James Coccola, a member of Component 12, was elected as a BCGEU Executive Vice-President at the 2017 Constitutional Convention

James was elected to his first term as executive vice president (EVP) at the BCGEU’s 2017 convention.

Prior to becoming an EVP, he was a member of Local 1201, a steward, a member of his local and component executives, and an executive member of the Victoria Labour Council. 

His work background is as a research and data analyst for the B.C. government. He also worked for an environmental non-profit and was the chairperson of the University of Victoria students' society.

Doug Kinna joined the BCGEU in 1993 working as an Income Assistance Worker. Since then he has been advocating for his co-workers in many capacities, including shop steward, chair of Local 601, Occupational Health & Safety Trainer, member of the Public Service Bargaining Committee, and Vice President for Component 6.

Doug has worked to create partnerships between Component 6 and community organizations whose work reflects members’ interests, and has been directly active in the wider community through his involvement with in many BCGEU campaigns.

He lives in Victoria, still working for the Ministry of Social Development and Innovation, and is the proud father of 4 daughters, 1 step-daughter, and 2 step-sons.

Doug was elected as one of the BCGEU Executive Vice-Presidents at the 2017 Constitutional Convention.

Kari Michaels, a member of Component 7, was elected as a BCGEU Executive Vice-President at the 2017 Constitutional Convention

In June 2017, Kari Michaels was elected as Executive Vice President of the BCGEU, making her the second youngest person to ever hold that position and one of the youngest labour leaders in Canada.

Kari joined the BCGEU as a member when she and her co-workers at Kwantlen Student Association formed a union at their worksite. She quickly became active, first as a bargaining committee member and subsequently stepping up as a steward.

Besides being an active leader in her workplace, Kari has been deeply involved with the larger union as: the young worker representative on both Local 704 and the Component 7 executive; Local 704 first vice-chairperson; a member of the BCGEU Young Workers Committee; and member of the joint labour management committee.

Kari is a passionate advocate for social justice and believes in building workers’ capacity to take action to improve their working conditions through education and training.

Dean Purdy is a 29-year BCGEU member who works for the Ministry of Justice as a corrections officer in Victoria.

Dean has been the elected leader of Component 1 – Corrections and Sheriff Services – since 2006 and has held a variety of other elected positions in the BCGEU for over 22 years. Dean is a member of the Public Service Bargaining Council, chairperson on the Joint Union/Ministry Labour Management Committee, and a member of the union’s Grievance Appeal Committee and Resolution Committee.

Passionate about workplace safety and fairness, Dean has been a key voice in the BCGEU’s Prison Safety Now campaign, launched in 2016. Aimed to address safety and staffing levels in B.C.’s correctional facilities, the campaign has been successful engaging members, gaining media attention, and drawing attention to the need for reform in workplace safety regulations in B.C.

Andrea Duncan is the vice president of BCGEU’s Community Social Services (CSS) component. As the elected representative of over 10,000 members, Andrea advocates for better working conditions in the sector and better outcomes for the vulnerable individuals our caring professionals support.

An early childhood educator, Andrea has been a member of the BCGEU since 1998. Her union activism began when she was encouraged to become a shop steward and her involvement grew from there. She is a co-chair of the BCGEU International Solidarity committee where she has been an advocate for worker and human rights around the world.

In addition to her international Solidarity work, Andrea serves on the union’s Finance, Grievance Appeals, Women’s Committee, chairs the Community Social Services Bargaining Association and has been an active participant on numerous union campaigns.

Pamela Pye is the first vice-chairperson of Component 3 – Community Social services and their second representative to the Provincial Executive.

As a life skills worker in the community living sector, Pamela works with adults with developmental disabilities and has a passion for helping individuals achieve their goals and function inclusively in their communities.

A BCGEU member since 2006, Pamela’s union activism began when she organized her worksite that same year and took on the role of shop steward. She has since held progressively senior elected positions and has sat on numerous committees including joint occupational health & safety, grievance appeals and labour management and currently sits on the BCGEU provincial executive women’s committee.

Pamela has worked on many campaigns to improve working conditions for members in CSS and has participated in three rounds of bargaining for the sector. With a strong advocacy focus around occupational health and safety, she works to ensure employers are held accountable to safety regulations so that workers may return home to their families free of injury each day.

Mahen was elected as the BCGEU vice president for Component 4 – Health Services – in December 2018.

Mahen has been a BCGEU member since 1992 when he started working at Riverview Hospital. Since becoming a steward in 1994, he has dedicated over 20 years to improve working conditions on union Joint Labour Management, Grievance Appeal, Equity and Bargaining committees. Mahen has put in countless hours towards improving working conditions for Health Services workers within his local over the years. He served as chair and executive of Local 203 and executive member of Component 2, until the closure of Riverview Hospital in 2014, at which point he moved to the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital and joined Component 4.

