Hello, I'm Will Perrie.
Welcome to my campaign website! I’m running for the position of Business Manager of IBEW Local 120. With a strong commitment to our members. I’m dedicated to bringing positive change to our union.
Your Next Business Manager.
Hello Sisters and Brothers, apprentices and licensed electricians. The reason for this website is to help with my campaign to become the Business Manager of IBEW Local 120, your Business Manager! I have been involved with Local 120 for close to 20 years now and am convinced that we are underachieving in an incredibly embarrassing kind of way. Fortunately, with the proper leadership and lots of effort, change is possible!
I’ve learned a lot from my time on our JAC, Stabilization Trust, the Executive Board and as the Organizer. I’ve also built relationships with leaders of other locals across the province. Combining what I’ve learned about our local and hearing how other locals do things, it becomes very clear that we are stuck in our ways which are clearly outdated. Local 120 needs a fresh outlook, a new set of eyes – Local 120 needs change!
The Job Line – We need to use our website for job calls with a push notification when there is a job available and when the job has been awarded. We need to have the winning bidder(s) listed with their hours, along with all the other bidders and their hours. The apprentice out-of-work list needs to be available on the website as well as the journeyperson in-town out-of-work list and out-of-town list. A list of members who have signed the books also needs to be included in the “Members Only” section of the website. Members without internet access can still call the hall for job information just like they do now. We have a “Members Only” section on the website so let’s use it for something productive!
Local Contractors – There’s an old saying: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We are all glad to have had lots of work over the past two years (Maple Leaf, CAMI) and hopeful that the VW announcement will provide lots of work for our members in the near future. What about after that? Our Business Manager needs to be thinking about this – thinking long term – because we do not want a repeat of the way things were for years before the Maple Leaf job started. We need a plan to keep our members working when these large projects are done, when all the out-of-town contractors go home. I believe the best way to do this is by focusing on our local contractors. We have small contractors that want to grow their company. They need a Business Manager they can work with, someone who understands what it is they are trying to do, what they need to do it and someone they can respect and trust. They need time and commitment from a Business Manager who understands that the more successful our contractors are, the more Local 120 members they will hire.
Protection and Respect for Our Members – Many of our members feel our current leadership doesn’t protect or respect us – it’s hard to argue.
We’ve seen members get assessed hours simply because they wanted to take time off. Members should not be penalized when they’ve done nothing wrong and being assessed hours for choosing to take time off is a penalty.
We’ve seen millwrights doing electrical work at the Maple Leaf project with no formal complaints filed against them. There is a scope of practice for electricians for a reason. To blatantly ignore it and allow unqualified people to do electrical work is inexcusable.
We’ve seen members dispatched to the U. S. without their Health and Welfare money being remitted back to Local 120 because the cost “couldn’t be justified” for so few members. Oddly, almost every other Canadian local that sent members to the U. S. managed to support their members. Our members weren’t even given the opportunity to pay for the coverage themselves!
We’ve seen our long term disability coverage stagnate for years. Although the membership passed a motion to increase the coverage, unfortunately, the vote was not held properly so we were told we’d have to wait till May 1, 2024 to have our coverage increased. It is perfectly legal to have this coverage increased within a few months if we were to have a proper vote. Why are we being forced to wait for something the membership already approved?
We’ve heard that our membership is the reason why contractors don’t want to bid on work in our jurisdiction – I still can’t believe we were blamed for this and can’t put into words how incredibly ridiculous it is.
FAQ
COMMUNICATION!
Our collective agreement includes a grievance procedure which allows us to hold accountable any contractor that has broken or ignored any of the rules in it. Obviously, this is a great tool to have at our disposal but it should be a last resort. I think there have been times where better communication could have prevented a grievance situation. And because of poor communication and the subsequent grievances, there is some unnecessary animosity between our current Business Manager and some contractors which is why some contractors are very hesitant to bid on work in our jurisdiction. This approach is not helping our members
Also, as Business Manager I would engage the membership more to find out what they need to make things better and feel more protected at work e.g., having more jobsites with a steward. Our current Business Manager blames everything on our membership, but I am more than willing to admit to my mistakes, listen to constructive criticism from both our members and contractors, and to put in the time and effort to make things better for our membership and to protect our members.
VOTE WILL PERRIE FOR BUSINESS MANAGER/FINANCIAL SECRETARY!
Well, again, better communication. In order to have an engaged membership, our members need to be comfortable approaching the Business Manager with questions, concerns, or ideas, and they need to know that their conversations will be taken seriously. This could mean the Business Manager needs to have a discussion with the Executive Board, or certain Trustees, or maybe it’s a simple decision for the Business Manager alone. Regardless, there has to be a follow-up conversation with the member to explain. I know first-hand that this isn’t happening and other members have shared the same concern. This is just laziness. We need a Business Manager who will work for the membership, who will listen, gather the necessary info to make a decision and then explain their decision.
