November 2 - 7, 2025
** IMPORTANT NOTE **
If you are registering on behalf of members please ensure to provide the email address of the member who is attending for communication reasons.
Introduction to Stewarding must be completed prior to the start of the school if you are registering for Steward Learning Series Stream 2. If you have not completed this your registration will automatically be cancelled.
English
Classroom
CUPE/SCFP
On behalf of CUPE Union Education and CUPE BC, thank you for registering to be a part of our Fall 2025 Weeklong School being held in Nanaimo, BC from Sun, Nov 2nd - Fri, Nov 7th.
Hotel check-in and School Registration will open / start at 3:00 pm on Sunday, Nov 2nd.
Workshops will run from:
Mon - Thu 9:00 am to 4:30 pm (Pacific) with breaks during the day.
Friday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm (Pacific) will be review of the week and closing ceremony.
Introduction to Stewarding
Nov 3, 2025 (9:00am-4:30pm (Pacific)) (9 spaces available)
What does a CUPE steward do? If you are a new steward and want to learn how to help CUPE members solve workplace problems, this introductory workshop is for you! In this workshop, you will learn: • investigating workplace problems; • filing a grievance; • meeting with management; • dealing with workplace complaints. NOTE: Please bring a copy of your collective agreement to the workshop.
SLS - Notetaking
Nov 4, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (9 spaces available)
Why do I have to take notes? What kind of notes should I take? Are my notes private? Learn answers to important questions like these, and practice notetaking.
SLS - Grievance handling
Nov 4, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (9 spaces available)
Share tips and successful practices with other stewards, and learn strategies for handling difficult grievances. NOTE: Please bring your collective agreement and Steward Handbook to the workshop.
SLS - Representing members in front of management
Nov 5, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (9 spaces available)
This module equips stewards to be proactive when meeting with management. Learn tips for effective meetings, and build confidence by practicing meeting situations.
SLS - What stewards need to know about bargaining
Nov 5, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (9 spaces available)
Learn about the different steps in the bargaining process, the responsibilities of different activists throughout bargaining, and the role during bargaining.
SLS - Duty of fair representation
Nov 6, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (9 spaces available)
Learn about where stewards get their authority in the workplace, the duty of fair representation, and other labour laws that cover the workplace. NOTE: Please bring your Steward Handbook to the workshop.
SLS - Ally skills for stewards
Nov 6, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (9 spaces available)
Effective stewards are champions for human rights and equality. Explore what it means to be an ally, and ways that stewards can step up as allies in the workplace and the union.
Introduction to Stewarding MUST be completed prior to start of school to attend this stream of courses.
SLS - Handling discipline and discharge
Nov 3, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (3 spaces available)
Learn about key legal concepts and terms, and the role of stewards during an employer’s investigation, when discipline is given, and during grievance meetings. NOTE: Please bring your collective agreement and Steward Handbook to the workshop.
SLS - Conflict skills for stewards
Nov 3, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (3 spaces available)
Unresolved workplace conflict is stressful and weakens the union. Learn about the sources of workplace conflict and how to choose a response that fits the situation. Practice conflict communication skills that will help you resolve conflict at work and in the union.
SLS - Disability and ableism in the workplace
Nov 4, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (3 spaces available)
Explore what ableism is, how to recognize it, and ways to address it. Learn about how to make your workplace and union accessible to workers with visible and invisible disabilities.
SLS - Creating accommodation-friendly workplaces
Nov 4, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (3 spaces available)
Learn the legal framework for the duty to accommodate, what a good accommodation process and plan look like, and what to do if the employer is not willing to provide reasonable accommodation. NOTE: Please bring your Steward Handbook to the workshop.
SLS - What stewards need to know about arbitration
Nov 5, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (3 spaces available)
Although most grievances get settled, some go to arbitration. Learn about the arbitration process, terms, mediated settlements, and the role of the steward before and during arbitration. NOTE: Please bring your collective agreement to the workshop.
SLS - Mediating member-to-member conflict
Nov 5, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (3 spaces available)
Practice coaching members who are in conflict with other members, and work with a four-step approach to basic mediation.
SLS - Popular economics for stewards
Nov 6, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (3 spaces available)
We keep hearing that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. How do these trends impact our lives as workers and union members? What is needed from us as stewards in these times of growing economic inequality?
SLS - Understanding mental health
Nov 6, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (3 spaces available)
Explore the steward’s role in supporting and representing members dealing with mental health issues. Learn how to challenge stigma, and how to approach a conversation with a member about a possible mental health issue.
Women in Leadership (CLC)
November 3 (9:00am) - 6, 2025 (4:30pm) (13 spaces available)
This course offers an opportunity to develop and enhance participants’ leadership skills and knowledge around current and emerging labour issues. A major component of the course will cover communication and motivational skills that are important for women activists. Participants will explore ways of building on their skills and drawing on their experiences as they advance along the path to leadership and consider running for an elected position or supporting others who run. There will be a Panel Discussion & Round Table during the week. Who this course is for: Leaders who identify as women.