Mahen has worked as a rehabilitation worker, vocational counsellor and health care worker. He believes that unions have an important role to play in translating the voices of workers into concrete actions that build better, safer working conditions and create a strong work life balance.

As the first vice chairperson of Component 4 – Health Services, Cina is the second representative of her component on the union's Provincial Executive.

Working in the Public Health Inspector field for Vancouver Island Health Authority, Cina has been a member of the BCGEU for almost 30 years. She was first elected as a steward in 2011 and to the Provincial Executive in 2019.

Drawing on her experience and training in adult education, one of Cina's great passions in the union has been facilitating occupational health and safety (OH&S) courses. She places great value on staying grounded to the concerns and interests of all BCGEU members at the grassroots level. Through her work on OH&S courses and leadership in the Area 02 Cross Component Committee, Cina has ensured that these concerns form the foundation of our union's work.

Kusam is the BCGEU vice president for Component 5 – Retail Stores and Warehouse – having been elected to the position in 2018. She works as a Sales Associate at a Vancouver liquor store and has worked with the Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) since 2001. Kusam holds a degree in Criminology and Psychology from Simon Fraser University.

Shortly after being hired, Kusam made the decision to become a shop steward in order to assist co-workers who were being mistreated or having their rights violated. A short time later, she became an occupational health and safety (OH&S) rep and has served as an OH&S facilitator since 2011.

During her time as a BCGEU member, Kusam has been involved in union fightback and anti-privatization campaigns. She first became a local executive officer in 2008 as a member-at-large and has served as a local treasurer since 2009.

Kusam served as 1st vice chairperson for the Component 5 executive from 2015 to 2018, when she was elected vice president. Kusam serves on a number of provincial executive committees, including: public service bargaining, Article 29 co-chair, provincial OH&S, finance, and constitution and structure.

Judy Fox-McGuire is the vice president of the over 7,400 members in Component 6, representing social workers, probation officers and healthcare workers among others. She was elected on June 2017 after 13 years of being an active member of the BCGEU.

Judy was briefly a member in the 1980’s when she worked as a sheriff, but returned as a BCGEU member in 2002 working as a probation officer in Fort St. John. In her time as a BCGEU member, she has held multiple positions with the union, including shop steward, Local 610 chair, Component 6 vice chair and cross-component committee member.

As Component 6 VP, Judy is focused on deepening engagement with membership, improving the occupational health and safety of workers, and empowering workers ahead of the bargaining.

Cynthia is the second vice-chairperson of Component 6 – Social Information and Health and their 2nd representative to the Provincial Executive.

Cynthia joined the BCGEU as a court clerk in local 1207 in 1993. Her union activism began when she was encouraged to become a “mail contact,” then a shop steward, and her involvement grew from there.

In 2002 she began work as a Family Justice Counsellor and Component 6 member in Prince George. As a Family Justice Counsellor, Cynthia assists families to resolve disagreements about marriage, separation, divorce, parenting schedules, child support, and spousal support through mediation. Since then she has returned to Kamloops in this role.

Cynthia was elected to the Provincial Executive in June 2019 and is active in a number of elected roles in the BCGEU. She takes pride in policing the Collective Agreement and standing up for her members by filing grievances at any worksite where she thinks the CA is being broken.

Joanna started her teaching career as an instructor at Malaspina College (which is now Vancouver Island University) in 2005. A long-time union member and supporter of trade unionism, Joanna’s path to union activism started in 2008 as a full-time instructor in the Adult Basic Education Department at Malaspina when she eagerly sought out her BCGEU Steward to help with a worksite issue and learned firsthand the power of her new union and her collective agreement. From that moment onward, she took every opportunity to learn about her union and get involved, eventually serving as a Local Chair as well as on bargaining committees and Component Executive.

Prior to being acclaimed to the position of Executive Vice President in January 2019, Joanna was BCGEU Vice President for Component 7 – Education, Scientific, Technical, and Administration.

Joanna is just as passionate about her union’s work on social justice initiatives as a way of improving the working lives, families and communities of BCGEU’s members and all working people in British Columbia.

Scott De Long became a BCGEU member in 1994 and currently serves the first vice-chairperson of Component 8 – Community Health Services. Scott first became a steward in 2000 when his employer started to bully staff, and he got involved to stand up to management.

Since his early involvement, Scott has served his union in a variety of roles including organizer, shop steward, OHS rep, OSH facilitator, local executive, component executive. Scott was elected to the Provincial Executive in 2015. 

Scott resides in Victoria and currently works as a mental health and addictions worker for Island Health. When not involved with the union Scott enjoys golf, travel, horses, and is a proud father of two.

The third vice chair of Component 8 – Community Health, Rick was elected to be his component’s second representative to the Provincial Executive in 2018.

A Residential Supervisor at Lookout Housing and Health Society, Rick’s path to the BCGEU was not straightforward. After his earlier career as a carpenter was derailed by a job-related injury, he retrained as an addictions support worker and joined the union when he started at Lookout in 2012.

