Porter, Red Deer Hospital, Local 057 Chapter 004
Unions are like families - just ask Janice Skeldon. The Red Deer Hospital Porter has spent much of her career being an active member of her union, advocating for herself and her coworkers and learning the details of her worksite rights, especially occupational health and safety.
She was excited when her daughter, Erin, began working at the hospital and joined the union, too. But for many years, Erin teetered on the sidelines of union activism, never getting too involved.
"She was on the fringe but heard me talking union and defending people. I think it began to filter in with her and now she''s starting to get more confident and stand up for others," Janice said.
That culminated with Erin attending her first ever AUPE Convention last year.
"I almost cried. It meant so much," said Janice. "I think until then she saw the union as our two chapters at the hospital. Now she has realized how diverse and large it really is. Like a big family."
Janice has always tried to show her sisters and brothers in the union the ropes and makes sure to spend the time to show others how to look up their collective agreement and how to interpret the articles within it. More than showing them, she tries to teach them how to access information about their union and things like collective bargaining and their role in it.
She has worked to educate and engage her coworkers on the union, why it matters and how they can get more involved.
"People see me at the hospital as the ''union person,'' she says. "But I try to educate people. I say, ''So are you!''"