Ontario Union CEP Local 2003 Financial Explanation.

First of all we make a PerCapita payment to the CEP National Union of about 54% of the dues we collect which goes to cover a variety of services that are provided to you as a CEP Union member. The most important of these services would be the provision of National Union Representatives that your Stewards work with to handle grievances and issues at the workplace. Others would include the Union Strike Fund so that members who need to strike will have access to some money during that period. CEP has one of the highest strike pays in the industry. Part of the money goes to fund the education courses that are offered. Some the money goes to an Organizing Fund so that more people can have the benefits that CEP offers. The more members that CEP has, the more the costs associates with running the Union are reduced. Increased membership means the Union is less expensive to operate. Therefore, there is more money left over to fight bigger issues and help members in new ways.
From the leftover 46% the Local Union uses the money in many different ways. Some of the money goes to cover wages for the Local Union staff which provide the services, some of the money goes to cover the Local CEP Union financial requirements for grievances and arbitrations, some goes for training expenses, some to cover lost wages, legal bills, travel allowances, parking, etc. Some of the money goes to a fund called the OABF. What is the OABF you ask? It stands for the Ontario Arbitration and Bargaining Fund and we pay a portion of the dues we collect to the fund in order for it to cover a substantial amount of the costs related to Arbitrations and Bargaining. This helps us reduce the amount of dues that the Local spends so that we will have more resources to fight the battles that are important to you.