His lifelong readiness to advocate for and empower those who are less-able led not only to his work in addictions support, but was also seen by his colleagues at Lookout who urged him to become active in their union.

Drawing on his work and prior life experience, Rick is incredibly passionate about Health and Safety in our workplaces. He sees respectful communication and true collaboration between union and management as essential pieces of a safe workplace that allows members to excel in their work.

Rick is a proud father and lives in Surrey.

Rory Smith – a 24-year BCGEU member – has represented members of Component 10 – Operational Services – as their Vice President since 2014.

Starting as a machine operator in 1993, Rory has continued his work in the highways maintenance sector as a stock person and now as a purchasing agent. He has served on the highways bargaining committee for over a decade and is a member of the BCGEU Constitution, Occupational Health and Safety, and Grievance Appeals committees.

As vice president for Component 10, Rory has made it a goal to secure a healthy future for the membership’s financial and employment future with changes to the BCGEU Pension Plan and successorship in the highways sector.

Maria Middlemiss became a BCGEU member in 1995 and served as a steward for two decades. She has been a member at large on the local executive, chair of local 1201, and component 1st vice president. She was elected component vice president in 2016. 

Maria is passionate about women’s issues — especially breaking down barriers in the workplace. One of the first disputes she handled as a steward was over the mistreatment of a group of part-time women members. The employer was unfairly taking them to task over missing work to care for sick children, despite being their families’ main caregivers.

Coming from an administrative services background, she knows firsthand that women in jobs primarily and traditionally performed by women rarely receive the respect they deserve. That’s why she has directed several union-driven campaigns to win recognition for the important work BCGEU members do.

Middlemiss works with the Ministry of Health’s PharmaCare program and lives in Victoria.

Matt Damario began work in the B.C. Government in 2008, mostly as a court clerk with the Ministry of Justice - Court Services. He has also done temporary work assignments with the Residential Tenancy Branch and the BC Human Rights Tribunal. 

Elected as a steward at his worksite shortly after joining the public service, Matt served as the young worker representative on Local 1203 for about a year before being elected their chairperson and joining the Component 12 executive. At the time, he was 27-years-old and one of the youngest local chairs in the union. He has also been a co-chair on his worksite’s Occupational Health & Safety committee and served two terms on the executive of the Vancouver and District Labour Council. 

In 2016, he was elected first-vice chairperson of his component, which made him the second representative for the component on the provincial executive. 

He holds a BA with honours in history with a minor in English literature. 

He has also been active with municipal politics and with the NDP both federally and provincially.

Dave MacDonald is the vice president of the General Services Component of the BCGEU. This component represents casinos, hotels, banks and credit unions, is one of the union's fastest growing components, and is leading the way in anti-bullying initiatives at the BCGEU.

Dave has been a member of the BCGEU since 1986 and has worked for BC Place Stadium over this same period in different roles before taking on his current position as trades lead hand. Dave became a steward shortly after he was initially hired and was actively involved in the organizing process when BC Place Stadium joined the BCGEU. Since then, Dave has been involved in every round of negotiations representing workers at his worksite, improving working conditions, and making life better for his co-workers.

Dave always looks forward to welcoming new members to General Services and appreciates the diversity of worksites and jobs within the component.

Jennifer is the first vice-chairperson of Component 17 - General Services of the BCGEU. She is the component’s second representative on the Provincial Executive.

Jennifer has been a BCGEU member since 2002, working at Union Bay Credit Union on Vancouver Island. A steward for many years, Jennifer has chaired her worksite’s bargaining committee, leading negotiations for three new contracts. As the local chair for 1702 Jennifer has taken an active role over the years in growing the union on the North Island including organizing the Lighthouse Branch of Union Bay Credit Union with the BCGEU in 2015. She has devoted considerable time to building solidarity and power across the unionized financial workplaces in B.C. by helping to revitalize the Financial Institutions Bargaining Council, which she chaired for nearly five years.

A long-time resident of Vancouver Island, Jennifer lives on her farm in Fanny Bay where she raises cattle, horses, chickens, ducks, and the occasional llama and alpaca.

Rob is the BCGEU vice president for Component 20 – Environmental Technical & Operational and was elected in June 2018.

Rob joined the BCGEU in 1989 working in the Riverview Hospital Laboratory, and since 2003 at the Plant and Animal Health Laboratories of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Since then he has been advocating for his co-workers in many capacities, including shop steward, chair of Locals 2003 and 2004, Article 29 committee member, member of the Component 20 bargaining committee, and component treasurer.

Rob has worked to help raise the profile of smaller groups to ensure all members are represented by the Environmental, Technical and Operational Component of the BCGEU.

He lives in Abbotsford with his wife Caroline, who both work for the Ministry of Agriculture, and are proud parents of a teenage son.