Our Latest Digital General Membership Meeting Highlights Union Education!
As members gathered both in-person and online to join our digital general membership meeting, union education and training were the focus.
President Thomas Hesse and Secretary Treasurer Richelle Stewart were joined by our Director of Education, Training, and Engagement, Michelle Cahill, and several guest speakers to shed light on what union education is and the role it plays in our fight for justice and progress.
“Education is a big part of what shapes us,” remarked President Hesse as the meeting began. “And we remember it for the rest of our lives. Sometimes we’re educated in the ‘school of hard knocks,’ which has produced some of the most smart, insightful, and humorous people I have ever met.”
“Union education is labour education,” added Hesse. “It is participatory. It’s about getting workers talking about their experiences, and it is for every single person on this call.”
“The corporate world is full of bias, and a lot of education views the world from a corporate and conservative perspective,” Hesse continued. “Labour education views the world through a worker-based lens. It will motivate you, engage you, and it will put you in a position to fight the affordability crisis.”
President Hesse went on to briefly discuss the affordability crisis in general, our upcoming bargaining for a wide range of members at many different workplaces, and one venue for union education coming in the near future: the Ready, Set, Go! bargaining conference.
“Ready, Set, Go! is about exchanging information to be the best we can be in confronting the affordability crisis,” said Hesse. “And it is a crisis. People have bigger bills than they ever have, and it is cascading into their mental health.”
Finally, President Hesse discussed the situation with the Safeway Wage Reopener and the shocking ruling from the Court of King’s Bench on a proposed repeat of the arbitration process.
“I cannot give you a certainty about what will happen,” said Hesse. “What I am certain about is our fighting spirit.”
Secretary Treasurer Richelle Stewart and President Hesse talked about the importance of member education in tackling those kinds of fights and engaging our membership. Hesse and Stewart talked about how the education and training fund, paid for by employers, has provided for the incredible walking steward program that provides front-line support for our members.
And Stewart highlighted just how crucial that kind of engagement is to the Union. “We have to push hard,” said Stewart. “But we can’t push without locking arms together. We have to engage members in the workplace.”
With that, the floor went to UFCW Local 401’s new Director of Education, Training, and Engagement, Michelle Cahill, who reminisced about having taken her first shop steward training with none other than President Hesse.
Cahill then launched into a conversation with her three guest speakers about our union’s diverse educational offerings. Those offerings go far beyond shop steward training and include a wide range of courses through Local 401 and UFCW Canada’s national resource, webCampus.
“You can take our courses at no cost to you,” noted Cahill. “The knowledge that webCampus offers can be a source of strength and resilience not only in labour activism, but also in life more generally.”
Member Facilitator Kayla Anderson talked about how she got involved in her union’s education program by first taking the Representation and Leadership In Hard Times course.
“Secretary Treasurer Stewart said something that really stuck with me,” reflected Anderson. “She talked about the role that we all have to play in our union as members and how each of us can be leaders in our workplace.”
Anderson talked about how Secretary Treasurer Stewart noted that all members ever need to do to get more involved in their union is ask. So, that’s what she did.
Anderson called her Union Labour Relations Officer about ways to get more involved and was directed toward union education and facilitation.
Nate Leblanc-Fortin talked about the Leadership Academy as a transformative experience and one that enhanced his confidence and helped shape the person he is today.
Leblanc-Fortin discussed the course offerings through the Academy, including the Emotional Intelligence course that involved heavy, but profoundly worthwhile, personal work.
“The Leadership Academy is a commitment, and that’s the beauty of it,” said Leblanc-Fortin. “It builds your confidence. If you’re thinking about it: apply. It’s really worthwhile.”
Marv Funk, Director of Education and Training for UFCW Canada, rounded out the conversation with a dive into the diverse offerings on webCampus, including everything from Money Skills to Labour Studies, Effective Responses to Unreasonable Managers, Responding to Discrimination, and much more.
Funk urged listeners not to be intimidated by the “formal education” framework or to be over-concerned about getting a “good grade.” Funk noted that while grades matter to the educational institutions that webCampus partners with for the purpose of issuing diplomas, it’s perfectly acceptable to just take the courses with the objective of increasing your knowledge base and not to get credentials.
“If I’m an instructor in these courses, I’m not that concerned with your grades,” said Funk. “If you don’t ‘pass’ the course, so what? Many workers are just focused on learning what they need to know.”
All in all, the evening was another successful and inspiring digital general membership town hall for members of UFCW Local 401. We’re already looking forward to the next one!
Posted on: October 25,2024