Environment Canada Deputy Minister highlights important role of bargaining agents

As you will recall, a message was sent to all employees in the summer of 2007 highlighting our commitment to effective labour management consultation and shared the labour management framework, approved by the Environment Canada Labour Management Consultative Committee (ECLMCC).

This report outlines the commitment by all parties, both labour and management, to improve consultations as a means to enhance the working conditions of all employees at Environment Canada.

To ensure effective communication and transparency between employees and managers, we would like to reiterate the importance and benefits of employee involvement in union work. The quality of our workplace is improved when our employees are well-informed and active in the work carried out by their bargaining agents.

We look to you, as a member of our management team, to ensure that interested employees are encouraged to participate in labour-management activities as union representatives. This is an opportunity for employees to develop skills such as leadership, communication and negotiation competencies, all of which help employees to grow professionally. The knowledge gained in serving as a union representative empowers employees to make confident decisions that will reflect positively in their work.

We look forward to the next Environment Canada Labour Management Consultation Committee meeting taking place on October 21, 2008. For more information please watch for updates on the Labour Management Intranet web pages to ensure that you stayed informed with issues of concern to our employees.

If you have specific questions regarding employee involvement in union work, please contact your Regional Director of Human Resources or Carole Lemay, Director, Labour Relations, Classification and Compensation at 819-934-7985.

Together we can continue to improve our work environment and nurture a healthy labour management relationship, to ensure our workplace draws and retains talented professionals.