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TCRC
Structure...
TCRC National Office
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference evolved from the former BLE,
through a Merger Agreement with our Teamsters Brothers and Sisters.
The Rail Traffic Controllers were part of this process having joined
the BLE about 14 years ago. Other crafts have joined the TCRC,
particularly within the last four years, expanding the membership to
over 10,000. The two largest membership additions include the TCRC-Maintenance
of Way Division members, and the Conductors Trainmen and Yardmen at
CP.
The TCRC National Office resides in Ottawa, where the National
Legislative Director works as well. The TCRC National Office and
National Executive Board consist of a President, Vice President,
Secretary Treasurer, one Recording Secretary and three Trustees. The
President, Vice President, and S&T are all elected by a rank and
file membership vote following the TCRC Convention. The remainder of
the Executive Board is elected at Convention by the Delegates. The
President and Vice President are full time officers, the remainder
of the Executive Board positions are not full time. Terms of office
are four years. The Executive Board meets quarterly throughout the
year, and once a year the Board meets with all of the General
Chairman and Provincial Legislative Board Chairmen to coordinate
activities and strategize for the upcoming year.
TCRC Divisions
TCRC Divisions are the equivalent of former UTU Locals. These
Divisions are located at most Rail Terminals throughout Canada. It
is possible to have more than one Division within a particular city,
usually to coincide with different Railroads. The Divisions which
are multi-craft contain more than one Local Committee of Adjustment,
so there are craft specific Local Chairman. Each Division elects a
President, Vice President, Secretary Treasurer, Alternate S&T, a
Chaplin, three Trustees, a Legislative Representative and a TCRC
Convention Delegate. In multi-craft Divisions there is also an
Alternate LR for each craft and an additional craft delegate to the
TCRC Convention. Each Local Committee of Adjustment elects a
Chairman and two Vice Local Chairs. The Division Legislative
Representative is a delegate to the Provincial Legislative Board,
the Local Chairmen are delegates to their respective General
Committee(s).
Craft autonomy within a multi-craft Division exists in a variety of
ways.
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Local Committee of Adjustment
Elections are such that a member must hold seniority in the
craft in order to run for a position, however only those
members working under the jurisdiction of that Local
Committee of Adjustment are eligible to vote. |
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Local working conditions
of a craft may not be revised or changed unless
authorized to do so by a majority of votes from members
holding seniority and working in the craft. If more than
one craft is involved, should one craft reject the issue
the matter remains unchanged. |
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Local Committee dues and expenses are decided by those members under the jurisdiction of that Local Committee of Adjustment. |
TCRC Provincial Legislative Boards
These Boards consist of the Division Legislative
Representative from each Division within the Province.
The Legislative Rules within the TCRC Bylaws govern the
establishment or abolishment, the operation,
jurisdiction, and other matters which apply to these
Boards. There are presently six Provincial Boards, and
these Boards exist in most Provinces where there are
members. (British Columbia does not presently have a
Provincial Board.) Each Board elects a Chairman, and
each member represented by PLB pays a PLB dues
assessment. The Board Chairman is also a member of the
National Legislative Board.
TCRC National Legislative Board
TCRC-NLB consists of the Chairmen from each Provincial
Board, as well as the National Legislative Director who
is Chairman of the NLB. The National Legislative
Director is elected at convention by the delegates.
Operation and jurisdiction of the NLB is governed by the
Legislative Rules within the TCRC Bylaws. There is an
NLB dues assessment paid by each member.
TCRC General Committees of Adjustment
There are presently ten General Committees within the
TCRC. General Committees represent members primarily
along craft lines at the major carriers. For example,
the Conductors Trainman and Yardman at CP Rail have one
GCA in Eastern Canada, and one GCA in Western Canada.
The Locomotive Engineers also have one Eastern GCA and
one Western GCA at CP. The Rail Traffic Controllers have
one General Committee that represents all RTC members in
Canada at all carriers. Presently at CN there are three
Locomotive Engineer General Committees, and should the
CN Conductors, Trainmen and Yardmen join the TCRC they
will also maintain General Committees at CN. There is
one General Committee at VIA Rail, and one General
Committee at Algoma Central Railway.
The jurisdiction, autonomy and authority of these
General Committees is governed by the General Committee
Rules within the TCRC Bylaws. These General Committees
have jurisdiction over Collective Agreements and other
related employment matters, have the ability to
formulate their own GCA Bylaws, establish GCA dues
levels, control their own finances, set their own
budgets, and are responsible to conduct periodic GCA
Meetings and elections, all consistent with the TCRC
Bylaws. The autonomy of the General Committees extends
to having the ability of purchasing property, and
merging their administration. For example, in 2004 the
two Western General Committees at CP joined their
offices together, reduced duplicated services and saved
sufficient money to allow them to purchase their own
office space instead of relying on the rental market to
dictate their expenses.
The financial autonomy of a General Committee means that
the memberships’ GCA dues are not controlled by someone
else. The funds paid to the General Committee are
managed by the GCA Secretary Treasurer. The S&T receives
the dues deductions from the employer, and is then
responsible to distribute that money properly and to pay
the bills of the General Committee while managing any
surplus. The TCRC Bylaws provide for sufficient
protection of members’ money through annual reports to
each Division as well as protection through bonding.
Teamsters Canada
The TCRC relationship with Teamsters Canada is the same
as every other Local Union within Teamsters Canada.
Assistance and support is provided through the various
functions of the Teamsters Canada National Office.
Services include but are not limited to; Legal
assistance when necessary, full time Government
Lobbyist, Communications and Public Affairs, Education
and Organizing. TCRC is also active is several of the
Teamsters Joint Councils. Additionally, the TCRC is
entitled to a number of delegates to Teamsters Canada
convention, as provided for in Section 2 of the By-Laws
of Teamsters Canada in the same manner as every other
affiliate. This provides 1 delegate for the first 1000
members and then 1 additional delegate for each
additional 750 members or major fraction thereof.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
The relationship with the IBT is clearly outlined in the
original Merger Agreement between the IBLE and IBT.
Numerous aspects related to membership, eligibility to
run for office and vote, charges and appeals, etc, are
specifically governed through the IBT Constitution.
Canadian autonomy is protected for items not covered
within the Merger Agreement, as the TCRC Bylaws shall
govern in the event of any inconsistency with the IBT
Constitution. The TCRC is entitled to delegates to the
IBT Convention on the basis of one delegate for the
first 1000 members and then 1 additional delegate for
each additional 750 members or major fraction thereof.
These TCRC delegates are elected at large in a mail
ballot election directly by the TCRC Membership.