IUOE News Fall 2013

General Meeting
General Membership Meeting
On Saturday September 21, 2013, The IUOE Local 115
held their General Membership Meeting at the Local’s
Burnaby auditorium. It was quite interesting, given that we
are Local 115, that the meeting was attended by exactly 115
members and guests!
Past minutes and details of the Local’s activities for the last
six months were read, and questions invited from the floor.
Appreciation was shown for Local 115’s ongoing community
involvement and donations towards valuable causes, always
done on behalf of the membership, under the Executive
Boards’ approval.
A recurring theme throughout the meeting was that of the
Local’s efforts and successes in the Temporary Foreign Worker
case. The support of the
membership, the international,
and the public were
recognised as crucial in
these successes, and how,
although the matter would
never have come to light without Local 115’s attention, it
never would have achieved such success without their ongoing
support.
B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair then took
the floor with his usual insightful, passionate, and hard-hitting
manner. While he recognised the challenges we face, he also
spoke of the successes Local 115 has achieved recently, and
how positive it is that the provincial government was beginning
to engage with labour leaders.
One sobering point he made was that, in his dealings with
labour unions across the province, IUOE Local 115 was the
only union showing steady growth, while others were
Featured are Business Manager Brian Cochrane and President Wayne Mills with new initiates, sworn in at the General Membership Meeting.
36 News October 2013
stagnant or shrinking. While it is easy to enjoy this success, it
highlights how important it is for us to keep up our hard work
and momentum. As Sinclair quoted: “There is not one thing
that working people do not have that they did not have to
fight for; and if we don’t keep fighting for it, we don’t get to
keep it.” Definitely words we should all remember.
Also discussed was the difficult plight of construction
workers in Vancouver’s downtown core, which seems rife with
abusive employer habits and exploited foreign workers. It is
indeed a sad situation for these people who feel they have
no-one to fight for them—thank goodness for those who
support the Union as their shared voice, who don’t have to
endure such unfair labour situations.
Training projects, especially
up north and strongly
associated with the upcoming
megaprojects, was also
covered. There are massive
opportunities for workers
and the Union to grow if a strategic plan to address the skills
shortage is addressed, and is something Local 115 will be
putting effort into. This will grow our membership, create
work opportunities for them, and foster relations with
communities, industry, and government programs. With
around 800,000 potential workers, engagement with First
Nations groups is also recognized as a crucial part of any
success we have up north.
Besides these large-scale future training opportunities,
Training Association administrator Brad Randall reported
full, back-to-back bookings on most existing courses, and is
even looking at ways to increase capacity. This is extremely
“There is not one thing that working people have
that they did not have to fight for; and if we don’t
keep fighting for it, we don’t get to keep it.”
BC Federation of Labour President, Jim Sinclair