Harassment Committee

Harassment Issues

Harassment in the workplace is a perceived or real power that undermines the dignity or self-esteem of any individual, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.

As its members’ advocate, the UTE created a National Harassment Committee in June 1995 to promote and work towards a harassment-free workplace.

The Committee is comprised of two Executive Council members, a person elected by the Presidents’ Conference and a Labour Relations Officer acting as technical advisor.

The UTE Harassment Committee has two over-arching goals; to document factual workplace incidents and to raise the profile of the issue throughout the union.

Information gathered by the Committee included: The number of harassment cases (both formal and informal); how or if the case was resolved; and the time frame involved for resolution of the case.

This information was valuable in presenting UTE's position with the employer during consultation on a new Agency Harassment Policy. The UTE's participation and impact on these working groups was significant. The employer and the UTE presented the resulting harassment awareness sessions, developed by the joint national working group, to employees across the country.

Confidentiality is absolutely critical in dealing with instances of harassment. Members can be assured that all information gathered by the UTE is handled in the strictest confidence.

We also attempt to ‘’practice what we preach’’. Accordingly, the Committee developed an internal Harassment Policy for the UTE that promotes a zero-tolerance level of harassment in the union’s operations and activities. The policy was approved by the National Executive Council in March 1997 and distributed to all UTE Locals. Members can obtain a copy of this document from their Local contact or from our Web site.

Other initiatives undertaken by the Committee include:

• Distribution of a survey on harassment to all Locals.
• Presentation of gathered information during consultation with the employer on a new Agency Harassment Policy.
• Holding of workshops on the issue at Presidents’ Conferences.
• Participation by the Committee’s two Executive Council members on two of the Agency union-management working groups - one dealing with the development of the Agency policy and guidelines and the second on the Workplace Enhancement Plan (involving such concrete measures as prevention, issue education and staff training).
• The development of a ‘Fact Sheet’ - available from the UTE National Office - for use by local UTE representatives when dealing with harassment cases.
• Development of a training course on Investigation of Harassment complaints.
• Conception of a data bank.

Each UTE member is entitled to respect and dignity. Your union is dedicated to this end.

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