Election Statement to Local 92 Friends . May 29, 2014 at 7:46pm To: All my Local 92 Facebook Friends: As you are all well aware it is election time again at Local 92, I am running for the position of Secretary-Treasurer as part of the “Team Desrosiers” slate. First off, as a team we decided we would not run our campaign in any form of social media. We witnessed in the last Local election what it turns into, a back and forth between camps and supporters that for the most part turns ugly and does nothing but weaken the unity of our Local. We understand there are support pages out there and we do appreciate the support, but these pages are of the Members own doing and are not endorsed by “Team Desrosiers”. I truly appreciate the Membership for bestowing on me the opportunity to represent them as the Local’s Vice-President over the last 4 years. As an Executive Board, with the support of the Members, we were able to accomplish a lot during one term. Together we addressed our pension solvency issues that went unaddressed for over a decade. We brought in the Extended Benefit Fund for our retired Members, the people who built this Hall and no longer have coverage and an immediately available death benefit for families in their greatest time of need. We were able to extend Health and Welfare coverage and self pay options from 6 months to 9 months, something I have been hearing the Members request since coming to Local 92. During this term, we also put permanent roots down in Fort McMurray with the purchase of a satellite office there that is worth double our 3 million dollar investment. We opened a satellite office in Lac La Biche to better serve the Members and sites in that area. With the Membership’s support purchased 3 acres of premium raw land to eventually serve as the new home of a Local 92 here in Edmonton. We undertook major organizing endeavors adding numerous companies under the LiUNA umbrella. Organized a large portion of the janitorial work in the Wood Buffalo Region, work formerly lost to the non-union sector. With some of these new janitorial Members realizing a 30% pay increase overnight and adding more companies to give us even more strength at the bargaining table the next time around. This Executive Board was able to negotiate the first ever Local 92 Road Builders Agreement, something that has an enormous potential for this Local. Seeing a billion dollar project like the Anthony Henday built in our own backyard without Union Labourers only goes to show this is a sector we need to be a part of. Coming out of the biggest recession this country has seen since the 30’s, this Local has shown record profits during the last four years, growing each and every year, thus showing the work that has been done with organizing and the reclaiming of our work such as in the pipeline sector. Last year Local 92 Members posted the most ever hours worked shattering the former record by close to 3 million manhours. These are only some of the highlights over the last term. I don’t know how many characters Facebook will allow me to have but I have more to say. I’d like to take a moment to talk about our Business Manager John Desrosiers. We made a promise going in to this office that we would be available and visible to each and every Member. (Something we felt had been seriously lacking in our Hall.) John vowed that each staff member would be held to this and the ones who could not stay true to this promise are no longer with us. Brother Desrosiers being as compassionate as he is makes the tough decisions when he has to, realizing what needs to be done for the greater good of Local 92. John has made more site visits than any Business Manager that I have witnessed since signing my first Union card over 20 years ago, taking the time to listen to as many Members one on one as possible. When time permits he pops in to training courses to take questions and listen to concerns and encourages all staff to do the same. Most will not realize we were on the brink of being removed from one of our major employing sites when John took office, he has since repaired that relationship to the point that the owner now gets involved and goes to bat for the Labourers in disputes over jurisdiction with contractors, something unheard of in our industry. I have been in Building Trades meetings, and when other trades Business Managers speak of solidarity between unions, trades who like to infringe on our work, Brother Desrosiers calls them out in front of all on their bullshit. He is not intimidated by power or position and takes every opportunity to voice Local 92 concerns, and is respected in our industry for doing so. At Liuna Conventions our General President Terry O’Sullivan always makes a point to make time for John, one on one, even presenting Local 92 with an exemplary service award for our organizing efforts. Brother O’Sullivan made a special trip here to Edmonton to meet the staff and to do a site tour with John, adding that our Local was one of the most progressive within LiUNA attributing it in part to Brother Desrosiers sincere leadership. I was even at a Canadian Building Trades Convention with Union leaders from across Canada when a Member of Parliament during his address singled John out about the good word and high praise he has for Local 92 Members. Brother Desrosiers as Business Manager provides a voice for this Local I feel has been missing for far too long. He is willing to deal with and find solutions for the issues and concerns of the Members. For example, when