VOTE WILL PERRIE FOR BUSINESS MANAGER/FINANCIAL SECRETARY!
I think the relationship between our current Business Manager and most of our local contractors is very poor – I don’t think he listens to their concerns, I don’t think he offers any solutions, and I really don’t think he cares if they succeed or not. With most of our contractors, it seems to be a very confrontational type of relationship, until they give up on dealing with him and just take care of a few key employees – no work, no calls, no market share. I think his relationship with out-of-town contractors is the same – they actually had to add language to the ICI Collective Agreement to stop him from forcing mobility workers from physically bringing their proof of employment to the hall. It might feel good to inconvenience these workers because they’re taking work from our members – I understand – but how does it help our members? How can he expect us to believe that he has a good relationship with these contractors after making their workers go through his petty bs. Is it any wonder he can’t get contractors to go after projects that we’re interested in e.g., the Amazon project? He claims he’s “not afraid to make the tough decisions to benefit our membership as a whole” but this is just another example of him choosing his own personal agenda/priorities over the good of the membership – it’s short sighted, narrow minded, and just poor leadership! So, long story short, I would repair and improver the relationship with all of our in-town contractors and the out-of-town contractors that are regulars in our jurisdiction.
VOTE WILL PERRIE FOR BUSINESS MANAGER/FINANCIAL SECRETARY!
A few years after Barrie and Oshawa were forced to amalgamate with Toronto, I had a conversation with Bill Daniels who was the IVP for Canada at the time. He was very emphatic when he said he never wanted to go through that again and I had no reason to doubt him. Unfortunately, he’s since retired and we’ve gone through two International Presidents since then too, so who knows how the current upper management of the IBEW feels about the subject. One thing I’d like to remind our members about is why International Office forced Barrie to amalgamate with Toronto – Barrie had very few local contractors, they had to rely on out-of-town contractors (mainly from Toronto) to get work in their jurisdiction, and the Business Manager always fought against the out-of-town contractors bringing in mobility workers. And as hard as Barrie fought it, they couldn’t stop it from happening. So, even though our current Business Manager claims his relationship with our contractors will stop amalgamation from happening, he’s lying. And not only that, if the Barrie/Toronto contractor situation is any indication, he may actually cause it to happen!
Just like all of you, I have no interest in amalgamation, but to be sure it doesn’t happen, we need a Business Manager who is proactive, who can build solid relationships with all our contractors, and somebody who is willing to put in the time and effort to improve Local 120!
VOTE WILL PERRIE FOR BUSINESS MANAGER/FINANCIAL SECRETARY!
Obviously there is a lot of information to change hands but it is all very straightforward and happens on a regular basis. One of the duties of an outgoing Officer of the Local is to “deliver to their successors all books, papers, money, and other property in their possession belonging to the I.B.E.W. or the L.U. …”. So, working with the past Business Manager to know where all the necessary documentation is located for the different trusts, employee contracts, current and pending financial obligations, etc. will be a very important part of the transition. A new email address will be set up very quickly and passed along to our contractors and other Business Managers and, along with taking over the cell phone number, communication with the new Business Manager will continue without interruption.
Meetings with all the trusts would be set to catch up on all the current and pending issues, as well as to address the issues I have mentioned during my campaign. Being aware of our financial commitments will obviously be key to a smooth transition.
During this transition the office will continue business as usual. Reviewing a copy of the Collective Agreement for the office staff would be in order, as well as any employment contracts for the trainers and organizer. Then, a conversation with everybody working for the membership regarding our plan for moving forward and to make sure everybody is on the same page.
At the first Executive Board Meeting after the election, introductions will be made, plans for moving forward will be laid out, and the real work will begin!
VOTE WILL PERRIE FOR BUSINESS MANAGER/FINANCIAL SECRETARY!
Very Involved! Our members have a lot of knowledge and experience and are willing to share it. Why not take advantage of it? I need your input, questions and suggestions. And your constructive criticism.
The problem we have with our current Business Manager is that he’s not sharing the necessary information needed to make an informed decision e.g., the Health & Welfare vote that we’re having again in order to increase our long-term disability coverage – the trustees were told they had to wait till May 1, 2024 to increase the coverage which is completely untrue. I think this happens regularly and I think it’s because our current Business Manager just doesn’t want to put in the necessary effort to make our local better – he claims he’s willing to update the bidding system “On the direction of the membership…” but he’s known for years that we want this and has done nothing.
We need a Business Manager who will share the necessary information with, and listen to, the Executive Board/Trustees/membership in order to make informed decisions, help our members, and improve our local. And most importantly, we need a Business Manager who is willing to put in the necessary work to implement these decisions.
VOTE WILL PERRIE FOR BUSINESS MANAGER/FINANCIAL SECRETARY!