This year, CLC Ontario Region’s Summer School will be held for two weeks (July 15 - 20 and July 22 - 27) at the CAW Centre in Port Elgin, Ontario. (Address: 115 Shipley Avenue, Port Elgin, ON N0H 2C0; Telephone: 1-800-265-3735). To register click here.. 

You can download a PDF version of this catalogue here.

Week 1:

Collective Bargaining

This course develops a solid understanding of the bargaining process and the factors that affect collective bargaining. The course provides opportunities to practice preparing for and negotiating parts of a collective agreement. The course covers a working knowledge of the laws and rules that structure the bargaining process. It will be of interest to new bargaining committee members and local union officers. An increased focus on bargaining simulation sets this course apart from our previous collective bargaining courses.

Labour Law (Private and Public) - Labour College Requirement

This course presents an overview of labour legislation and its impact on the strategies and actions of unions. Among the topics to be explored are: certification and dispute settlement procedures; unfair labour practices; the duty to bargain in good faith; strikes, lockouts and picketing; the duty of fair representation; management and union rights; and grievance arbitration law.

Parliamentary Procedures and Public Speaking

This is a two-part course. Parliamentary Procedure covers how to run a meeting effectively, the duties of a chairperson and secretary, and how the rules of order can provide a democratic and fair process to get the business of the union accomplished. Public Speaking covers how to speak persuasively to various groups and how different formats are used to speak at convention, debates, and impromptu gatherings.

Occupational Health and Safety Level 1

This flagship program is essential training for workers health & safety activists who want to exercise their legal rights & responsibilities fully. The program covers health & safety legislation for every jurisdiction in Canada as needed. It introduces the need for continuous bargaining, namely every conversation or meeting with the employer must be viewed as an opportunity to meet the union’s health and safety goals. Finally, the program debunks the myth of the careless worker and the latest expression of this myth, Behaviour Based Safety Programs, by focusing on a hazard-based approach to healthy and safe workplaces. Prerequisite to WHSC Instructor Training.

Transforming Conflict

This course will provide participants with a tool kit of strategies, tactics and skills to resolve specific disputes as well as conflict in the workplace. The course focuses on mastering coaching and communication skills, investigative techniques, documenting facts, utilizing frameworks for analyzing disputes, problem solving strategies, evaluating options and identifying techniques to deal with systemic conflict.

Women in Leadership

Women make the union strong! This course offers union women an opportunity to develop and enhance their leadership skills, and gives them the tools to make real change in the union, the workplace and the community. Course material will cover the key challenges facing working women today and how unions can make a difference. Participants will learn effective communications and campaigning strategies to help further women’s economic and social equality.

Workplace Insurance Level IV - Return to Work*

This 30 hour course is for those who work as or desire to work as Return to Work Specialists. The course focuses on the process of helping injured workers return to work as quickly and safely as possible, with dignity and job security. Topics include: identifying and overcoming barriers in the RTW process, determining essential duties, identifying and offering short term and long term suitable work, how to develop accommodation and job restructuring plans, worker obligations, disability related legal principles including the duty to accommodate, the employers’ obligation under legislation, contract language, RTW committees, Labour Market Re-entry services and RTW mediation. Graduates of this course will be prepared to immediately impact on re-employment at their individual workplaces. Their contributions can result in significant cost savings for the employer and the Board alike. Pre-requisites are Level I and II ODRT courses or equivalency.

*An additional fee of $190.00 applies to this course.

Young Workers in Action

This course is designed to give young union activists the skills they need to be effective in their workplace. The course will cover public speaking, how meetings are run, how to read your contract, grievance handling, and the basic collective bargaining process. This is also a great course for new or soon to be stewards.

Participants are requested to bring a copy of their collective agreement.

Week 2:

Advanced Collective Bargaining Simulation

This five day simulation is for those who have been elected or anticipate being on a bargaining committee in the near future.  From creating a bargaining position for the initial exchange to detailed language writing and proposals exchanges, there is something here for everyone.  Each bargaining team will be led by an experienced contract negotiator who will provide the guidance and insight necessary to ensure your are prepared to effectively represent your members at the bargaining table. With participants from all sectors, this is surely a course that will prepare you for what lies ahead.

