Change starts here.
Change starts here.
The 18th Annual Labour Appreciation Night was held on Thursday, December 8, at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown.
Thanks to Pacific Blue Cross and BC Life for presenting this year’s Labour Appreciation Night Dinner.
Guests heard from Keynote Speaker Adrian Dix, MLA, Vancouver-Kingsway and Leader of the Official Opposition of British Columbia.
The following Community Service Awards were presented:
Vancouver and District Labour Council
Syd Thompson Community Service Award
– Bill Saunders
Bill Saunders is passionate about culture, education, healthcare, poverty and homelessness and women and immigrants rights. His interest in these areas found voice through his tireless dedication to the Labour movement and numerous community organizations both locally, nationally and internationally.
As former President of the Vancouver and District Labour Council (VDLC), Bill forged relationships between the Labour movement and major ethnic communities across the Lower Mainland and around the world. He was particularly interested in building person-to-person links between Labour organizations in British Columbia and other countries. During his tenure as President of the VDLC, he organized and led five international solidarity tours. After a visit to the Philippines in 2008, he initiated an “Adopt An Organizer” program linking 12 local unions with union and community organizers who were suffering repression and violence.
Bill has also undertaken and supported many initiatives here at home focusing on domestic and temporary foreign workers’ rights. He was instrumental in fundraising and obtaining approval for the City of Vancouver’s first public recognition of an Asian immigrant, Hiroshima survivor and peace activist Kinuko Laskey in 2010.
Bill was also an active United Way volunteer having served on the Board and Campaign Labour Committee.
New Westminster & District Labour Council
Labour Community Service Award
– Renée Poley
Life-long Labour community activist and advocate, Renée Poley was born in Nipawin, Saskatchewan and raised in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Seeing her parents exploited in their workplaces – a bank and a mine – as a child fostered Renée’s interest in union activism and community service.
She is committed to social justice and in particular the rights of persons suffering from mental illness. Her dedication to supporting persons with disabilities began in her early twenties when she realized that her son was developing in a different way from other children. She has served as Chairperson of the Langley Mental Health Advisory Committee, Vice-President of Stepping Stone Community Services Society and is the co-author along with her son of Hope through Compassion and Despair: a supporters guide to assisting persons with mental illness.
A retired British Columbia Government Employees Union (BCGEU) Education Officer, Renée started her career as a shop steward over 30 years ago. In 2005, she received the BCGEU’s highest honour, the Union Life Membership Award.
This honour is reserved for individuals who have given long and exemplary service to members, and who have dedicated their time and commitment to ensuring the union is strong and united.
United Way of the Lower Mainland
Joe Morris Labour Community Service Award
– Michelle Laurie
Michelle Laurie was born in Marville, France, where her father was stationed with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and was raised in Victoria, BC.
A ‘total socialist at heart’ she began her Labour career in north central BC while working at a Cassiar asbestos mine. In the early 1990s, she attended a Canadian Federation of Labour Bread and Roses conference and was inspired by women in non-traditional roles. She has served as President of Local 258, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for almost a decade and as Vice President of the BC Federation of Labour between 2005 and 2010.
Michelle has been a tireless community volunteer working to ensure a just and equitable society where everyone has the benefits and securities necessary to survive. This belief led to her involvement with United Way of the Lower Mainland, where she went from co-chairing the Campaign Labour Committee to chairing the Board of Directors. She is currently serving as Secretary of the Board for United Way/Centraide Canada where she holds a CLC Labour seat. She believes strongly in community investment and in building a healthy, caring and inclusive community for all.
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