Category: Union News

Local 793 has arrived in Houston, Texas, for the Trades Women Build Nations (TWBN) Conference. The annual event is the largest gathering of unionized tradeswomen in the world, serving as a platform for networking, mentorship and leadership development. We will be covering every big moment throughout the weekend on our website and social media channels and meeting our women members who have made the trip south to Texas. Stay tuned!

Local 793 has arrived in Houston, Texas, for the Trades Women Build Nations (TWBN) Conference. The annual event is the largest gathering of unionized tradeswomen in the world, serving as a platform for networking, mentorship and leadership development. We will be covering every big moment throughout the weekend on our website and social media channels and meeting our women members who have made the trip south to Texas. Stay tuned!

High school students visiting the Level Up! careers fair in Barrie this week were able to test their skills on the OETIO simulators under the experienced eyes of Local 793 retired members John Monti and Dan Davey. Level Up! events are being held throughout Ontario until December, giving students and jobseekers the chance to check out more than 140 skilled trades. OETIO is again taking part, with instructors, staff and Local 793 business reps all on hand to provide expert knowledge and career advice. The next event OETIO is attending […]

High school students visiting the Level Up! careers fair in Barrie this week were able to test their skills on the OETIO simulators under the experienced eyes of Local 793 retired members John Monti and Dan Davey.

Level Up! events are being held throughout Ontario until December, giving students and jobseekers the chance to check out more than 140 skilled trades. OETIO is again taking part, with instructors, staff and Local 793 business reps all on hand to provide expert knowledge and career advice.

The next event OETIO is attending is at the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition in Thunder Bay on October 21. See you there!

Dan Davey keeps watch as a visitor to the OETIO booth tries his hand at the simulator.

John Monti provides some hands-on tips for a student using the excavator simulator.

The OETIO booth and trailer are always a popular stop for students at Level Up! events.

Our members are always working hard to achieve the impossible. Check out these pictures of our members getting it done!  

Our members are always working hard to achieve the impossible. Check out these pictures of our members getting it done!

Victoria Monardo has been part of the Local 793 family since May 2020 and we recently had the opportunity to visit her on the jobsite. Listen to what she has to say about working as an Operating Engineer and what she loves most about being a member of this union.    

Victoria Monardo has been part of the Local 793 family since May 2020 and we recently had the opportunity to visit her on the jobsite.

Listen to what she has to say about working as an Operating Engineer and what she loves most about being a member of this union.

Our Oakville OETIO campus recently hosted members of the Durham Regional Police Service’s Tactical Support Unit, who were using our cranes to hone the skills that will save lives and protect the public during emergencies at heights. DRPS isn’t the only police force in the GTA to take advantage of our training sites. Last year, the Peel Regional Police Service came out to use our site for similar training. We’re proud to provide emergency responders with access to our training grounds, whether it’s firefighters, police or paramedics; we have deep […]

Our Oakville OETIO campus recently hosted members of the Durham Regional Police Service’s Tactical Support Unit, who were using our cranes to hone the skills that will save lives and protect the public during emergencies at heights.

DRPS isn’t the only police force in the GTA to take advantage of our training sites. Last year, the Peel Regional Police Service came out to use our site for similar training.

We’re proud to provide emergency responders with access to our training grounds, whether it’s firefighters, police or paramedics; we have deep appreciation for the difficult and dangerous work they do.

Local 793 Business Managers past and present enjoyed a double celebration this week, as Mike Gallagher and Joe Kennedy got together to celebrate their birthdays. Joe, who led the union from 1974 until 1992, turned 100 on September 29, while Mike turned 65 on the same day. Mike was joined by Local 793 President Dave Turple at Joe’s current residence at the Veterans Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto today to present him with an engraved pocket watch, letters of congratulations from IUOE General President John Downey and […]

Local 793 Business Managers past and present enjoyed a double celebration this week, as Mike Gallagher and Joe Kennedy got together to celebrate their birthdays.

Joe, who led the union from 1974 until 1992, turned 100 on September 29, while Mike turned 65 on the same day.

Mike was joined by Local 793 President Dave Turple at Joe’s current residence at the Veterans Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto today to present him with an engraved pocket watch, letters of congratulations from IUOE General President John Downey and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and a commemorative booklet charting Joe’s career with the union.

Also present were Joe’s grandson Kayle and great-grandson Erin, generations four and five of Kennedy family Operating Engineers.

Mike, who was brought onto the union staff by Joe in 1987, said, “Joe was a very strong leader and I learned a lot from him about how to carry yourself and how to lead an organization.”

Joe achieved much for members during his time with Local 793, including leading the push to create the pension plan in 1973, forcing a change in legislation to make hoisting engineer a compulsory certified trade in 1979 and publishing the first edition of 793 Operator in 1974 as a way to better connect members to their union.

