CUPE Equality has a new resource for locals advocating for healthy, safe and respectful workplaces. Stop harassment: A guide for CUPE locals is a 14-page kit for local union stewards, officers and other activists.
It covers:
- The definition of harassment.
- The effects of harassment.
- An overview of workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities.
- How the union can challenge harassment and support members.
- A checklist for anti-harassment policies and collective agreement language.
The pamphlet Speak out! Stop harassment is intended for members who have experienced or witnessed harassment, or who want to organize on the issue.
CUPE Equality has also produced an accompanying research paper, Workplace Harassment and Mental Injuries: Examining Root Causes. Often an incident of harassment is the tip of the iceberg, signalling an unhealthy workplace climate and wider power-relationship problems. This research paper documents the root causes of harassment and mental injury and also proposes bargaining goals such as minimum staffing, employment equity and no-contracting-out language.