LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Ken Stewart's involvement with the Union of Northern Workers started with a slap.

While working in Fort Smith in 1979 Stewart's boss hit him with a backhand to the face. Some of Stewart's co-workers, who happened to be members of his union's executive, witnessed the exchange and informed him of his rights as a member of what was then the NWT Public Service Association. Within a few months he became the shop steward for his local and then the president.

Ken Stewart was acclaimed in October as the new Deh Cho regional vice-president of the Union of Northern Workers. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

"The more I learned about the union the more I got involved," Stewart said.

Stewart went on to be part of the union leadership everywhere he worked including Cambridge Bay, Inuvik and Rankin Inlet. In October Stewart was acclaimed as the Deh Cho regional vice-president for the Union of Northern Workers (UNW). Stewart plans to use his years of experience with the union to benefit the two executives in the region.

The Deh Cho region of the UNW was created in approximately 2005 and is the newest in the territory. As a result few of the 404 members have experience with union management, said Stewart.

This inexperience has led to high turnover levels in the executives of the region's two locals, Local 31 in Fort Providence and Local 13 in Fort Simpson, something Stewart hopes to address.

"A union is only as strong as its weakest link," he said.

Stewart plans to strengthen the union from the grass roots in the Deh Cho by working with the locals' executives and with the members so they know who to contact if they have a problem. Stewart will also be relaying the locals' concerns to the UNW when the eight-member executive meets every third month in Yellowknife.

"I'm the voice of the membership," Stewart said.

As part of his grassroots movement Stewart is trying to establish a new local in Fort Liard. There are people interested in holding office and the community has the required 30 members needed to form a new local, he said.

Stewart is also making himself available to members at the regional union office in the Mackenzie Business Centre in Fort Simpson. The office is open Mondays to Fridays from 7 to 8 a.m. and 5 to 6 p.m.

Speaking from the office Stewart said what he likes about the union is the all for one, one for all philosophy. The same rules apply for everyone and nothing is correct until everyone is looked after, he said.

"You care for one another," said Stewart, who's a finance officer with Dehcho Health and Social Services.

Stewart will be the regional vice-president for one year, completing the final year of the three-year term of previous vice-president Candy Brown who has stepped down.

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