About

Provincial Employment Strategy Committee is a program provided to CUPE 5430 members through the Collective Agreement in Article 23.

ARTICLE 23 – PROVINCIAL EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY COMMITTEE

23.01 Purpose

The purpose of the Provincial Employment Strategy Committee (hereinafter referred to as “the committee”), is to develop and implement educational strategies for training, retraining, and reemployment of employees to meet current and future human resource needs and to provide employment security. The employer agrees to deduct the employees’ share of the Employment Insurance rebate and match that deduction and forward to the committee those monies on a monthly basis.


23.02 Employment Strategy Committee Membership The committee shall be comprised of ten (10)cmembers: five (5) union appointees and five (5) employer(s) appointees or their alternates.


23.03 Committee Mandate

  1. Administration The committee will:
    • Establish program direction, action strategies, and policies and procedures;
    • Review and approve the payment of requests as appropriate;
    • Determine signing authorities for financial and operational needs;
    • Prepare and publish a monthly financial statement;
    • Contract an independent auditor to produce a yearly audited financial statement for the
      program;
    • Develop and maintain an adequate information system to support the committee’s needs;
    • Establish an appeals process related to funding requests. The committee shall provide an annual
      operations report including an annual operations statement, educational expenditures (program specific), and educational strategies implemented to meet current and future human resource needs, etc. to each employer and the local of the union.

  2. Programs

The committee shall establish and/or provide access to program(s) that consider the following, and may include but not be limited to: • Training and retraining – training courses, on the job training, salary continuance, double staff (dual incumbency training), etc.; • Tuition reimbursement – course tuition, registration, books, etc.; • Career counselling – assistance with job search, resume writing, and development of interview skills, etc.; • Relocation assistance – costs associated with moving personal effects to complete training or as a result of a layoff.

23.04 Representative Workforce

  1. Principle
    The principle of a representative workforce for Aboriginal workers is where Aboriginal people are employed in all classifications and at all levels in proportion to their representation in the working age population within the community or the provincial population. The parties will address proactive processes that support a representational workforce which shall include but not be limited to identifying employment opportunities, education and training, and preparing workplaces.

  2. Workforce Representation
    The parties agree to the principle of a representative workforce for Aboriginal workers. The parties agree to charge the Employment Strategy Committee with the responsibility to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate pro-active initiatives designed to ensure Aboriginal People are present in all occupations in their proportion to the provincial working population. Therefore, when hiring new employees, the Aboriginal representative principle shall be applied, providing there are qualified Aboriginal applicants for the vacancy.

  3. Workplace Preparation
    The parties agree to implement educational opportunities for all employees to deal with misconceptions and dispel myths about Aboriginal People. This will include enhanced orientation sessions for new employees to ensure a better understanding of respectful work practices to achieve a harassment free environment.

  4. In-Service Training
    The parties agree to facilitate educational opportunities which may include literacy training and career path counselling/planning.

  5. Elders
    At the request of the employee, an Elder will be present when dealing with issues affecting Aboriginal employees.

  6. Accommodation of Spiritual or Cultural Observances
    The parties agree to make every reasonable effort to accommodate an employee in order for them to attend or participate in spiritual or cultural observances required by faith or culture.

The Provincial Employment Strategy Committee is a committee made up of the 5 regions within CUPE 5430. Each Region is represented by an Employer and a CUPE Member.