May 13, 2020

Hello Brothers and Sisters,

I was nominated to run for EA Shop Stewart in this election and after giving it a lot of thought I have decided to let my name stand. I have been an EA in Richmond for 20 years. My hire date is September 7, 2000. I have worked all over the district, spent a lot of time on call going everywhere (even Hamilton). I spent most of my time in Elementary School (Grauer, Byng, Gilmore) and a few years at McMath. I owe a debt of gratitude to the many EA’s I have worked with over the years who have taught me so much, mostly by example, about how to help stu- dents be the best that they can be. I have been down-sized, declared surplus, laid oﬀ, had hours cut, been spit on, yelled at, bitten, disrespected, not invited to important meetings, asked to do the job of 3 people and all the other things that happen to EA’s. I know what it’s like. The EA Shop Steward represents the largest group in the district and is deserving of better representation than they have been getting.

When I started to work at Byng in 2001, I was brought to the union meeting by a coworker. She thought I should know something about it (thank you Melanie). I have always gone to meetings, sometimes more than others, when issues seemed pressing, but I found them interesting and I understood that I had my decent job with pretty good benefits because of the union (among other things). Last year, the executive was struggling for people to help and I became involved as the Sargent at Arms. I was told that my job was to buy the coﬀee and the donuts for the General Meetings and come to the executive meetings once a month. I was promised a voice at the table. I started to get more involved because I wanted to help. My friend and co-worker Loreen came along with me and volunteered too. We did it together.

Once I was elected, I started attending executive meetings (as well as General meetings) once a month and listening to what was happening. It was interesting. I learned a lot about the managers and the problems people were having. I was privileged to go for shop steward training the end of February and became the IT Shop Steward around the same time because it seemed that nobody wanted the job. That’s how a lot of jobs get filled in the Union unfortunately. Then March hit and all this has happened around us and to us and the plight of EA’s got real interesting. That’s when we really needed a strong EA leader to step up and help us. The concerns were many but there was no EA Shop Steward to guide us or give us information. It became clear to me then that there is more that I could do.

The Shop Steward is an important link between the union members and the Union leaders. A link that has been missing. If I am elected as your EA Shop Steward I will listen to your concerns. I will work to establish regular communication among EA’s and I will bring your concerns forward to the executive meetings and inform you of what has happened. I will be accountable to you by providing regular reports. I will represent you to the best of my ability to management. I will seek out training and workshops to become better trained to serve you better. I have a special love/concern for Health and Safety and will be really interested in all things related to that, particularly as it concerns EA’s.

I see a vision of our Union, Cupe 716, working together with the managers and stakeholders of District 38 to make Richmond a great place to lead and learn or something like that.

Please register to vote, and vote for me on May 19. I will do my best for you.

In Solidarity,

Dianne Ryan dianneryan101@hotmail.com

Please email with any questions