the majority of Canada had no work and the transfer rates in to this Local were at an all time high, as not to go against the constitution where every Member has the right to transfer after 6 months, John put in place that if any of these transfers were LiUNA Members for less than 5 years and have no Union hours they would be placed in our trainee program and would have to produce verified hours accordingly, thus slowing down people from gaining admittance in other Locals only to transfer to this Local when their waiting period was up. John is the first Business Manager to bring our legal department in to bargaining. We are dealing with multi million / billion dollar businesses and the days of the old boys club are over. Together we are changing how this Local does business moving in to the modern day where it needs, and has to be. It’s been a great 4 years and I am proud of the work we together as Brothers and Sisters have accomplished. This Union has afforded me more than I can ever repay. It has allowed me to pay for a post secondary education, and while in the field it gave me opportunities to work my way from shovel to superintendant. I have been able to provide a quality of life for my family that would otherwise have been unobtainable if not for LiUNA. I believe in this Union wholeheartedly and will continue to do everything in my power to see to its strength and future. I remember receiving my first Union paycheck many years ago and thinking I had been overpaid only to find out I had been shorted two hours of overtime. And with that asking for a collective agreement, a constitution and any other piece of literature I could get my hands on and wondering why everyone didn’t belong to a Union. I am a Red Seal Construction Craft Labourer and a damn Proud Member of Local 92. I am thankful for all the Brothers and Sisters I have had the pleasure of working with over the years who took the time to share their knowledge with me making me the skilled craftsman I am today, and to the Members who came before me for making the organization I belong to so amazing. During my time as Local 92 Vice President I have been given many opportunities to share our message. On two separate occasions I was selected to go to Ottawa to speak with Members of Parliament against Bill C-377 and the damage it would do to Unions, I was twice elected as a voting delegate to the Premiers Policy Convention and recently been appointed to the Alberta Apprenticeship Committee for Construction Craft Labourer amongst our competition at Clac and Ledcor to name only a few of the opportunities I have received. I will take every chance to further our Union agenda, and as you can see I am not one short on words. LoL If elected as Secretary Treasurer I will ensure your money is spent and invested with the Memberships best interest in mind at all times. I will seek out the knowledge and guidance of professional money managers as to where funds like our Extended Benefit Fund will do the most gains with the least amount of risk to ensure this newly set up fund will continue and grow for future retirees. From the Project Management diploma I received at Nait, along with being a former business owner I know the great importance of developing a budget, not only a yearly overall but breaking it down smaller increments. It is too easy to get taken off track if these markers are not put in place. From my experience and training these can be easily developed using past history and market variables taking out the guesswork and moving the Local into the modern day where it needs to be. I will also ensure delinquent contractors are taken to task immediately with the full brunt of the Local’s power when they are not submitting remittances in accordance with our Collective Agreements. This is money that we have bargained for that belongs to the Members and needs to be strictly enforced without hesitation. Local 92 in all aspects is a multi million dollar business where we are each an equal share stakeholders. Like any good business each shareholder’s input as to the direction they want to see their organization go is taken under advisement and then researched from all aspects to present the entire group with the best options to proceed for the benefit of all. If elected, I guarantee I will do this research taking in to account at each and every turn the benefit to all Members prior to submitting for your approval as I am a shareholder no different from each and every one of you. I hope you can see that this statement is sincere, as I stated above I can never repay this Union for the opportunities it has given me and no matter the outcome one June 28th I will continue to be a proud Local 92 Member be it in a hardhat and work boots or in a suit and tie. I would like to think the Members can see for themselves the advancements we have made in the last term and continue to support me and “Team Desrosiers” in our unified continued quest for Strength, Honor and Justice. The strongest Unions have continuous leadership not always starting a new. You can be guaranteed with “Team Desrosiers” we may not win every fight but we sure as hell are willing to take them all on! In Solidarity, Scott McBride This will be my first and last statement and will not be responded to on social media. Thank you. . Unlike · · Share . You and 4 others like this. . Gerard Mcmullin Write a comment... ..
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 02:14:33 +0000
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