Clear language collective agreement
St. Christopher House is a Toronto community organization
whose staff
are represented by Local 3393 of the Canadian
Union of Public Employees
(CUPE). Members found it hard to
understand the collective agreement.
Even Human Resources
management had difficulty with the legalese in the
agreement,
which had been prepared by a labour lawyer over many years.
The union tried to make the language clearer by suggesting hundreds of changes to
the agreement. The employer would not consider the union's proposed changes, so the
union decided to budget its own funds to prepare a clear language version of the
contract. The clear language version has been "a godsend,"
says Nelson Lynch, Chief
Steward of CUPE 3393. "It has helped get members more involved in the union."
Previously, there was confusion about whether a grievance was called for. Now there are fewer complaints and grievances are more targeted.
The 1998 round of bargaining showed the benefit of having a clear language version.
"Previously we had to pull teeth to get bargaining proposals,"
says Lynch. "This time
we had to have three meetings to go through all the ideas, and the emphasis was on
establishing priorities."
The union was better prepared for negotiations, based on the
greater input from their members.
Lynch says, "We knew exactly where we stood, where to dig in our heels. They were
the best negotiations we've had."
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