CUPE Ontario Convention Re-Elects President and Secretary-Treasurer, Elects 4 VPs

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With CUPE Ontario’s first-ever virtual convention still underway, delegates re-elected Fred Hahn as President and Candace Rennick as Secretary-Treasurer. Additionally, 4 Vice-Presidents were elected.

“I’m so thankful and humbled that the hard-working front-line workers and members of CUPE Ontario have entrusted me yet again with this position,” said Fred Hahn, who has been president of the union representing 280,000 public workers since 2010. "This may be an historic crisis we’re still in, but it’s also an historic opportunity to collectively make Ontario the best possible province it could be. And when I think about how, in the midst of so much uncertainty, we could still always count on the skill, the caring, and the commitment of CUPE Ontario members, I feel incredibly hopeful.”

Prior to his election as president, Hahn served in multiple roles within the union, starting as a member of CUPE Local 2191 when he worked as a residential councillor for children at Community Living Toronto. When first elected president of CUPE Ontario, Hahn made history as the first openly gay provincial leader of a major union in Canada.

“I am honoured to have the continued support and trust of local delegates,” said Candace Rennick, who has held the position of Secretary-Treasurer since 2009. “As we emerge from the pandemic, we can fully expect governments and employers to reintroduce eras of austerity and restraint, and CUPE Ontario is well positioned to fight to defend our members and the services we provide.”

Prior to her election, Rennick also served in multiple roles, beginning as a member of CUPE Local 2280, working as a personal support worker in a Peterborough long-term care home. When first elected secretary-treasurer of CUPE Ontario in 2010, Rennick also made history, becoming the first woman and youngest person ever elected to that position.

CUPE Ontario delegates also elected 4 Vice-Presidents:

Michael Hurley, re-elected as 1^st Vice-President. Hurley has been a member of the CUPE Ontario Executive Board since 1982. He has also been president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) since 1990 and an Ontario Regional Vice-president of CUPE National since 2000. Hurley is from the Perley-Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre in Ottawa.

Yolanda McClean, re-elected as 2^nd Vice-President. McClean is the Equity Vice-President for CUPE 4400 (representing 13,000 Toronto Education Workers), the President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) Canada, and is starting her fourth term as a Diversity Vice-President of CUPE’s National Executive Board.

Tiffany Balducci, elected as 3^rd Vice-President. Balducci, who was previously 4^th Vice-President of CUPE Ontario, is also the President of Durham Northumberland CUPE Council, President of Durham Region Labour Council, a member of CUPE Local 1281, a community organizer with Green Jobs Oshawa, and the Ontario Federation of Labour Vice President.

Brittany Nisbett, elected as 4^th Vice-President. Nisbett was previously a member at large since 2018 for CUPE Ontario’s executive board. She is a member of CUPE Local 2977, representing developmental support services workers in the Niagara Region.

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