MAY
2013
voice Get ready to cast your electronic vote! The Members’
4
Executive Board Elections
You should have received your electronic voting instructions and Personal Identification Number in the mail. You will need this PIN to cast your vote. If you have not received this number and voting instructions please call the union office immediately.
2013 Executive Election Candidate Statements President Brenda Coombs
Congratulations to Brother Faoro on being elected as Secretary Treasurer of the B.C. Division and thank you for your work over the last 12 years – Paul has worked very hard on behalf of the members and spent many hours moving our rights forward. I wish him well in his new position and look forward to the assistance of CUPE B.C. in our campaigns and struggles. We know we have an ally. Thank you to my nominator Donald Rounding. History: Activist, Secretary Treasurer – full time (at the time we did not have a full time President so I was the only full time officer in the local) • 1st and 2nd Vice President • Parks Sector Representative • Member at Large • Trustee • Shop Steward and Interim Chief Steward • Chair of the Internal Staff Committee and Bargaining spokesperson • Chair and Vice Chair and Member of the City, Parks, Ray Cam, Britannia Bargaining Committees since late 80s • Assisted other Bargaining Committees, including our 2.5 member bargaining unit achieve their first agreement. • CUPE Member Facilitator 17 years • Chair, member of the Finance Committee, Education Committee • Active Delegate to Vancouver District Labour Council and Metro District Council • Executive Member CUPE Metro District Council. • Served as a Trustee for CUPE B.C. for 3 years. • Strikes: Strike coordinator committee chair, completed strike payroll before computers (writing 2,000 cheques) and after we had computers (it was much easier). • Presentations on behalf of our members to Councillors, Park Board Commissioners, School Board Trustees, and Association Boards. Successfully fought contracting out for our Park Board golf course concession members. • Created and worked on campaigns. • Member of the Pay Equity Task Force and Women’s Committee and City of Vancouver Women’s Task Force. Our strength is our ability to speak on behalf of our members and having our members support what we are saying. The Executive Board has to be cohesive, strong, and committed to the principles of trade unionism. Membership involvement has to be a priority in order to move your working rights forward and create a respectful workplace, and strong collective agreements. Over the next two years I will address the needs of our members; work at ensuring that our members feel supported and represented. We must have a decent, respectful and communicative relationship with our employers. If we can’t talk, we can’t move anything forward. During bargaining we need to ensure “concession” is not a word that is brought to our tables or accepted by our members. Support me and I will work diligently on your behalf to create strong, healthy, respectful workplaces that understand and uphold the collective agreement. Collectively we will move this local forward and strong locals have good collective rights. Questions? Please email bcoombs@members.cupe.ca and check out my website at: http://bcoomb6.wix.com/ bcoombsforprescupe15.
The electronic poll will open at 8:00 a.m. on May 15th and will be accessible 24 hours a day until the close of the poll on May 22nd at 8:00 a.m. The results will be announced at the Annual General Meeting on May 22, 2013. Please keep your PIN number after you vote as there may be a run-off in which case another vote
Leanne Toderian
Anything worth having is worth fighting for; this is a work ethic my father taught me. He also told me you are nothing without your word and I live by that. I am excited about this opportunity to run for President of CUPE Local 15. I have been a proud member, steward and union activist for more than 15 years. I spent 12 years on the Executive Board as City Sector Rep, 2nd Vice President, and the last three years as Secretary Treasurer. I will continue to work to protect and preserve member jobs; ensure members go to work in a safe, secure and rewarding place; and have a reasonable opportunity to better themselves through advancement and education. Unions and the work they do on behalf of members are strangely getting lost in this era of communication. Knowledge will be our power to resist this to the best of our abilities. My Goals for our Union: • Encourage new members in ways we have not before by web and new member profiles. • Encourage young workers to get involved in their union. • Facilitate dialogue amongst members about issues that are important to them through surveys, one on one conversation and site meetings. • Continue to modernize Local 15’s office, including upgrading or rebuilding infrastructure, promotion of technology, polices, and office practices. • Retain union membership and fight privatization. As a full time officer at the union office I have had the pleasure of working with Health, K-12, Cultural, Colleges and Universities, City and Parks, and gained a strong understanding of issues facing all our sectors. I feel the time I have spent working closely with stewards, Paul Faoro (current president), staff and the executive board has prepared me for this leadership role. Working in the labour movement is my calling. I got involved in the labour movement because I believe in a level playing field. I saw my co-workers and fellow members being treated unfairly and I knew right away I had to step in and make a difference. Being a leader means you have to make tough choices and deliver good and bad news. With the good news you have a chance to celebrate victories and with the bad news a chance to develop a plan to win. I am honest, hard working, and open-minded. I welcome challenges, because they make me and our union stronger. In my role as Secretary Treasurer I take pride in the fact that I have handled union members’ money with the utmost respect and follow generally accepted accounting practices that ensure your money is used for what it is intended; keeping the union financially strong, working for members in dispute with their employers, and enforcing the collective agreements. If elected I promise to continue to do the work of the union and its members with honour and integrity. I can be reached via email at: leannetod@gmail. com Twitter: @LeanneToderian and http:// leannetoderianforlocal15president.blogspot.ca/.
