UFCW LOCAL 832 YOUTH PRESIDENT TALKS ABOUT RECENT NDP CONVENTION

My name is Justin Gilchuk and I had the opportunity to attend the NDP Provincial Convention as a UFCW delegate. I would like to start off by saying thank you to UFCW Local 832, and in particular Robert Ziegler, Susan Hart-Kulbaba and MaryJohnson for allowing me to be a representative delegate of UFCW at the Provincial NDP Convention held February 2nd and 3rd here in Winnipeg. It was an honour to be sent as a delegate, this being my first convention.  After starting off slow, not knowing what to do or expect, I quickly picked up things and got right into it.    It was enlightening to watch the contentious issues being debated such as the “one-member- one-vote vs. a delegated convention” issue, which became highly debated and time on the issue extended. I also enjoyed the debate on “union certification” which is extremely important to me. I actually chose to speak

Local 832 Youth President Justin Gilchuk with Premier Gary Doer at this years NDP Convention

in favour of this resolution debate, which was passed almost unanimously to put forth to government, to resolve that union auto-certification be changed to 50% + 1 of all union cards signed needed, instead of the current 65%. During the convention, I attended a few caucus meetings such as the Winnipeg District caucus and the Labour caucus. I also attended the MYND (Manitoba Young New Democrats) annual general meeting, where I participated in the discussions and elections for MYND Executive. I was nominated, then elected as Member At Large on the MYND Executive for this year. Over the course of the weekend, I also had the opportunity to assist Brian Nixon, the NDP Prairie Regional Organizer for the federal party. I was there to assist Brian as he escorted and managed Jack Layton. Part of our duties was to escort Jack to and from the airport. It was a real eye-opener on seeing the intricacies involved in the Leader’s tour. Seeing the federal leader up close and being able to speak to him one-on-one was a fantastic opportunity I could never have had without the chance to assist Brian. Gary Doer and Jack Layton both made excellent speeches during the course of the weekend. Both speeches touched on issues at hand such as the economy and the environment. Getting to chat and mingle with Premier Gary Doer and NDP Federal Leader Jack Layton was a great opportunity to find out and discuss the issues at hand for the party. In all the convention was great. I had a good time and learned a lot. The only wayto get the real feeling of the convention is to throw yourself into it and participate as much as possible.

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UFCW Canada is always looking for young members to get involved. If you are interested in any of UFCW Canada's youth programs or have any questions, please contact us at 416.675.1104 or youth@ufcw.ca

For more information please contact the National Training and Education Department.


Archive 2006.