Every year the CUPE Alberta Division hosts a Union Agreement Conference where members from every occupational group come together to discuss sectoral concerns and objectives. I was asked to present a 1.5 hour plenary workshop on Plain Language to all of our delegates.

The workshop I put together included watching the video Clear Writer's Hit Squad as well as a small group exercise giving participants a chance to actually write some companion language to selected collective agreement provisions. I used CUPE 3393's document as the model for the exercise (see the Success Story on pages 10-11).

The workshop was a huge success! All of the participants greatly enjoyed the opportunity to try their hand at writing in a plain language style. They were impressed with the CUPE 3393 document. That example has inspired a number of our locals in Alberta to try to change their style of writing.