2013 Unifor National Council 4000 Convention
November 1, 2013
Unifor National Council 4000 wrapped up its 5th Triennial Convention held October 18 to October 20, 2013 at the Westin Edmonton. This was the first convention held in Western Canada since the formation of National Council 4000 in November 1997. Our past conventions have been held in Port Elgin ON (Founding Convention in 1997); Montreal QC in 2001; Toronto ON in 2004; Montreal QC in 2007 and Halifax NS in 2010.
Fifty eight delegates debated and subsequently voted on 83 separate resolutions on amendments and new provisions in a significantly revamped bylaws for National Council 4000, the most work that has been done to the bylaws since the Council’s Founding Convention in 1997.
While addressing the delegates, Council 4000 President Barry Kennedy said that this was an opportune time to make changes and overhaul the Council’s Bylaws, a short time following the start of our new union, Unifor, and our new Union Constitution.
In addition to changing the acronyms of CAW to Unifor, some of the other changes and new additions in the bylaws includes:
We hope to have the new bylaws printed and distributed by January 2014.
In addition to the delegates, 10 observers were sent from Locals 4001, 4002 and 4005.
Guest speakers at the Convention were Unifor National President Jerry Dias, Unifor National Secretary Treasurer Peter Kennedy, Unifor National Health & Safety Director Sari Sairanen, Unifor Research Assistant Jordan Brennan, Unifor Local 4050 Financial Secretary Jim Connelly and retired CAW National Representative Doug Olshewski.
Jordan Brennan, who assists Unifor Economist Jim Stanford, gave an excellent presentation on the history and funding of passenger rail service in Canada, back to the days when CN and CP ran passenger rail, and since the creation of VIA Rail as a separate Crown corporation in 1978 and up to today. The paper compared Canada’s funding to other countries and shows that Canada is at the bottom. VIA’s current subsidies from the Harper Conservative Government is at the lowest it has ever been, which has resulted in numerous job and service reductions at VIA Rail. Click here to read more...
Sari Sairanen addressed delegates on the issue of mental health and workplace stress. This mental health issues and workplace stress clearly leads to depression in many people, and following Sari’s presentation, Jim Connelly, Financial Secretary of Unifor Local 4050 addressed the delegates to speak of the recent loss of his son who took his own life while battling with depression. It was an emotional address.
And retired National Representative Doug Olshewski made a presentation to delegates on the necessary requirements of Local leadership; Grievance Officers, Shop Stewards, Local Chairpersons and Regional Representatives to gather as much information and evidence that is available in a dispute that the Union may need to advance to arbitration. The work in defending a member (the grievor) or a policy grievance does not start when preparing a brief to be presented to the arbitrator, it starts at the moment a member enters into a disciplinary investigation or at the start of a Step 1 grievance.
Other invited guests who attended were Unifor Assistant to the National President Bob Orr, Director of Transportation Ron Smith, Unifor National Representatives Bob Fitzgerald, Joel Fournier, Chad Johnston and Brian Stevens, and Unifor Local 100 President Ken Hiatt. Past Council 4000 President Rick Johnston and past Secretary Treasurer Bill Coolen were invited as guests but could not attend and sent their regrets. The Council also invited past CBRT&GW and CAW Representative Hugh Critchley, who remained active with many Edmonton and area CAW Locals after his retirement in 1995. Brother Critchley is now 81 years of age.
As is tradition, the convention wrapped up on Sunday morning with the call for nominations for the positions of National Council 4000 President and Secretary Treasurer. Council 4000 President Barry Kennedy was nominated and acclaimed to third term as the Council’s President. Incumbent Heather Grant was nominated for the position of Secretary Treasurer, along with Council 4000 Regional Representative for Local 4002 Dave Kissack. An election will commence sometime in November, with more details to follow. Click here to read more. A new National Election Committee (NEC) for Council 4000 was nominated and elected. The NEC is comprised of Tony Andrzejewski for Local 4001; Joey Broda for Local 4002; Nick Ricci for Local 4003; Mario Nascimento for Local 4004 and Steven Harding for Local 4005. Mario Nascimento was elected as the Chairperson of the NEC. Mario replaces long-time Chair Wally Wilkinson, a retired CN member and former officer of the CBRT&GW from Montreal.
It was a very productive convention and an excellent opportunity to build solidarity in the warm and friendly confines of Western Canada.
Thanks go out to the work of the conventions committees who come out a couple of days prior to the start of the convention.
First, the Officer’s Reports Committee; Herc Kallergis of Local 4001; Wendy Seesahai of Local 4002; Ranbir Bhatti of Local 4003; Pierre Fontaine of Local 4004; Steven Harding of Local 4005 and facilitators, Council 4000 Regional Representatives Wesley Gajda and Patrick Murray.
And the work of the Bylaws Committee; Dave Judge of Local 4001; Alvin Bruyere of Local 4002; Andrew Stephen of Local 4003; Kesang Kashi of Local 4004; Jennifer Murray of Local 4005 and facilitators, Council 4000 Regional Representatives Danny Andru and Ron Shore.
And thanks to Ken Cameron for all the photos he took during the convention, and special thanks to Council 4000 Secretary Sylvie Bruneau for the tremendous work she put into the administrative affairs of the convention, preparing all the reports and resolutions, photo copies and binders, tickets and more, all the items that are necessary for the delegates and officers who attend the convention. And a big thank you to Secretary Treasurer Heather Grant for all the planning and preparations that went into this convention, which includes securing the venue, hotel rooms, audio visual and translation services, airfare, meals and other things. It all made for another successful convention like our last convention in Halifax.
