Reflecting the Past Illuminating the Future with John Wabb - Episode #15

As we wrap up 2025, the CUSW Spotlight Podcast turns the spotlight inward for a meaningful reflection on where we’ve been and where we’re headed.

CUSW Chair John Wabb joins host Dan Plexman for a year-in-review conversation that explores the progress, challenges, and collective wins that shaped 2025. From expanded member participation and committee-driven initiatives to a growing emphasis on psychological safety, inclusion, and respectful workplaces, this episode highlights the work happening across the Union, both seen and unseen.

John also looks ahead to 2026, an important election year for CUSW, and explains how workplace elections, national leadership roles, and committees all connect to the union’s bottom-up structure. The conversation reinforces a core message: "Every member has a voice, and every contribution matters."

Whether you’re curious about how CUSW operates, considering getting more involved, or simply want a clearer picture of the union’s direction, this episode offers insight, clarity, and encouragement to be part of what’s next.

Want to connect with John or learn more?  Feel free to reach out to him directly at jwabb@cusw.ca 

Don’t forget to visit www.cusw.ca to explore more opportunities and resources. 

If you have a story to share, a guest to suggest, or a topic you’d like to hear on the podcast, email us at podcast@cusw.ca. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with your friends and colleagues to help shine the spotlight on the incredible work happening at CUSW! 
 

🔻 Learn More About CUSW

Discover who we are and what we stand for: CUSW - Who We Are

🔻 Stay Informed

Get the latest news and updates: CUSW News

🔻 Get in Touch

Need to contact CUSW? Find out how: CUSW Contact Page

🔻 Get Involved

Explore opportunities to participate and make a difference: CUSW Participation Model

🔻 Never Miss an Episode

Catch up on all our podcast episodes here: Listen Here

🎧 Listen Anytime, Anywhere! – Find our podcast on all major directories, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more.

📺 Watch the Podcast on YouTube! – Subscribe and watch full episodes on our official YouTube channel. Watch Here

🎵 Music Credits: Music Credits: Original music by Glen MacNeil (lyrics, vocals, guitar) with production by Brad MacNeil.

Tune in, stay inspired, and keep shining that CUSW spotlight!

Transcript

Hello everyone, and thanks for joining us on this episode of the CUSW Spotlight Podcast. We're coming into the end of the year of 2025, and we have been really, really busy, very active, very progressive year for all of us at CUSW.

And on this episode, we are going to have John Wabb, the chair of CUSW, and we are going to go over the year in review of 2025 and get a little bit into 2026.

Hey John, how's it going today?

Very good, Dan, how are you?

I'm doing very well, this is our second time having you on the show, so thanks again for joining us.

These podcasts have really turned out well. It really does give our members an opportunity to share their stories and their background and just to give the membership as a whole, a better idea of what we're up to. I look forward to our conversation today.

 Getting some of the reviews back from some of the members and other people who are watching the show, it's nice to hear that people are enjoying it. 

And I can only speak for myself and I can say I'm really having a good time hosting the show and learning about everybody.

It's kind of unique how learning about the individuals, we're learning more about the Union and how the process works. So yeah, it's just a win-win in both ways.

Yeah. When you think of it, what is a Union?

A Union is a group of individuals that are trying to make things better for one another, right?

To be able to take the time and stop for a minute and sort of look back on how the year went and what we're planning on doing in 2026, it's an important part of communicating to the rest of the organization where we're going, and how they can participate, how they can be included in these exciting initiatives that we've got underway.

Looking back at the year in 2025, what have been some of the highlights for you personally and for the group in general?

 I don't know where the year went. But, I guess it's a reflection of how busy we all are.

Next year is an election year, so we have been working diligently with the training and education committee, making sure that we've got training in place, members that want to participate in leadership roles, are able to do that and understand what those roles are all about.

Back in June, we did a National Executive Board orientation, where a number of members came together, it was a good exercise for us, because we don't always stop and read through the constitution the way that we should, right?

And making sure everything is structured in place, so that was a learning lesson.

We did it again in October, and I thinkthere's a number of members that have a better understanding of what the National Executive Board does and what their role is in governance over the organization. So that's just one example. When you look at the National Social Committee, they've hosted some excellent events over  the year.

