Voting to take place February 2015; Meeting Schedule Linked Below
Following careful consideration and deliberation, UFCW Canada Local 1000A’s Executive Board is proposing changes to the make-up of the Executive Board to be more inclusive and provide fairer representation of our local union’s membership. Under the leadership of President Pearl Sawyer, the board undertook an extensive evaluation of Local 1000A’s changing membership makeup, trade sector composition and bargaining unit locations.
Although the existing Executive Board structure has served our union well in the past, our membership and our workplaces have changed. Local 1000A represents nearly 30,000 members covered by some 50 collective agreements. Along with changes in some and growth in other of our more traditional bargaining units, workers from not so traditional trade sectors are seeking representation by our local. As your leadership, one of our responsibilities is to consider our membership changes and turn our minds to whether our current Executive Board structure continues to reflect our overall membership. We have come to the conclusion that change would be beneficial.
The amendments proposed will see the existing board structure change from a “banner” specific structure to a trade “sector” structure, allowing more members that work in the various regions the opportunity to run for elected positions.
The proposed amendments deal with “Article VII - Local Union Officers” and “Article XII - Elections” as they relate to the elected positions of the Executive Board.
All eligible members are able to vote and be nominated for the positions of President, Secretary Treasurer, Recorder and one (1) Vice President from the membership at large.
In order to vote and be nominated to a Vice President position within the trade sectors and geographic regions, eligible members must work within a bargaining unit within the specific trade sector and geographic region.
Under the proposed changes, the position of Executive Vice President would be eliminated as an elected position and the local union Executive Board will increase from 13 officers to a total of 17 officers. In addition to the positions of President, Secretary-Treasurer, Recorder and one (1) Vice President nominated and elected from the membership at large, there would be 13 Vice President positions that would be numerically designated and elected from the membership in the trade sectors and geographic regions as outlined in Article VII, Section A.3. of the bylaw amendments on the insert contained in this issue of Connections.
The full proposed bylaw amendments can be found on the insert contained in the Winter 2014 Connections magazine.
Changing the structure of the Executive Board involves amending our current bylaws. In compliance with the UFCW International Constitution and the local union bylaws, amendments to the local union bylaws are required to be adopted by a two-thirds majority vote of active members voting. Bylaw amendments properly adopted by the membership must be filed with and approved by the International President to be effective.
Membership meetings have been scheduled for February 2015, at which, members will have the opportunity to vote on the proposed bylaw amendments. Please see page 8 and 9 to find out the date and time of the meeting scheduled for your workplace location. At the conclusion of each vote, the ballot box(es) will be sealed and returned to the local union office. Ballot boxes will be opened and ballots counted on Monday March 2nd at 10:00 am at the union office at 70 Creditview Road, Woodbridge, ON L4L 9N4.
If you would like to be a scrutineer at the counting of ballots on March 2nd, please email your name, workplace, complete mailing address and contact number where you can be reached to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., prior to February 13 at 4:00 pm.
Please note: if passed, the amendments would come into effect for the next UFCW Canada Local 1000A Executive Board elections which will be conducted during the six (6) month period preceding the expiration of the current term of office (December 31, 2016), as provided in the local union’s bylaws.
Further information will be provided at the membership meetings in February.
Download Meeting Schedule Here
