Doing critical work

Ghie Candido is a dedicated health care worker. She’s worked in a variety of health settings and roles since 2012, including patient care assistant and support worker.

As an immigrant from the Philippines, Ghie knows how critical community support is to newcomers. That’s why beyond her day job, Ghie spends time supporting and contributing to the Filipino community in B.C.

She has volunteered with the Lions Gate Foundation to help fundraise for initiatives from the Filipino community.

She also trained in event planning at a community college, which led to her role as a key organizer of the largest Philippines Independence Day celebration in the Lower Mainland, held in North Vancouver.

This celebration recognizes the day the Philippines was liberated from its colonial Spanish state, establishing the nation as a republic.

For Ghie, marking this day in Canada is an important way to connect members of the Filipino community to their history and culture, and to build connections with each other.

Community involvement comes naturally to Ghie. Growing up in the Philippines, she was surrounded by family members who took leadership roles in her community.

“My father was an elected leader in our town and also a church leader,” she says. “As a young person, I was elected to be a youth representative in my local council.” and Hollyburn House in West Vancouver will be managed by real estate company Cogir.

For Ghie, marking this day in Canada is an important way to connect members of the Filipino community to their history and culture, and to build connections with each other.

She currently works as a recreational programmer at a long-term care site in Vancouver. This role allows her to combine her two passions: health care work and event planning. She’s taking some time away from community volunteering to focus on this work.

But she acknowledges that her community involvement has given her many resources that she can use in her job, such as connections with musicians and performers.

And as an active member of the Filipino community in Metro Vancouver, Ghie knows how critical volunteering is to build communities outside of work.

All current Revera employees, including casuals, will continue their employment with the new service provider, and their HEU contract will be transferred with no changes to any terms or conditions of employment.

Telling union stories

An ongoing oral history project by the B.C. Labour Heritage Centre tells the story of the province’s labour movement through interviews with dozens of trade union leaders and activists, including two key HEU figures of the 1990s – secretarybusiness manager Carmela Allevato and director of communications Geoff Meggs.

Other former HEU notables interviewed include secretarybusiness managers Bonnie Pearson and Judy Darcy, financial secretary Mary LaPlante and organizer Sharon Yandle. Their stories and others can be found online at: labourheritagecentre.ca/ oral-history/.

Photo project addresses poverty

The annual Hope in Shadows wall calendar features images captured by the homeless and low-income vendors of Megaphone magazine, who sell the publication on the streets of Vancouver and Victoria. Vendors keep 50 per cent of profits from sales of the calendar, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

More at: megaphonemagazine. com/hope_in_shadows.