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Please stay tuned as we work on our new website and Member’s Portal.  Every Member will be given individual login credentials through the Union Hall.

Apologies for the lacking updates on the old website but we need to be cautious with what information is shared publicly versus what we will be able to share with you once the Member’s Portal is up and running.

It has been a very trying period since I took office just over a year and a half ago. I know without regular updates on the website as well as Unit meetings being suspended, there are a lot of questions and rumours. We followed the directions of the International office and AHS while remaining available to all our Members and working out of the Hall. Virtual unit meetings were expressly denied by the International because of the sensitive information relayed and not being able to screen for security. We have however been holding our Executive Board and Unit Executive Board meetings monthly, and relay information that way, through our Stewards, and the tons of phone calls and emails from many of you.

Please give your Union reps a pat on the back for all the work they do in negotiations, Grievances and NOI’s, and information they relay back to us. They are difficult jobs and they do it for you and for us here at the Hall. At the same time I would like to acknowledge our Members (you). Throughout all the adversity you have faced these last couple years, you have acted in a professional manner. Always proud of the work you do and ever showing that to the powers that be.

When I came into office, I sat down with the Team and came up with some plans for your Union for the 4 years to come. This included, but was not limited to staff requirements, finances and cost savings, bylaws and policies, not attending conferences that provide no direct benefit to our Local or that aren’t mandated by the International office, Bargaining tactics and strategy changes to get ahead of Company policy shifts, and relationship mending in the places that required it to help out conflicts that affect our Members.

Staff requirements

With the 6 Units we represent, we could use more ABM’s at the Hall to match the portfolios we deal with and the army of HR consultants with ever changing Company policies and tactics like other Locals have. Unfortunately, we are a smaller local as far as Membership numbers go. We have the support from our Exec Units and Members always helping us with information and support, and we put in the extra hours required. We have also been running without a front end office administrator and will need to fill that once all our Bargaining has been completed with all our Units.

Finances and cost savings

We are in the process of changing banks to meet our security and technology needs. This is ongoing as it will take some time to clear all cheques and eventually have all funds transferred over. We have been doing audits on our books and credit cards with the entire Exec Board utilized in this task for transparency. We have saved money in all areas and our expenditures are historically low. We will be amending our Bylaws as part of the financial plan for our Local once all our Unit Bargaining is complete which should be this year. This is being done to ensure better financial policies and guidelines are in place (documented) for future Union leaders.

There have been less Union conferences during Covid but they do still happen. We ran the Western Canadian Utility Conference virtually in 2021 and sent one representative in 2022. There is just too much going on with our Members and Companies we deal with to justify attending others. We won’t waste, nor go on frivolous trips however some are not only beneficial but required.  The International Convention takes place this May and happens every five years. It is mandatory for Locals to attend and historically this Local has sent a delegation of around 5. At this time only ABM Mike Boyd will be attending and representing Local 1007.

We have 6 Units under our representation and have been busy with all of them. We have completed Bargaining with Capital Power, EITCA (424 Training Center), and our 424 Unit. We have dates set for EBFA and EPCOR for the end of May. Our COE negotiations will take place once those last two are completed as the City has been tied up in Bargaining with ATU 569 and CUPE30. Covid certainly hasn’t helped with any of our issues, but we have remained working out of the Hall throughout.

Please ensure you have filled out an Obligation form under “Forms” and send it in to us to set up your Union number and to make sure you can vote in upcoming elections. This is something that historically has been done at Union meetings, but we need to ensure that every Member has the ability to vote and not have that taken away by a technicality.

I want to say thank you to everyone for having patience through this difficult time and knowing that we are working hard everyday for our Members through everything we all have faced these last two years.

Please check the corresponding tabs for Unit specific news and updates.

As always, please continue to call or email us for any reason.

 

Thank you,

Steve Southwood
Business Manager, IBEW 1007

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