Activities for Session 2

Here are the activities for Session 2:

  • Activity #1: Participation: Think about your own experience of being a workshop participant
  • Activity #2: Facilitating small group discussions

Activity #1: Participation

Think about your own experience of being a participant in a workshop:

  1. Do you tend to participate a lot in discussions? If you do, why? If you don’t, why not?
  2. What kinds of workshop conditions make it easier for you to speak?
  3. What kinds of workshop conditions stop you from participating?
  4. Has a facilitator ever done something that has shifted your level of participation – in one way or the other? What happened?

Be prepared to report back on question #4 only.

Activity #2: Facilitating small group discussions

You will each lead a 3-minute discussion on one of the topics below. Rotate through the topics until everyone has had a chance to facilitate one discussion.

Facilitator: 

  • We’ve suggested an opening question and a follow-up question to get you started.
  • Practice the art of balancing and use the hierarchy of questions to facilitate a good discussion.

Participants: 

  • You might want to role-play some facilitation challenges, for example, not speaking so that the facilitator needs to draw you out. This gives the facilitator a chance to practice asking questions to encourage participation.
  • You might want to express views other than your own to create a debate.

Topic 1 – Member engagement

  • Facilitator’s opening question: How many people here would like to see more members engaged with the union?
  • Facilitator’s follow-up question: What do you local executives could do to help members feel engaged with the union?

Topic 2 – Unions and democracy 

  • Facilitator’s opening question: We are going to talk about unions and democracy. Let’s start by describing democracy. Can someone explain what democracy means to him or her?
  • Facilitator’s follow-up question: Do you think, in general, that our union lives up to this definition? Why?

Topic 3 – Diversity in the union

  • Facilitator’s opening question: To stay relevant, unions need to increase the number of Black, Indigineous, and racialized members in leadership positions. Do you agree with this statement? Why?
  • Facilitator’s follow-up question: What can CUPE locals do to be more representative of equity-seeking members?

Topic 4 – Union support for the NDP 

  • Facilitator’s opening question: CUPE provides financial assistance to the NDP. What are some of the reasons why we support the NDP?
  • Facilitator’s follow-up question: Should we continue this support? Why or why not?

Topic 5 – Communication with membership during collective bargaining 

  • Facilitator’s opening question: We’re going to talk about collective bargaining – what it feels like for our members during negotiations. What are some words to describe how you feel when you know the union is in negotiations?
  • Facilitator’s follow-up question: Given what everyone’s already said, what does the bargaining committee need to do to communicate with members during negotiations?