Basic Collective Bargaining course is an asset.

Building a Diverse and Representative Labour Leadership

The world of work is changing rapidly.  But is the labour movement keeping pace?  Workers of colour and aboriginal workers are growing in numbers. Aboriginal youth are joining the workforce earlier than others and workers of colour make up the majority of new Canadians entering the workforce. For the labour movement to grow, labour leadership needs to understand and better reflect our changing workforce. This course is designed for aboriginal and/or workers of colour to advance their leadership skills in the following areas: governance & leadership; advancing equity at the bargaining table; campaign organizing; lobbying & communications; enhancing presentation skills; and addressing emerging issues affecting the labour movement.

Building Pension Activism

This course, offered through the Labour College of Canada, will help you understand your own pension plan, and the broader pension issues facing workers and retirees. Our goal is to train activists who can help union members with pensions and others without decent pensions. You are asked to bring your own pension plan documents so these can be used in the class discussions.

Facing Management

This course deals with the evolving corporate agenda and management styles that are used to implement new programs in the workplace. You will learn about management’s hard-line and soft-line approaches and various workplace strategies. This course is designed to teach a critical awareness of the latest management tactics so the union can protect and advance its agenda. We hope to better equip participants with some of the necessary skills to deal with management and win the hearts and minds of your membership at the same time.

Instructor Training

This course gives participants the skills, knowledge and background to participate in Adult Education. The course gives participants a background in understanding how adults learn and what type of techniques are most effective within an adult learning environment. It also provides practical presentation skills for use in everyday union life. This course is a prerequisite to facilitating trade union education within the CLC and affiliated unions.

Making the Link: Occupational Disease and the Workplace, Coroner’s Inquest

Making the Link Occupational Disease and the Workplace:

This program will outline the extent of the problem of occupational disease and its significance not only to workers but to the community as well.  The program will review an overview of various types of occupational disease workers experience and a discussion of control methods.  Participants will discuss the proper use of epidemiology and participants will be equipped with the ability to analyze epidemiological studies. Participants also discuss other methods they can use to make the link between occupational disease and the workplace.

Coroner’s Inquest:

This program begins with an overview of the Coroner System answering questions such as: Why an Inquest? When is an inquest called? Who can participate? Participants will be introduced to the Coroner’s Act and learn about the authority, duties and powers of the Coroner.  The various steps leading up to a coroner’s inquest will be explored along with the specific preparatory work necessary when representing a union or a family of the deceased.  The actual proceeding at an inquest will be reviewed followed by an actual mock inquest allowing participants to get familiar and comfortable with this type of legal proceeding.

Union Communications

This course focuses on a variety of tools used for union communications, both with members and the public at large. The course will cover traditional and new communication methods with a strong emphasis on the use of social media and web applications. The course will cover: message development, media interactions (press releases, media advisories, press conferences), newsletter design (both traditional and e-newsletters), basic photo editing, using facebook, twitter and other social networks for union outreach as well as basic information about how to get a website designed and hosted.  Participants are requested to bring a laptop to the course. Basic computer knowledge would be a great asset for the course. Participants are also encouraged to open facebook and twitter accounts prior to attending the course.

Workers’ Compensation Essentials*

This weeklong course covers rights, obligations, benefits, representations and duty to accommodate.

Participants examine the history and evolution of worker’s compensation law in Ontario and who is covered by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.  They will also examine statutory obligations of workers and employers, what injuries are considered work-related and legal tests that are applied by decision makers. Participants will gain hands on experience completing Board forms and examine early and safe return to work obligations.

Participants will also explore the benefits and services available and how to conduct themselves as injured worker representatives.  They will discuss concepts such as NEL, FEL, LOE, LMR, PPD and how the Board calculates benefits.  They will also examine the evolution of the current legislative and policy framework including Bills, 162, 165, 15 and 99. They will examine claim files and how to deal with physicians and Board staff.  The week concludes with a review of the legal framework for the duty to accommodate and how it operates in return to work situations.  Participants receive OFL-ODRT Level I & II certificates upon completion of the course.

*An additional fee of $190.00 applies to this course.