18 June 2007

Toronto Accord gives Canadian Region
new rights to develop stronger national union, repair relations within CWA

CWA/SCA Canada has taken another major step in achieving rights within the Communications Workers of America, says Director Arnold Amber.

The Toronto Accord, approved last week by the executive bodies of both the Communications Workers of America and CWA/SCA Canada, "will allow us to strengthen the national union, develop a healthier relationship with the CWA leadership and avoid a possible major conflict at the CWA Convention in Toronto next month," says Amber.

CWA's approval of the accord means that the international union's executive will support various initiatives concerning the Canadian union that are to be presented at the 2007 and 2008 conventions.

The major points of the Toronto Accord include:

1. The CWA/SCA Director can attend CWA Executive Board meetings starting this September with the issue of getting full voting rights being considered by 2009.
   
   
2. A resolution will be submitted by CWA/SCA Canada to the 2007 CWA Convention removing Canadian Locals from the jurisdiction of CWA Districts 1 and 7.
   
   
3. CWA/SCA Canada will submit amendments to the CWA Constitution in 2008 which will formalize the CWA Canadian Region in the Constitution. Currently there is a Memorandum of Agreement which established the Canadian Region but it has no place in the Constitution.
   
   
4. The recently established CWA Executive Board's Committee on developing the CWA as an international union will be co-chaired by the CWA/SCA Canada Director.

Amber says a proposed amendment to the CWA Constitution that would have given the CWA/SCA Director a voice and vote on the CWA Executive Board, was withdrawn by the Ottawa Local as part of the Toronto Accord.

The proposed amendment would have been debated at the convention in Toronto on July 16. "It was likely to spark a repeat of the divisive dispute" that erupted at last year's convention when a similar amendment was put forward, says Amber. On that occasion, the amendment was passed the first day, then "recalled" the second day following a raucous debate and dubious procedural rulings. The more than 25 Canadian delegates at the 2006 Convention left the floor after the "indefinite recall" was declared.

"The resolution this year that takes us out of Districts 1 and 7 is extremely important as it removes our Canadian Locals from membership in Districts running across the Canadian-United States border which, in effect, meant that Canadian issues and concerns were rarely, if ever, discussed," says Amber.

"Although we have friendly relations with CWA members in Districts 1 and 7," he explains, "we do not fit there in a structural or national sense. With thousands more members south of the border than in Canada, it is natural for the two districts to focus on American issues and concerns."

He notes that the new arrangement "mirrors what we have enjoyed" in The Newspaper Guild for the past 12 years: "our own Canadian boundaries within our international union."

The exit from Districts 1 and 7 should also mean more direct Canadian representation on some key CWA Committees, says Amber. "We have a lot to contribute to the CWA and also need to put our own national viewpoint forward. This will be a win-win for us and the CWA."

Equally important, he says, are the amendments to formalize the Canadian Region within the CWA Constitution. "At the moment, our Region has no constitutional standing and it is important that it does not continue to float out there without a constitutional anchor. We, and everyone else in the CWA, must always know and understand what our unique rights and responsibilities are."

The constitutional amendments could not be considered this year because the Toronto Accord missed the 60-day submission deadline.

Amber says the CWA's recently established International Committee, which he will co-chair as a result of the accord, needs to do a lot of work to ensure CWA structures are more inclusive of all its members, including those in Canada, Puerto Rico, London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The CWA/SCA committee that crafted the Toronto Accord in consultation with the union's executive (which granted its approval in a 10-1 vote) included Amber, the Canada West and East VPs, Scott Edmonds and Lois Kirkup, Lise Lareau and Chris Grogan.

The CWA committee at the meeting in Toronto was led by President Larry Cohen and included Chris Shelton, Vice-President of District 1; Linda Foley, TNG President; and Yvette Herrera, a senior CWA staff director.

For more information, contact Arnold Amber at 416-399-2632.