IUOE Local 793 continues to grow and is in great overall shape. That was the message from Business Manager Mike Gallagher at the General Membership meeting on Sunday, September 25, at the OE Banquet and Conference Centre in Oakville.
Business Manager Gallagher told the 144 members in attendance that Local 793 had now grown to more than 18,200 and were being served by 205 staff members.
He asked, “Who would have believed 10 years ago that we would have grown to that number?”
Business Manager Gallagher congratulated former financial secretary and Northeastern Ontario area supervisor Bob Turpin and former executive board member and business rep Tony Wark on their recent retirements. As well, Barrie area business rep Justin O’Neill and Southcentral Ontario area supervisor Virgil Nosè were welcomed to their new roles on the executive board.
It was announced that retired business rep and former union trustee Alcino Silveira has been added to the ranks of the Lifetime Honourary Membership for his distinguished service.
Brother Silveira was initiated in April 1969 and worked on conventional cranes and heavy equipment in the sewer and watermain sector. He was hired as a business rep for the Toronto area in 1986 and was also on the board of directors of Local 793’s non-profit housing corporation in Toronto for eight years.
Delegates representing workers at Baffinland in Nunavut were absent after Business Manager Gallagher had urged them to stay home with their families due to the risk posed by Hurricane Fiona, which menaced much of the eastern seaboard over the weekend.
Looking back on the strike in the spring, Business Manager Gallagher reminded members of what they had achieved – and also some of the challenges they had faced down by standing together.
“I knew that they can’t break our members – they’ve never been able to, and they never will be able to,” Gallagher stated. “Not in a three-week strike and not a five-month strike. We are a solid organization from top to bottom.”
He shared a story about his visit to striking members on the picket line outside Sarens in Cambridge, where management had set up an empty chair at a table to suggest that the Union was not willing to negotiate.
“When we got there, I turned to Dave (Turple) and asked him what we should do about that sign. It bothered us. He suggested we rip it up, but I didn’t think we should do that. I thought about it for three minutes, however, and I went and ripped it up.”
Business Manager Gallagher asked members to have patience as plans to develop district hub offices in plots acquired in Hamilton, Oro-Medonte (serving Barrie and Simcoe County area) and Sarnia, as well as one in Thunder Bay that is due to close shortly, have been paused. He said uncertainty in the wider economy, including talk of a recession next year, makes it vital that any redevelopment does not threaten the Local’s financial stability.
“It’s my responsibility to ensure we’re not spending money when revenue is going down. It will happen and, when we it does, it will be a huge leap forward in terms of the financial strength of this organization.”
Business Manager Gallagher also reiterated his determination to find a property in the Sudbury area for members there.
In closing, a resolution was passed with unanimous support for a motion to offer Local 793’s backing for the re-election of IUOE General President James T. Callahan and his executive board, which includes Local 793 Business Manager Gallagher. The election of IUOE officers will take place at April’s International Conference in Florida.