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How to Join CWA Canada
 Determine whether there is interest in
organizing your workplace
How a Staff Representative Helps
Card
Sign Up and Campaign
Who Represents Us?
How Do We Achieve Our First Contract?
Do We Have to Strike to Get What We Want?
What the Union
Costs
You're Welcome
in our Union
"One of the things I
like about the Guild
is the fact that we have a contract that spells
out the rules
for both managers and Guild members. This means
we know what's expected from both sides so we have fewer conflicts
and a more civil workplace."
Determine whether there is interest in
organizing your workplace
Talk about it with a small group of trusted
colleagues to see whether there's interest in organizing.
Determine whether they share the same concerns you have.
Do they have other issues? Is there a common theme to these
concerns such as lack of respect and dignity, lack of voice
in the workplace, unfair treatment, favouritism, disparity
in wages and benefits? If so, contact a CWA Canada Staff
Representative, all of whom are listed in the website's Union
Directory and at the bottom of this page.
How a Staff Representative Helps
The CWA Canada Staff
Representative helps you evaluate the situation in your
workplace and determine whether to move forward with a campaign.
The Representative will assist you in identifying whether
a clear majority of employees in one or more departments
or company-wide are concerned about significant issues, the
potential for majority support and the ability to create
a strong committee of employees who are willing to help build
a union.
Card
Sign Up and Campaign
The CWA Canada Representative helps the committee to sign
a majority of your co-workers. Depending on your province,
this may result in the appropriate Labour Board granting
the union automatic status, which is called “automatic
certification,” and/or ordering a vote of all employees
to see if there’s majority support.
Once the Labour Board is satisfied of majority
support and has granted certification, the union has legal
status in your workplace.
It can take anywhere from weeks
to months to go through this process. It depends on the
number of employees in your workplace, provincial legislation
regarding card signing and voting periods and, of course,
your own determination.
Remember: It is illegal
for your employer to take action against you or your colleagues
for union activities.
Who Represents Us?
Once you and a majority of your co-workers
vote to join the union, you and your colleagues elect
an executive of volunteers from your workplace to run
your Local's affairs and to represent the Local at
the national level.
How Do We Achieve Our First Contract?
Once
your Local executive determines what the members
want in a contract, you elect a bargaining committee
which, with the help of the Staff Representative, negotiates
the first collective agreement with the company.
Your Local can achieve:
- Better pay and benefits
- Job security (you can't be fired unjustly)
- Improved working conditions
- A fair process for dealing with problems
- Protection against discrimination and
harassment at work
Do We Have to Strike to Get What We Want?
No. Nearly
all of CWA Canada's collective agreements are reached without
strike action. There can never be a strike unless you
and a majority of your co-workers vote to strike.
In the
rare event of a strike, CWA Canada's strike pay is among
the highest of any union.
What the Union
Costs
You and your colleagues decide how
much your union dues will be, subject to the union's
Constitution. Dues generally run about 1.5 per cent
of earnings and are tax deductible.
You're
Welcome in our Union
If you want the better work conditions
provided by a union, we want to help you. CWA Canada does
not choose who it wants to represent; you choose us. And
thousands of Canadian workers have. Just take a look through
our
Locals and you'll
see a wide variety of workplaces that are part of the
CWA Canada family. We are proud to be members of the
most democratic and one of Canada's oldest media unions.
Getting your workplace
organized can be done and it can be done fairly quickly.
We keep it all confidential. Contact a CWA Canada Staff
Representative to learn more.
Eastern Canada
David Esposti,
Sault Ste Marie, 705-257-1886
It's your right to join!
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