 Just recently, they had their kids event at the Toronto Zoo, which is positive. Of course they had the Canada's Wonderland event. I think there was upwards of 700 - 800 members and their families, so you can imagine the chaos at Canada's Wonderland that day.

And when you look at the Health Safety and Wellness conference that I know you and Nasia are a big part of organizing and putting that together,

again the event with the Halloween theme in the evening with all of the members and their families the friendly competition around

 who's got the most unique costume. So, lots of fun in that area. Communications Committee, engaged in putting the newsletter together. I think if members were to go on the website and look at the newsletters of 2024 and then the most recent newsletter that came out this fall, lots of changes there, lots of improvements and a lot more Units and National Committees being engaged in sharing what they are doing across Canada.

So very positive activities.

Growth and Opportunity Committee, growing our opportunities in different provinces. We've got members working in different locations across Canada.

You know, we've always had members that live in different provinces and territories across Canada, so being able to develop work opportunities a little bit closer to home has been positive.

Yeah, I totally agree there, John.

 And talking about all the different events that the Social Committee, the Values and Beliefs, the Health Safety and Wellness Committee, all our committees have come together and provide a lot of good enjoyment for all of our members, but it's also a learning opportunity as well.

So it's nice that we  are getting the full gamut of everything, especially throughout the whole year. Like you said, the year just flew by.

For me being part of the Health Safety Wellness Committee and planning our Health Safety and Wellness conference,

it blows my mind that we finished the conference and now we're already planning next year. Sometimes it's a little bit daunting, realizing how much work we have to do, but we all come together, we get things done, and it's just the CUSW family, how we work things, sort of thing.

And talk about the family, developing our relationships, our colleagues within the Union, are there any relationships that have developed or have grown stronger for you within the CUSW family over the last year, John?

Yeah, I think when you go and attend quarterly workshops, workplace representative training and quarterly meetings and that sort of thing, there's more and more people engaged in the work that has to get done for these events to occur. Representation in the workplace can be a challenge and you have to give credit to the members that step up and function as workplace Union stewards and joint Health and Safety Committee members.

Those are not always easy tasks.

We work in a very dangerous environment and ensuring that issues that do come up get resolved. And in the workplace, we've introduced the joint committees now, and we are engaging even more of our members in that relationship with the employer.

Union supervisors, Union stewards, Union health and safety reps, apprentices have a voice at those tables, so just in general, the relationship with so many different members, and the number that are coming forward and raising their hand and saying, "Hey, I want to  participate, I've got some good ideas,

I've got some time to invest in this and I want to see it better for everyone" you know, those relationships have grown.

We've got a very robust, organizing recruitment activity. We've got new members joining the organization to fill employment opportunities in Quebec,

which again, when you think of the relationships that we have developed with other independent Canadian Unions who are focused on making lives better for Canadian workers and their families.

That's a huge achievement.

Our relationship with the Power Workers Union, with people in Quebec, with CLAC on different projects out West, with CMAW in British Columbia, with the Confederation of Canadian Unions, it sure makes a big  difference when you know that there's a larger group of Canadian workers that have similar issues and we can come together and start to address them, right?

Those relationships are important to us. Tom MacLean and Gary Fiege and the work that they are doing in growth and business development, engaging new employers, new work opportunities, our members have skills that employers and industry are interested in, right?

When you look at the nuclear industry, we have the largest number of nuclear qualified workers in Canada.

With the work that we do at Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation, the work that we do with the Power Workers Union and the Appendix A opportunities, we have a highly qualified group of skilled trades that do that work.

The transmission line work, the distribution line work that we do, the  telecommunications work, the relationships that we are building with smaller contractors that have a multi-trade blended workforce model that helps their business grow and thrive. Maybe the average member doesn't see all of the things that we're doing on a regular basis, but we're definitely working with others and developing relationships that are going to go a long way in the future to ensure that our members have decent income, decent working conditions and they can supply or provide for their family.

 In our world is a big, a big topic. Yeah.

 You made a really good point there

 that brought a light to my mind, because there's a lot of things going on behind the scenes.

And if you are a regular member and you actually want to see what's going on behind the scenes,

just put your hand up and we'll find a spot for you. We're looking for active participants, we're looking for people to contribute.

You are always welcome to join our committees.

Yeah. Every member that goes to work and contributes to our success every single day, that's an important part.

