Hello Cupe 716 Brothers and Sisters,
My name is Dianne Ryan and I have been nominated for EA Shop Steward in the upcoming
election. I am honoured and humbled to stand for this position again.
I have been an Education Assistant in Richmond since September 2000 and have worked around
the District, mostly in elementary but a few years in high school too. I have been involved with
our Union on and off for all those years. Sometimes I was more interested than others, like when
I was laid off, when we were on strike, or when I was working with a particularly violent student,
the union was much more interesting to me then. I was grateful for the work that people did on
my behalf and I could see that I had a good job with good benefits and some pension because of
the Union.
2 years ago, I volunteered, and was elected to be Sargeant at Arms for our union because they
seemed to be really hurting for people to help out and people told me that this job would be easy.
I was given a voice at the table. I soon became the IT Shop steward, as there was no one to do
that job. I started to learn about being a shop steward. I started taking some Union education
when it was available to me. I started to see and learn about Cupe 716 and how things worked.
My friend Loreen also got involved so we have journeyed together which has made it more fun.
In May last year I was nominated and elected your EA Shop Steward. It has been a challenging
year for many of us with prolonged uncertainty and continuous stress. I found out that your EA
Shop Steward is busy with inquiries about many things coming from many directions. There has
been much to learn and most of it lately has been on line. Winter school, attended on line, Cupe
National Convention, on line, investigations, on line, executive meetings, on line, everything on
line. I miss people. I can only handle so much zoom. I am tired but I have never been prouder to
be an Education Assistant. The work we do every day has been proven essential and I can’t
imagine what our work place would be without many of the EAs I work with every day.
It would be my great honour to continue to represent you as your EA Shop Steward and I am
seeking your support for re-election. Please take a few minutes to vote for me during the
upcoming election from May 8-10. The union is you and every vote counts. Thank you for your
time and consideration.
In Solidarity,
Dianne Ryan