In July, District 6 assembled 450 members, staff and guests in St. John’s, N.L., as part of the district’s triennial conference. With the theme “We’re Ready,” the conference featured plenary sessions, workshops and an educational field trip.
The conference kicked off with an Inuit welcome and blessing from Danny Pottle from the First Light St. John’s Friendship Centre and included an address from then-District 6 Director Myles Sullivan, as well as presentations from a number of guests, among them district directors from across the union. Shelley Savoury, USW Local 1976-551 Unit President, acted as the conference’s master of ceremonies, setting the tone with her local expertise.
In his keynote address, Sullivan emphasized how the theme connects to the work USW members do back home and will be doing in the future.
“It means we’re ready to bargain strong collective agreements,” said Sullivan. “We’re ready to organize and welcome new members from all sectors of the economy to join our union. We’re ready to educate our members and to give them the skills they need to carry out the work of our union.”
Roxanne Brown, USW International Vice-President at Large, spoke about how the USW and the labour movement have won key fights, including a U.S. industrial policy never seen before, introduced by the Biden-Harris Administration.
“Our union has taken on equally significant longstanding fights here in Canada and we’ve won – you’ve won. We’ve won by staying ready,” said Brown. She congratulated delegates on the recent success of federal anti-scab legislation becoming law.
During the conference, members visited Bell Island to learn about the union’s important labour history representing underground miners. The mine closed in 1961, but Steelworkers made numerous health and safety improvements while the mine was operational.
Participants also took part in a series of workshops focused on raising the bar on women’s health and safety, action on ending gender-based violence, political action, finding your voice in the union, building power at work and preventing and dealing with harassment in the workplace.
Want to learn more about the conference? Visit usw.ca
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