Campaigning to keep public services public
November 3 (9:00am) - 6, 2025 (4:30pm) (13 spaces available)
This new course will help members read the early signals of privatization in our communities and build our campaigning muscle to defend our work from being privatized. With a particular focus on school divisions and municipalities, we'll learn the steps of privatization that local governments, consultants, and corporations use, and the campaigning and bargaining tools we can use to prevent privatization efforts from succeeding by engaging our members and the general public. With the upcoming local government elections in 2026, attention will be paid to electoral campaign politics and how to assess candidates and their commitment to the public services that they make decisions about.
Strategic & Digital Communication
November 3 (9:00am) - 6, 2025 (4:30pm) (11 spaces available)
Develop a toolkit and learn applied skills to communicate strategically as a local, with a focus on digital tools and Action Network.
Anti-Harassment and Bystander Training
Nov 3, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (8 spaces available)
When we are disrespected in our union, or when harm, harassment, and discrimination happen we are unsafe. We would not accept it from our supervisors and managers at work, and it is not ok in our union space. When we witness others being harmed, oppressed or injured, we can intervene in safe and effective ways before, during, or after a harassing or violent situation. In this 3-hour workshop, learn and practice how to intervene.
Conflict Skills for Union Activists (OLS)
Nov 3, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (8 spaces available)
This workshop covers: - Understanding conflict as a regular part of human interaction - 5 responses to conflict and choosing the right response - Tips for preventing bias from getting in the way - Communication skills for informal conflict resolution (This workshop qualifies for a stamp in the SLS Passport for SLS: Conflict Skills for Stewards.)
LET - Essentials for Inclusive Unions
Nov 4, 2025 (9:00am-4:30pm (Pacific)) (8 spaces available)
As activists in our unions, we often ask why members are not more involved. This workshop asks a different question: Who is involved and who isn't and what might be some reasons why? How might our unconscious biases contribute to this? How can we represent members in a way that invites those on the margins to get involved and to see the union as place where they want to make a difference?
SLS - Solidarity with Indigenous workers
Nov 5, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (8 spaces available)
Learn about Canada’s history of colonialism, engage in some myth-busting, and explore ways you can build solidarity with Indigenous workers and support reconciliation in the workplace.
Global People Power: Building worker solidarity in a global economy
Nov 5, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (8 spaces available)
This workshop explains the role that capitalism plays in workers’ lives, and examines the links between local and global issues. We will explore how building solidarity with workers in other countries makes the labour movement stronger in Canada and around the world.
SLS - Disability and ableism in the workplace
Nov 6, 2025 (9:00am-12:00pm (Pacific)) (8 spaces available)
Explore what ableism is, how to recognize it, and ways to address it. Learn about how to make your workplace and union accessible to workers with visible and invisible disabilities.
SLS - Challenging racism in the workplace
Nov 6, 2025 (1:00pm-4:30pm (Pacific)) (8 spaces available)
This workshop covers what racism looks like in the workplace, and your role as a steward in challenging it.
Sep 26, 2025
Coast Bastion Inn
11 Bastion Street
Nanaimo, British Columbia
(map)
57
$1800
Your registration is not final until payment is received. Payment is due to us 1 week after registration is submitted. If payment is not received by then; the spot will be automatically cancelled and given to the next person on waitlist.
Please make cheques payable out to: Canadian Union of Public Employees.
DO NOT make cheques payable out to CUPE BC; these cannot be accepted and will be returned and this will delay the registration process & may result in loss of the spot.
Mail payment to: 6222 Willingdon Avenue, BURNABY, British Columbia V5H 0G3 - Attention: Education Dept / Fall 2025 Weeklong School
Reminder of costs:
Full Participant Cost: $1,800.00 - Single occupancy accommodation, all meals and workshops.
Local Participant Cost: $500.00 - Workshops and lunch and snacks only.
Partner/Spouse or 14+ Child: $700.00
Child 3-13 years: $300.00
Cheque is the only form of payment we are able to accept at this time.
There is a huge demand for our weeklong learning programs. Cancellation requests must be done prior to Oct 10th, 2025 after this date the registration fee is 100% non-refundable. To request a cancellation, please email Rachel Naidu, rnaidu@cupe.ca.
Thanks for your interest in CUPE’s Union Education Program and for your ongoing leadership in our union!
In response to the health concerns of our members and staff, CUPE has implemented a Scent-Free Policy at all of our workshops. Scented products such as hair spray, perfume and deodorant can trigger reactions such as respiratory distress and headaches. Facilitators and participants are asked to refrain from using scented products while attending our workshops and meetings. Thank you for your cooperation.
Rachel Naidu
rnaidu@cupe.ca