BACK TO THE FORUMS

General Terms
Use of the OCSEA Discussion Forums is subject to compliance with these Terms and Conditions. You acknowledge and agree that OCSEA may temporarily or permanently terminate your access to these Discussion Forums should you fail to comply with these Terms and Conditions or any other guidelines and rules published by OCSEA. Any such termination shall be in OCSEA's sole discretion and may occur with or without notice. OCSEA and the Forum Moderator reserve the right to remove member content deemed unacceptable by the Forum Moderator and OCSEA at any time and with or without notice. Material posted on the OCSEA Discussion Forums is the sole property of OCSEA and its members, and may not be duplicated or re-posted, electronically or otherwise, without the express written consent of OCSEA. Access to the OCSEA Discussion Forums via the OCSEA web site is the sole responsibility of the member. Access to the OCSEA Discussion Forums is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE"

Privacy
It is the sole responsibility of any member accessing the OCSEA Discussion Forums to ensure that their Name and Signature and any posted messages are acceptable for public posting and do not contain material deemed "private". Except for the person's screen name, the identity of persons posting to the OCSEA Discussion Forums shall not be made available to any party, internal or external to OCSEA, without the consent of the original author.

Unacceptable Content

Postings to the OCSEA Discussion Forums may be deemed "unacceptable" and subject to removal for any of the following reasons:

1. Subject matter is off topic, or a new topic is unrelated to the theme of the Forum.
2. Subject matter contains derogatory, slanderous, verbally abusive, or threatening language.
3. Subject matter is of a criminal nature, or promotes criminal activities.
4. Postings are disruptive to the use of the Forum by other members or OCSEA staff.
5. Any type of commercial message or solicitation, including references to commercial web sites.
6. Information copyrighted or owned by an individual or entity other than the member without the consent of the owner. If such material is posted, the individual posting the materials shall be held solely responsible. OCSEA shall not be held responsible for member-posted information that might violate copyright law.

Forum Participation Guidelines

In order to make the union's Discussion Forums a safe, comfortable environment for all participants, OCSEA requires the following:

• Respect for fellow participants: Remember everyone has a right to be heard, even if you don't agree with what they are saying. Respect that everyone has a right to participate.
• Disagree respectfully: We want everyone to feel they can truly express their opinions. Because we are all different, sometimes people are going to disagree. That's fine and we encourage differing opinions, as we can all learn from another point of view. But we must agree to disagree in a respectful manner. Name-calling, insults, "flaming" and attacks are not appropriate and will not be tolerated. In the most severe cases, members will be banned from participating if they cannot conduct themselves in a manner respectful of all participants. Harassing, offensive, vulgar, abusive, hateful or bashing communications - especially those aimed at sexual orientation, gender, race, color, religious views, national origin or disability - will not be tolerated and can result in termination of a member's privileges.
• Keep personal information personal: The site administrators have attempted to devise methods by which every user can remain anonymous. We feel that it promotes participation. By using Nicknames, you don't to worry if your co-workers or other union brothers and sisters will be able to identify you. So be careful about revealing information in a post or during a chat that might lead to your identity if you are concerned about being able to remain anonymous. Second, while this is a closed, members only site, you still want to be cautious about revealing personal information. We recommend that you do not reveal home addresses, phone numbers…etc in a public forum or chat. Similarly, do not ask for such information from another member. OCSEA feels strongly in the member's rights to privacy.
• Keep your posts clean: obscene or vulgar language, graphics or behavior is not appropriate. Messages that contain explicit, obscene or vulgar language will be removed. Similarly, message board posts that solicit or offer explicit or X-rated materials, graphics or references to web sites are subject to removal.
• Don't duplicate posts: Duplicate messages can be frustrating to members having to weed through them and take up server space. Duplicate message posting on the same or multiple forums are subject to removal.

In addition, OCSEA recommends the following:

• Don't be afraid to post: Again, because everyone deserves to be heard, please speak up. Post a message or jump in the chat. We want every member to feel comfortable participating. We know it can be hard to join in a discussion, but we have lots of friendly and supportive people who will welcome you.
• Feel free to "lurk": While we hope that you will join us and let your voice be heard, you are always welcome to just 'hang out' and take in what's going on in the forums or in a chat.
• Welcome new members: Joining can be difficult, please welcome all new members and let them know how much we value their presence in a chat or on the forums.
• Don't fan flames: Sometimes the forums or chats can become heated, rather than jumping in to fan the flame, just let it die. Don't add to already out of control discussions whether in a chat or forum - if you feel that the discussion is really unreasonable, bring it to the attention of the forum or chat moderator.
• Don't post commercials items: These forums and chats are for union members to talk about union business - this is not a place to advertise. Please - no posts containing commercial or product/service promotions messages. Such posts are subject to removal.
• Republishing: Because members can say it best, we might occasionally use your posts or comments to convey OCSEA's message elsewhere. We would do this by quoting you as an OCSEA member and would only use your nickname. We would never reprint anything that could be deemed personally endangering, inflammatory or embarrassing or that could reveal your identity.
• Finally, please have a good time: Use these forums and chats as a place to express yourself, to learn and to develop into strong union advocates. We don't want you to leave your personality at the door. Come in and be who you are. And let us know how we are doing.

We want this to be your web site, so please offer ideas and suggestions. We will try to incorporate them whenever possible.

BACK TO THE FORUMS