- An equitable structure for regional bargaining committees;
- Improvements to the provisions governing bargaining committees for both national and regional committees;
- New provisions to ensure that Local Presidents distribute Council 4000 Executive Board reports and minutes to their Local Executives;
- Enshrined in the bylaws the right of the Council Executive to increase or decrease the number of full time staff based on an adverse financial position of the Council;
- Enshrined in the bylaws the role of retired members and when they may stand for an elected office;
- Regional Local Elections may be administered by National Council 4000 at the discretion of a Local Executive Board at the Local’s cost;
- Placed additional language in the bylaws to elaborate the process governing elections, strike voting and ratification meetings;
- Various new language within the bylaws to reflect current and past practices of the Council to ensure the operation of Council 4000 is transparent and equitable in all our practices;
- Updated the appeals process in relation to the new Unifor Constitution.
We hope to have the new bylaws printed and distributed by January 2014.
In addition to the delegates, 10 observers were sent from Locals 4001, 4002 and 4005.
Guest speakers at the Convention were Unifor National President Jerry Dias, Unifor National Secretary Treasurer Peter Kennedy, Unifor National Health & Safety Director Sari Sairanen, Unifor Research Assistant Jordan Brennan, Unifor Local 4050 Financial Secretary Jim Connelly and retired CAW National Representative Doug Olshewski.
Jordan Brennan, who assists Unifor Economist Jim Stanford, gave an excellent presentation on the history and funding of passenger rail service in Canada, back to the days when CN and CP ran passenger rail, and since the creation of VIA Rail as a separate Crown corporation in 1978 and up to today. The paper compared Canada’s funding to other countries and shows that Canada is at the bottom. VIA’s current subsidies from the Harper Conservative Government is at the lowest it has ever been, which has resulted in numerous job and service reductions at VIA Rail. Click here to read more...
Sari Sairanen addressed delegates on the issue of mental health and workplace stress. This mental health issues and workplace stress clearly leads to depression in many people, and following Sari’s presentation, Jim Connelly, Financial Secretary of Unifor Local 4050 addressed the delegates to speak of the recent loss of his son who took his own life while battling with depression. It was an emotional address.
And retired National Representative Doug Olshewski made a presentation to delegates on the necessary requirements of Local leadership; Grievance Officers, Shop Stewards, Local Chairpersons and Regional Representatives to gather as much information and evidence that is available in a dispute that the Union may need to advance to arbitration. The work in defending a member (the grievor) or a policy grievance does not start when preparing a brief to be presented to the arbitrator, it starts at the moment a member enters into a disciplinary investigation or at the start of a Step 1 grievance.
Other invited guests who attended were Unifor Assistant to the National President Bob Orr, Director of Transportation Ron Smith, Unifor National Representatives Bob Fitzgerald, Joel Fournier, Chad Johnston and Brian Stevens, and Unifor Local 100 President Ken Hiatt. Past Council 4000 President Rick Johnston and past Secretary Treasurer Bill Coolen were invited as guests but could not attend and sent their regrets. The Council also invited past CBRT&GW and CAW Representative Hugh Critchley, who remained active with many Edmonton and area CAW Locals after his retirement in 1995. Brother Critchley is now 81 years of age.
As is tradition, the convention wrapped up on Sunday morning with the call for nominations for the positions of National Council 4000 President and Secretary Treasurer. Council 4000 President Barry Kennedy was nominated and acclaimed to third term as the Council’s President. Incumbent Heather Grant was nominated for the position of Secretary Treasurer, along with Council 4000 Regional Representative for Local 4002 Dave Kissack. An election will commence sometime in November, with more details to follow. Click here to read more. A new National Election Committee (NEC) for Council 4000 was nominated and elected. The NEC is comprised of Tony Andrzejewski for Local 4001; Joey Broda for Local 4002; Nick Ricci for Local 4003; Mario Nascimento for Local 4004 and Steven Harding for Local 4005. Mario Nascimento was elected as the Chairperson of the NEC. Mario replaces long-time Chair Wally Wilkinson, a retired CN member and former officer of the CBRT&GW from Montreal.
It was a very productive convention and an excellent opportunity to build solidarity in the warm and friendly confines of Western Canada.
Thanks go out to the work of the conventions committees who come out a couple of days prior to the start of the convention.
First, the Officer’s Reports Committee; Herc Kallergis of Local 4001; Wendy Seesahai of Local 4002; Ranbir Bhatti of Local 4003; Pierre Fontaine of Local 4004; Steven Harding of Local 4005 and facilitators, Council 4000 Regional Representatives Wesley Gajda and Patrick Murray.
And the work of the Bylaws Committee; Dave Judge of Local 4001; Alvin Bruyere of Local 4002; Andrew Stephen of Local 4003; Kesang Kashi of Local 4004; Jennifer Murray of Local 4005 and facilitators, Council 4000 Regional Representatives Danny Andru and Ron Shore.
And thanks to Ken Cameron for all the photos he took during the convention, and special thanks to Council 4000 Secretary Sylvie Bruneau for the tremendous work she put into the administrative affairs of the convention, preparing all the reports and resolutions, photo copies and binders, tickets and more, all the items that are necessary for the delegates and officers who attend the convention. And a big thank you to Secretary Treasurer Heather Grant for all the planning and preparations that went into this convention, which includes securing the venue, hotel rooms, audio visual and translation services, airfare, meals and other things. It all made for another successful convention like our last convention in Halifax.