I know work life balance is more of a topic of conversation within the members and society in general and recognizing that people have work, they have family, they have interests, but it is important to take some time and participate in the organization, even if it's just responding to a survey or responding to a question that one of the committees put out, or a conversation that you're having with a committee member at the lunchroom table or at Canada's Wonderland event or, you know, one of the Unit Christmas parties or year-end holiday parties.

Those opportunities to interact with one another and let your opinion be heard, those things matter, it changes the way that we grow as an organization and the priorities that we believe are important to us, right?

We have to hear from the members and that helps us, direct.

Yeah, exactly. Even going to some of these events that we partake in, lots of times in the official capacity, yes, I am learning, I am contributing, but there's lots of times when I walk away thinking the conversation I had

 in the hallways, sometimes those are the breakthroughs for you or for myself anyway.

I can't speak for everybody.

 2025 has been busy and we've been growing in the direction that we want to grow.

More participation from members, recommendations, opinions, ideas coming forward that changed the course.

So 2026 is just around the corner and it's going to be a big year for us, right?

2027 is a convention year.

2026 is election year, starting with workplace elections for stewards and health and safety reps.

They're the frontline folks, day-to-day, making sure people are safe in the workplace and that they've got a respectful, positive work environment, they're getting the conditions that are laid out in the collective agreement are being upheld for both the employer and the members benefits.

 Elections later in the year, National Executive Board and National Committees and Units and then we wrap up with convention delegates at the end of the year.

Lots of opportunity for members to participate.

Like you say, if they want to put up their hand and chip into the conversation, do some of the hard work that's got to get done, it makes it easier if there's more people involved.

I'm wondering if you could clarify something for some of the viewers at home who might not understand the different terms we are talking about here.

When you are talking about an election year 2026 and then a convention year 2027, can you give a little bit of a brief description of each, and what's the difference between the two?

Sure.

The elections are an opportunity for members to nominate other members into leadership roles, whether it's workplace National Committees, Units, National Executive Board.Over the last term we've had a good increase in participation from members. It starts with nomination.

Dan can't raise his hand and say, "I want to be a steward" someone has to say to Dan, "I think you'd make a good Union steward and I'd like to nominate you for that position,

I think you'd be a good Unit Executive member or a National Committee member, or I think you would do well in representing us on the National Executive Board."

Those nominations are where the process starts, the member then has to say, "Yes, I'll accept that nomination"

And then, they campaign a little bit, communicate with the rest of the members and we go through an election process.

So that sort of puts our leadership in place, in advance of the convention. So the convention is focused on, you know, we do a good job in gathering members and making sure that the convention delegates are a diverse group from within the membership, so that we've got a good cross section of members participating as delegates, because they're making decisions and having debates around resolutions to change the Constitution on behalf of the members.

So we have approximately 120 to 140 delegates that are nominated and elected in October through December of the year of 2026.

And then, in parallel, the Constitution committee and the National Executive Board will be asking the members to put forward resolutions to change the Constitution.

And the Constitution, when you read through it, it's the highest authority of the Union.

It really lays out how the organization is structured, the roles and responsibilities of those leaders within the Constitution.

And when you read the objects, it does focus on what is the purpose of the Union.

It does go beyond representation in the workplace. It does go beyond organizing unorganized workplaces, right?

It goes further to say, you know, not only do we support our members, we support our retirees and the things that they need in retirement.

It talks about, members that are injured or ill.

How do we help them through those situations.

How do we ensure families have dental care and vision care and all of those things that we do as an organization, is all identified in the Constitution.

So it's an important document.

It's how we operate and how we interact with one another.

And this whole idea of participation and taking authority and spreading it through the organization rather than having, if you go back to previous conventions, we used to have a President and that President had certain roles and responsibilities.

Well, we've changed that.

The National Executive Board, we've taken the term President out of the Constitution and replaced it with Chairperson.

But the board now has many of the responsibilities that the President had.

So again, that spreads it out, right?

The idea of the National Committees having resources to go and research different topics and bring those recommendations back to the board.

It's a very different structure than you see in traditional Union structures.

Yeah, we are bottom up, for sure.

Yeah. Based on member participation and member control and the direction of the organization.

So that's important to us.

To get together and debate, it's..