With a lifelong focus on worker safety, which led to him being awarded the prestigious Roy A. Phinnemore award for his contribution to the prevention of accidents, Honourary Lifetime Member Joe had a special message for the current membership.

“Be safe, be cautious and be kind to your fellow members!”

Happy birthday Joe and Mike!

Mike Gallagher and Joe Kennedy are joined by Local 793 President Dave Turple (left) and Kayle and Erin Kennedy.

Joe Kennedy is shown the engraved pocket watch presented to him by Business Manager Mike Gallagher by grandson Kayle.

Canada’s Secretary of State (Labour) John Zerucelli was the latest high-profile visitor to tour our new regional office and training centre in Oro-Medonte, where he was hosted by Business Manager Mike Gallagher, OETIO Executive Director Rick Kerr, Director of Training and Apprenticeship Jeff Hewitt and Toronto Area Supervisor Justin O’Neill. As well as talking to training staff and apprentices and trying his hand on the state-of-the-art simulator, Zerucelli and Business Manager Gallagher discussed a range of topics of interest to our members, including gaining government support for the building of […]

Canada’s Secretary of State (Labour) John Zerucelli was the latest high-profile visitor to tour our new regional office and training centre in Oro-Medonte, where he was hosted by Business Manager Mike Gallagher, OETIO Executive Director Rick Kerr, Director of Training and Apprenticeship Jeff Hewitt and Toronto Area Supervisor Justin O’Neill.

As well as talking to training staff and apprentices and trying his hand on the state-of-the-art simulator, Zerucelli and Business Manager Gallagher discussed a range of topics of interest to our members, including gaining government support for the building of new training facilities in Sarnia, Sudbury and Hamilton and for the redevelopment of the industrial property at 2285 Speers Road.

Other topics on the agenda included:

• Nunavut – the need for the federal government to support our members at the Baffinland mine and ensure the Steensby railroad is built by union contractors.
• Jobsite safety – our hope that the committee looking into the use of rotating telehandlers in crane mode determines that they do meet the definition of a crane under current CSA standards.
• Pipelines – that the government supports the construction of a proposed pipeline from Alberta to Sarnia as a project of national interest.
• Investing in Canada – to develop more favourable conditions to encourage Canadian union pension funds to invest in Canadian projects of national interest.

Business Manager Gallagher said, “The secretary of state was impressed by what we have created here in Oro-Medonte and I told him that with enough government support we could get those new training facilities built in two years instead of five!

“We agreed to keep communicating on those issues and also touched on the proposed Bill C-39. He said there is a misunderstanding out there about what is in the bill and made it clear that nobody in government is trying to remove the right to strike from unions. He urged us to put a brief into Minister for Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu laying out our concerns and what we feel could be improved in the bill – so that was very reassuring.”

Local 793 Business Manager Mike Gallagher and IUOE General President John Downey cut the ribbon on the stunning new regional office and training centre in Oro-Medonte on Friday, September 18. The magnitude of the occasion was underlined by the attendance list, which as well as the General President, included IUOE Canadian Regional Director Patrick Campbell, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development Trevor Jones, Attorney General Doug Downey, Skilled Trades Ontario CEO Candice White and Ontario Federation of Labour president Laura Walton. Brother Downey, who […]

Local 793 Business Manager Mike Gallagher and IUOE General President John Downey cut the ribbon on the stunning new regional office and training centre in Oro-Medonte on Friday, September 18.

The magnitude of the occasion was underlined by the attendance list, which as well as the General President, included IUOE Canadian Regional Director Patrick Campbell, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development Trevor Jones, Attorney General Doug Downey, Skilled Trades Ontario CEO Candice White and Ontario Federation of Labour president Laura Walton.

Brother Downey, who made a special trip from Washington to be present, said, “We all know the importance of these types of investments. It demonstrates that we are training on the most up to date, state-of-the-art machines there are – the stuff that is being used out there on jobsites today.

“Congratulations to the membership of Local 793, who should be very proud of this accomplishment, and congratulations to Brother Gallagher for all your hard work on behalf of this membership – they’re lucky to have you and all the officers here working hard on their behalf.”

Premier Ford, who was present at the groundbreaking almost two years ago, was delighted to be back to see the finished building, which received $4.9 billion through the provincial government’s Skills Development Fund. He promised, “We’re never going to stop investing in workers!”

Brother Gallagher was understandably proud of the new facility, which will not only train future generations of OEs but serve as a permanent home for members in the Barrie area.

He said, “Here’s the vision realized. It feels almost like a dream. I remember when I was first elected back in 1996, the picture was somewhat different. Now it feels like we’re just hitting our stride. We’ve got more to do!”

First on the Business Manager’s to-do list is to build a new office for members in the Hamilton area, work on which has already begun.

 

Local 793 Business Manager Mike Gallagher’s message for members ahead of the Labour Day weekend celebrations.

Local 793 Business Manager Mike Gallagher’s message for members ahead of the Labour Day weekend celebrations.