Our
Policies

Policy

Bullying &
Harassment

Every person, working under the umbrella of Ironworkers Local 97, has the right to live their lives and go to work without the threat of experiencing bullying and harassment. WorkSafeBC describes bullying and harassment as follows:

A person is bullied and harassed when someone takes an action that he or she knew or reasonably ought to have known would cause that worker to be humiliated or intimidated. Examples of this are verbal aggression or insults, calling someone derogatory names, harmful hazing or initiation practices, vandalizing personal belongings, and spreading malicious rumours. Sexual harassment can include discriminatory comments, behaviour, and touching. It may take the form of jokes, threats, comments about sex, or discriminatory remarks about someone’s gender.

This applies to in-person incidents, phone calls, texts, emails, and incidents on social media. Cyberbullying has grown in recent years, and laws have been made to protect those being bullied and harassed on this medium. Ironworkers Local 97 is committed to handling all complaints with due consideration and proper investigation.

As such, the following bullying and harassment policies have been created. The union believes in progressive discipline:

Strike 1: Conversation with Union Representative/Executive Committee, written warning, and fines/donations to a charity.

Strike 2: Conversation with Union Representative/Executive Committee and education through a bullying and harassment class of the union’s choosing. Member/Probationary Member is responsible to complete this education on their own time and at their own expense. Member/Probationary Member will not be eligible for dispatch until proof of class is shown to the union.

Strike 3: If Members/Probationary Members continue to exhibit bullying and harassing behaviour to this point, they will be charged and expelled from the union and will not be eligible to work through Ironworkers Local 97.

OR

If an incident is considered/investigated and found to be of an especially cruel or offensive nature, the Member/Probationary Member can and will be charged and expelled and will not be eligible to work through Ironworkers Local 97.

Any subsequent backlash to the Complainant, by any means, from the Harasser, crew members, or any friend of the Harasser will not be tolerated. This behaviour will, also, be investigated and dealt with by the same disciplinary Harassment Policy/Bylaw.

Any appeals will be dealt with as per the Constitution, Article XXVI, Section 14b: An appeal to the General Executive Board can be taken from any decision of the Executive Committee or jury within two (2) weeks after the decision has been rendered.

Events that take place AFTER an incident is reported:

• Every employer has an OH&S Harassment Policy that they follow. For the welfare of all our members, every incident must be taken seriously. All persons involved, which includes witnesses, must give separate statements, and a full investigation must be performed.
• The person completing the investigation may be a safety officer, HR personnel, or supervisor. The member’s representative, the Shop Steward, will be involved in any incident to ensure all rights and responsibilities, of every member, are being respected. If a Shop Steward is not available during interviews, another member, supervisor, or Union Representative should be present.
• The employer will have their options for resolution: an apology, review workplace policies, written warning, or termination.
• For some serious violations, Bullying and Harassment Training or Sexual Harassment Training, may be required to continue working through the company.
• The union must be made aware of all incidents to guarantee all investigations are completed fully and fairly. We will need a summary of the investigation, as well as outcomes for all involved. This will help us to track any behaviour issues of our members. All reports will be kept confidential and in a locked cabinet.