New union will represent hundreds of workers across Nunavut
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
IQALUIT (Sep 21/98) - Forming a new union is about far more than selecting bylaws and approving budgets -- it also involves the tricky task of picking a name and a new logo.
Just ask Doug Workman. As the Baffin regional vice-president for the Union of Northern Workers and a member of its Nunavut Advisory Committee, he has the job of christening the union that will officially replace the UNW in Nunavut during the founding convention in Iqaluit planned for Oct. 16.
"We're no longer going to be known as UNW so we're hoping for a different name and logo that reflects Nunavut," said Workman.
So, to generate as much interest and to garner as many suggestions as possible, Workman and his committee decided to hold a contest among the 1,600 union members and the general public to come up with ideas.
"The actual deadline is Sept. 18, but they can send them in right up to convention day," Workman explained.
With $150 awarded to the person who comes up with the winning logo and $100 for the winning name, Workman said entries in Inuktitut and English are both encouraged and must be sent to him at the UNW office in Iqaluit.
"The more the merrier. I hope it'll be a real dilemma to choose," said Workman.
The actual selection of the winning design and title will be the first order of business during the convention and all 21 of the expected delegates will participate in the decision.
The founding convention for the new union comes five years after the members in Nunavut first suggested separating from the west.
Workman said a desire to have union locals in every hamlet and a more community-based union that focused on eastern issues rather than western politics caused the split.
Delegates headed to the convention include four from the Kitikmeot, four from the Keewatin, four from Baffin North, four from Baffin South and the five-person committee. Other issues tabled for the five- day convention include the budget, the division of the UNWs' assets and liabilities and the ratification of the new union bylaws.
