Dear Members,
As your Director, I believe education is an important component to ensure strong and effective local unions. It is essential to ensure activists who step up to represent fellow members have the education, confidence and skills to be successful.
Once again this spring, we are holding our week-long educational seminars at the Fern Resort. For this endeavor to be successful, I need your local’s support and your support to provide this educational experience to your local leadership, activists and membership. This is a great opportunity to strengthen our union, while also learning, connecting, and networking with fellow Steelworkers.
This year, District 6 will be hosting the pilot of the new course “Unionism on Turtle Island.” This course will deepen your understanding of our shared history as Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians and will look at the connections between Indigenous struggles and labour struggles, including USW’s experience with bargaining and representing Indigenous members. There will also be a discussion on what reconciliation means and how individuals, locals and our union, as a whole, can practice it. In addition, a local elder will be part of the course, leaving time to learn teachings from a local First Nation and to ask any questions participants might have about Indigenous cultures. There will be additional scholarship support for members attending this course.
The courses will take place the week of May 14-19, 2023 at the Fern Resort in Orillia, Ontario.
I am pleased to announce that the following courses will be offered this year:
Arbitration: Prepare and Present
Prerequisite: Participants must have completed Stewards in Action I, II & III
Note: Due to the intensity, high demand for this course and limited spots, participants will be required to submit additional information and only those members selected for the course will be confirmed to attend.
Unionism on Turtle Island
Bargaining to Win
Promoting Mental Health in the Workplace and in the Union
The school will commence with registration on Sunday, May 14 and will continue until Friday, May 19 at 12 PM. Registration is $1,800 per person (single occupancy) or $1,500 per person (double occupancy).
The registration fee includes all meals from Sunday evening until Friday at lunch. The registration fee must accompany a copy of the registration confirmation email.
To assist with costs, District 6 has 50 scholarships ($600 each) available on a first come first serve basis – 1 per unit. Participants from the Atlantic Provinces will be eligible for an enhanced scholarship due to travel costs.
One form must be filled out for each local union member attending. Please make cheque or money order payable to the United Steelworkers.
Please send printed copy of the registration confirmation email and registration fees to:
United Steelworkers
Marie Petigny – District 6 Spring School
800-234 Eglinton Ave East
Toronto ON M4P 1K7
Registration deadline is May 3, 2023. You can register online at usw.ca/d6springschool.
I anticipate that this will be a memorable week and encourage you to register your participant(s) early to secure their first choice in course selection.
Education is a powerful tool.
In Solidarity,
Myles Sullivan
District 6 Director
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