JOANNA LORD

VICE PRESIDENT

Pride Parades, Centennial events, picket lines and rallies, I have had the opportunity to meet and hear from many of you, your families and friends, in communities from Terrace to Smithers, Fort St John to Williams Lake, Kamloops to Kelowna to Cranbrook, Pemberton to Port Alberni, and Victoria to the Fraser Valley, to name a few.

Hello Fellow BCGEU Members,

I am a settler living on the unceded and traditional territories of the Cowichan and Coast Salish Peoples. My pronouns are she and her and I have been honoured to serve as one of your Executive Vice Presidents (EVP) since February 2019.

My Commitment. Activists are the backbone of our Union and, if elected, my focus will be to continue to learn from you and serve you. Direct member engagement is vital for your Union leadership. We need to hear about the issues affecting workers on the job, and to inspire members to step up and take active roles in the Union. I will continue to help members navigate the political structure of our Union. I will use my political action experience and skills to effect change with respect to policy and Legislation, working to improve the lives of workers throughout British Columbia. BCGEU Experience. I became a BCGEU member in 2005 when was hired at Vancouver Island University (VIU), formerly Malaspina College. In 2007, a difficult situation led me to seek help from my shop stewards, their support inspired me to step up. After several years as a steward, was elected to our bargaining committee and soon after to the local executive. Since then, I have been on the Local Executive as Local Chair and on the Component Executive as Member at Large, Recording Secretary and Vice President which provided the opportunity to represent Component on the Provincial Executive (PE).

Since February 13, 2019 after being acclaimed into the role of EVP by the Provincial Executive, have listened, learned, and worked hard to further the interests of our membership. My favourite part of being an EVP is meeting and listening to members in their communities. I have made an effort to visit members from all components in all regions of our Province. From worksite visits to Activist Banquets,

As part of my Executive duties, I have served on the following:

• BCGEU Committees: Centennial, Education and Scholarship, Grievance Appeal, Political Action and Women’s. I am also liaison to our affiliate, BC FORUM, the provincial body for retired union members.

• BC Federation of Labour Committees: Education, Political Action and Women and Gender Rights.

• National Union of Public and General Employees: Advisory Committee for Women’s Issues.

• Community Groups: Columbia Institute Board, the Advisory and Municipal Committees of the Living Wages for Families Campaign, and the Period Promise Community Action Committee.

The committee work which I am most proud of is co-coordinating the senior leadership conference on equity, diversity and inclusion for our Union in the Fall of 2019 and co-chairing the Centennial Sub-Committee and travelling the Province to meet members and retired members and hearing their stories of solidarity and activism. During 2020 the focus, of course, became dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. From mid-March your senior leadership team have held regular Covid Response briefings and we have all been learning how to engage and support members, and each other, virtually.

My Journey. Education and union activism have always been at the forefront of my life. have worked in administrative and clerical jobs. Following the birth of my son in 2001, went back to school to complete an Education Degree. While working at establishing my new career in education, also worked as a Constituency Assistant in my Member of Parliament’s Office. In 2005, I landed a position as an Instructor in the Adult Upgrading Program at VIU. In these positions I have always advocated for people; whether it was for students, fellow workers, or constituents in our communities needing assistance navigating municipal, pro- vincial and federal programs and legislation. My time working in the constituency office led me to become more active in politics and I stepped up onto provincial and federal NDP executives. I understand the importance of political action in furthering the gains and rights for workers. Encourage, Empower and Educate. As Chair of our Provincial Education and Scholarship Committee I have been a part of growing our BCGEU Education offerings and scholarship program. Step Up and Organizing Academy are two powerful courses that continue building internal capacity within our Union by empowering more members to organize in their own worksites for better working conditions, and to become more engaged in our union. An exciting new course, Solidarity Across Difference, will roll out in 2021. As Co-chair of our Political Action Committee, I have worked hard to provide training opportunities for members to use for member engagement generally, as well as for local by-elections, provincial and federal elections.

Equity, Inclusion and Diversity strengthen all of us. I am proud of the work we are doing to continue building a more inclusive Union and breaking down barriers to participation. We are a large and diverse union with many differing interests but when we stand together in solidarity, we are rooted in the struggles of everyone. We are all workers.

This past year has been particularly challenging. Covid-19 has impacted us in ways we couldn’t have imagined; at work, at home and in our communities. I am excited to be part of building on how far we’ve come and to the possibilities of where we can go.

Please contact me anytime. I look forward to continuing conversations with you over the next months leading up to the Convention, and dedicating time and attention to the issues that you have raised. I ask you to re-elect me so we can work together to make further gains for a more fair and inclusive society.

In solidarity,

Joanna Lord

 Joanna4EVP@gmail.com

 250-709-8326

 Joanna Lord

 @JoMLord instagram Joanna.m.lord

Dear Union Family,

We have worked tremendously hard over the last four years to better our union. The COVID-19 global pandemic dramatically altered our lives, whether adjusting to working from home, new workplace policies, refusing unsafe working conditions, or laid off, we have shown resilience and strength and continue to stand up for each other. We remain connected to our communities across BC by engaging activists online and creating space for fresh ideas and perspectives. I intend to build on our success and continue to grow our achievements.

I am honoured to have served this term and I am respectfully seeking re-election for the position of executive vice-president to continue to build the power of our union through developing our members’ capacity.

Background:

I’ve been active in our union since my fellow workers and I at the Kwantlen Student Association organized our workplace against a hostile employer to protect our rights and safety and the people we serve. We faced a board of directors who were harassing staff and who were intent on firing us because we were preventing them from acting even more irresponsibly. Through this tense and difficult time we had to rely on each other to protect our workplace. Shortly after we won certification, I was elected as a shop steward, bargaining committee member, and a member of our local executive.

Over the past twelve years, I have fought for people’s rights, and, like the BCGEU, my commitment and motivation continues to grow. I worked to support our members while I was completing my bachelor’s degree at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, organizing the feminist collective on campus, volunteering for the campus Pride collective as a positive space workshop facilitator, a student senator, a director of the alumni association, and working full time as a student advocate.