SUPPORT, NOT POLITICAL POWER
Staff are hired to do necessary work. They bring continuity, organization and specialized skill, but employment does not give them political authority over the union.
Staff are hired to do necessary work. They bring continuity, organization and specialized skill, but employment does not give them political authority over the union.
The union is not against staff. It is for members, and every position must therefore be justified by what it does for members.
A large organization needs administration, record keeping, communications, scheduling, technical support and people who keep ordinary services running.
Those functions support democratic decisions. They do not replace the members and elected bodies that make them.
A worker’s authority comes from a job description, an assigned task or a contract. It does not come from access to the office, long service or closeness to elected leaders.
Staff carry out work within the Constitution, approved procedures, budget and lawful direction of the responsible elected body.
Staff do not vote in elected bodies, make political decisions or sit on elected committees and commissions unless they are themselves members and qualify in that capacity. Bargaining is governed by its own approved rules.
Advice may be influential, but the person giving advice does not become the person entitled to decide.
Every job should have a clear need, duties, cost and measurable result. The Executive and responsible Vice-President compare staff reports with spending on representation and member services.
The point is not to attack a person. It is to decide honestly whether members’ money is producing work members need.
The proposed model keeps permanent staffing focused mainly on administrative, technical and service support. Professional help is contracted for a defined matter and result when needed.
This protects continuity without building a separate institution whose own survival becomes more important than the members’ purpose.