclusive environments in the workplace. HEU also held its regular Equity Conference earlier this year.
Equity awareness is integrated throughout all the education streams, and is a particular focus of leadership development.