About 30 rank-and-file members of UFCW Canada local unions from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick got together in February for an education program conducted by the union’s Eastern Provinces Council (EPC). The three-day session, held in Memramcook, N.B., included courses on union stewardship as well as health-and-safety training for activists.

EPC President Mark Dobson – who is also UFCW Canada’s regional director for the Atlantic provinces – opened the school with welcoming remarks, and thanked those in attendance for wanting to learn to help their co-workers. The courses were facilitated by local union as well as National Office staff.

“The participants were really enthusiastic about getting back to their workplaces and putting their newly-acquired tools into action,” Mark says. “In just three days, they learned a lot about protecting the rights of members as well as building union solidarity.”

Vol. X No. 8, March 1, 2010