HSA scholarships for 2006 Canadian Labour Congress WINTER SCHOOL
One of Canada's best labour schools, held at Harrison Hot Springs, in January and February 2006
The CLC Winter School offers a wide variety of week-long, quality labour orientated courses. Past HSA participants have rated the courses and the experience highly. The school offers an opportunity to meet people from other unions and workplaces across BC. To support HSA's ability to represent HSA members effectively and to help build a stronger union, members and/or stewards can apply to take courses chosen to meet these objectives.
HSA offers a number of scholarships, including the Ann Hallman Scholarship, which covers full reimbursement for wages, travel, registration, accommodation (twin) and dependant care.
HSA members can apply for an HSA scholarship by completing an application form (available for download below). Please note that HSA CLC Winter School Scholarships are popular, and more applications are usually received than can be accommodated. Application forms must be fully completed and received at HSA's office by 4 pm, December 7, 2005, to be considered.
All members are eligible for scholarships to attend the following courses:
Week One: January 22 - 27, 2006
Week Two: January 29 - February 3, 2006
Week Three: February 5 - 10, 2006
Week Four: February 12 - 17, 2006
Applications Deadline: December 7, 2005
Note: For information about scholarships offered by the BC Fed please see this bulletin.
For more information, contact Leila Lolua at the HSA office.
THE FOLLOWING COURSES ARE OPEN TO HSA MEMBERS AND STEWARDS:
1. Facing Management (Week One, Two, Three, and Four)
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, various workplace strategies for reorganization, quality of working life, team concepts, and a whole host of new terminology such as high performance worker systems and employee involvement.
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.
2. Parliamentary Procedure/Public Speaking (Week One and Four)
This course deals with how to run a union meeting; the duties of a chairperson and the rules of order; the principles and characteristics of effective speaking; how to organize and build a speech; the use of humour and gestures; how to be convincing and persuasive; the art of impromptu speaking; introductions and speeches of courtesy; and to provide first hand experience in speaking before a group. This course is excellent for local union officers and aspiring politicians.
3. Women in Leadership (Week One)
This course offers union women an opportunity to develop and enhance their leadership skills and knowledge in a variety of current and emerging labour issues. A major component of the course will cover communication and motivational skills that are important for women activists at all levels. Participants will leave the course ready to take an active role in their union.
4. Pensions - A Trade Union Perspective (Week Four)
Pensions are an important part of worker wage and benefits packages. Their future importance may increase as government commitments to social programs continue to decline. This course will review some basic areas such as pension objectives, the legal environment, and funding concepts. It will also cover topics that will assist you in evaluating your own pension arrangement either improve an existing plan or position you to know what needs to be done to establish one. The course will address pension issues from both a private and a public pension perspective. It is expected that the course will enable workers to make a valuable contribution to their union's pension policy or pension committees. Participation should bring any information pertaining to their pension plan to the course.
THE FOLLOWING COURSES HAVE PREREQUISITES:
5. Unions in the Community (Week Three)
Prerequisite: Open to HSA Labour Council Delegates
Unions are known for mobilizing around workplace issues such as basic working conditions, wages, and benefit levels, but not always for their work on community and social justice issues. An active union movement coordinates its efforts to strengthen the community and promotes member involvement in that process.
The course is designed to help Labour Councils and Local Unions understand, organize around, and participate in community social service issues.
Tools provided will help strengthen labour's community presence and develop new activists.
6. Health and Safety Level I (Week One and Three)
Prerequisite: Open to HSA OH&S Stewards
This introductory Occupational Health & Safety Course introduces new OH&S Committee members, worker representatives and activists to the basic principles of workplace health and safety and provides them with the critical tools and skills necessary to help prevent accidents, injuries and illnesses at their workplaces. Participants will learn about the OH&S Regulation, the Workers Compensation Act and have an opportunity to put theory into practise in various interactive exercises in the course.
7. Health and Safety Level II (Week Four)
Prerequisite: Basic OH&S training and two years OH&S Steward experience
This advanced OH&S course has been designed to allow participants to develop tools, resources and strategies to tackle more complex OH&S issues at their workplaces, discuss barriers facing joint OH&S committees and develop practical strategies and solutions to deal with them. They will also use sector specific case studies to practically apply the tools, resources and strategies necessary to solve OH&S problems. The course meets the criteria for the eight-hour annual educational leave that OH&S Committee members and worker representatives are entitled to under the Workers Compensation Act.