History
I.U.O.E. Local 942 History
In 1976 those employees of the PEI acute care health system that were not already members of the Nurses Union or CUPE formed together to create the General Hospital Employees Association. Their first collective agreement was negotiated in 1976 with the assistance of a former Deputy Minister of Labor, Merrill McAlduff.
Following that experience, the Executive of the day felt they wanted to maintain their independence but needed help with collective bargaining matters. In 1978 a service contract was entered into with the IUOE Local 721C and then later with Local 902. This formed the beginning of the group’s relationship with the Operating Engineers.
It soon became apparent that an employees association could not meet all the needs of a growing membership nor could it cope with the larger union organizations all vying for increased membership numbers. One option that would provide greater protection for the members and still permit an independent operation was offered by the IUOE. On Oct.1, 1980 the International issued a Charter to IUOE Local 942 which granted the GHEA full status in the OE family but also allowed it to continue to govern its own affairs.
In 1985 the Local then made its next significant move by hiring its first fulltime Business Representative. Ted Crockett who had been Local 902’s Business Manager agreed to come with us to oversee the day to day affairs of the Local. Ted left the Local in 1995 to go on staff with the International Union and Paul Beauregard, a Charlottetown lawyer who had worked with the Local on previous occasions was hired to fill the vacancy.
On Nov.1, 2007, with the support of the International, Local 902 was merged into Local 942. This was not a difficult transition as there had been a long standing relationship between the two locals. So, today Local 942 has provincial jurisdiction for all Stationary and Hoisting and Portable work under the IUOE Constitution. In 2009, the Local elected its first full fledged Business Manager. Tammy Chaisson, the Local’s President took on the added duties of B.M.
From its simple roots in 1976, the Local has grown from some 370 members to almost 1,000 members. Today we represent health care professionals and working people in a wide variety of occupations. We have our own building, an expanded full time staff and have established a respected identity within the provincial labor movement and our own International.
We have been fortunate over the past 30 years to have members that gave freely of their time and talents to help build our local. There are too many to name but we would remiss if did not name a few who played particularly key roles; Deanna Bingham, Gerri Mitchell, Ethel Murphy, Lee White, Morag Harper and Sheila Robinson who all served as our Local’s President and Gail Ling, who is the longest serving officer of the Local.
