AUPE President to open Kananaskis Labour School tomorrow
KANANASKIS COUNTRY – Alberta Union of Provincial Employees President Dan MacLennan will formally open the union’s fifth annual Labour Education School in Kananaskis tomorrow evening.
The important annual event, attended by more than 200 AUPE activists, stewards and staff members from every corner of Alberta, gets under way at the Delta Lodge at Kananaskis at 6 p.m. with opening remarks by MacLennan.
An orientation session follows dinner, and regular classes begin first thing Monday morning. Intensive advanced training runs until noon on Thursday, March 2. Media representatives are welcome to attend and cover any Labour Education School event.
The goal of the program, which AUPE developed in 2002, is to train a large number of members in the skills they need to make AUPE an effective representative for their co-workers at worksites across Alberta.
“We want to send seasoned AUPE activists back to their workplaces with the tools they need to do their union work effectively,” said AUPE Union Representative, Education, Greg Maruca, who organized the school.
There will be seven classes in this year’s school: one each of Union Counseling Training; Education Techniques and Processes for Union Activists; Advanced Unions Stewards Course; Lobbying Government and Changing Legislation, and Essential Skills Assessment Training. In addition, there will be two Union Leadership classes.
AUPE has trained 200 or more activists each year since 2002 at its Labour Education Schools, which are extremely popular with the union’s members. Previous schools have been held at the Jasper Park Lodge and the Banff Centre.
With more than 62,000 members province-wide, AUPE is Alberta’s largest union.
For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-232-8392 (cellular phone)
Greg Maruca, Union Representative, Education, 780-930-3358 or 780-982-1148 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)