“There are two primary choices in life: One is to accept conditions as they exist; or accept the responsibility for changing them.” - D. Waitley
WWW.CUPE15.ORG
will be conducted. We will inform members by mail and email if this is the case. If you have not already provided the union office with your personal email address please contact us as soon as possible to let us know. As we move more electronic, email may be a preferable choice of communication.
Warren Williams
Greetings CUPE 15 Sisters and Brothers, My name is Warren Williams and I am seeking the position of President of CUPE Local 15. I am proud, as we all should be, of all the hard work we contribute to our communities with the work we as members do. CUPE Local 15 is a large composite local that has 6 sectors and 19 employers working in various fields of public service including Health, School Board, Colleges, Universities, City, Parks and Culture. We have over 6,000 members. I believe a local of this size and composition needs a strong leader and one that will utilize the full complement of its executive to meet the challenges our members are facing day to day whether that be at the bargaining table or in their immediate workplace. Commitment at the executive level is key in meeting the needs of our members. We need to ensure that the voices of our members are heard and acted on. Our executive by working together will make our local stronger and more efficient. As a current member of our Executive, I believe I have shown I am a leader and a good advocate for our members, promoting fairness and good working conditions for all members. My commitment and dedication to you if elected as President, would be to continue to promote fairness and good working conditions and to ensure that our executive members’ focus is for the betterment of our membership as a whole. We will be electing a number of positions at our Annual General Membership meeting on May 22, 2013, one of which will be the position of President. I encourage you to come out and vote and allow your voice to be heard. I welcome your questions. Please feel free to contact me via email at warren@warrenwilliams.ca and also visit my web page at warrenwilliams.ca. Thank you.
Jordan Parente
The Future of our Local. I would like to thank my friend and mentor, Peter Stary for nominating me for the position of President of Local 15. I am proud of the work I have done serving our union over the last dozen years that I have been a member. I have played many important roles such as activist, Shop Steward and Trustee of the Union’s Society. In addition, for City of Vancouver, Park Board, Ray-Cam and Britannia members I was a part of the 2007 committee that saw challenges to nearly every part of the labour code in a single round of bargaining. As a young worker and part of a CUPE BC task force I have also worked to engage young members from around the province. With your help I will continue to focus my energy on bettering our Local in the role of President. I envision a transparent organization where communication easily flows back and forth from member work sites to the union hall. I believe we all need to step up and take part in our organization. Once elected my first task will be to bolster site contacts and Shop Stewards at all work sites. Additionally, I would like to see greater responsibility entrusted to the Union’s Executive Board members in their respective sectors. I will make regular site visits to check in with members and keep the lines of communication flowing. If you regularly take the time to read your Members’ Voice, thank you for being engaged. By continuing to take ownership in our Local you are already ensuring the health of the organization. I ask that you take the next step to
CUPE Local 15, Vancouver Municipal Education and Community Workers