What are we into our 26th, 27th year now?

Yeah.

And we've tried different things over the years, if you go back and look at the different constitutions, there's significant change when you read the 99' constitution to the 2023 constitution.

Well, for sure!

The world has changed so much in the last 25-26 years as well.

Sure has.

Yeah.

How do we even keep up? Just the technology side of things in the past five to ten years, all the Zoom calls that we're experiencing because of COVID, that kind of thing.

 Things have changed, we've had to change a lot.

And our members have adapted to those new needs, new technologies.

The fact that we can have members who live in all parts of Canada, come to a monthly National Executive Board meeting, that's one of the things that we do regularly now, Units and National Committees are invited,

we set aside an hour, it usually gobbles up an hour and a half or two hours in conversation, but it's time well spent. 'Cause we're hearing from leaders within the organization and they are bringing the recommendations and ideas forward and most importantly, sharing the good things that they are doing all across.

Yeah. I think as far as individually and collectively as a Union, we definitely roll with the punches.

 And we do get punches thrown our way and we come together and overcome them.

 We don't step back from what our values and beliefs are.

We fight for them and we continue with them.

And it can be a challenge.

Go back to the day to day activities of a workplace Union steward and a workplace joint Health and Safety Committee member.

There's a constant need for improving, making those workplaces safer and more respectful, more inclusive. And at the end of the day, we all have common goals.

You want to be able to go to work and do a good job and have pride in the work that you do, but also, be treated fairly and respectfully and arrive home safe to the family at the end of the day.

Yeah, that's one thing I've actually noticed that has changed in the last, let's say two or three years. 

I truly feel there's more of a focus and more of a dedication from everybody involved in our Union, involved in the industry where we're actually focusing on not making just workplaces safe physically, we are making emotionally and psychologically safe workplaces.

And that's a huge step for us to take.

And it's noticeable, especially this last year, I truly believe that.

Yeah. Psychological safety impacts your physical safety, and I know you've talked about this many times at Health and Safety conferences and different events that you've been at.

But if you don't feel safe, you don't feel there's trust there,

that your opinions arerespected,

if you don't feel that you can speak up and have a discussion with your supervisor and your coworkers, if we're not doing that, hazards go unseen or undetected or ignored, and the next thing you know, we're in trouble.

So that discussion around diversity, inclusion, equity, good mental health supports, psychological safety, all of those things, protect us at the end of the day. In the sectors that we currently work in, there's nobody better than our membership in understanding how work gets done, safely, good quality, good productivity.

The industry is happy to have that work relationship with us.

Some days it can be a challenge and we may not agree on the path to getting to where we need to go, but, you know, the expansion of our joint committees allows workers to sit down with management and iron those issues out, and come up with solutions that both parties can get behind, and it's good for business and good for our members.

 Exactly. And we are on the right path, we're not just making decisions without actually making plans and preparing for things.

 And 2026 is coming up. We've talked about what is actually coming up with the elections and with the convention year 2027.

Is there anything else, a message you'd like to send home with everybody watching today as far as what 2026 is going to have for us and what we can look forward to in 2026?

I think what we've been pushing the last couple of months here, is sitting down with the National Committees and having a good discussion around their mandates, their strategic goals, and we've really shift that process from strategy that's put together by the National Executive Board, you know, the strategy that we are coming out of 2025 with, and going into 2026, is a member's driven strategy.

And that's important to us.

 I think we've got a lot of work to do on respectful treatment of one another and recognizing there are differences, but those differences can come together and improve our position.

Diversity is important.

Different opinions is important to get to the right place.

But we do still have challenges around how members interact with one another, how management interacts with members,

we've got workplaces where we've got other Unions involved, and we've got a lot of work to do to ensure that we have welcoming workplaces where members feel safe.

You know, when you talk about harassment, and sexual harassment, and discrimination that occurs within society, we'd be pretty naive to think that those  things don't actually occur in our workplaces. And I think 2026 is a year that we're going to see a change in leadership, but

 I think we're going to see more of a focus on our human rights policy, our equality policy, our judicial code policies, and making sure that we are living up to the words that are laid out in those policies.

When we open meetings, whether it's a National Executive Board meeting, a Unit meeting, quarterly workshops, whatever the event, we do take the time to have a reconciliation moment and talk about our relationship with the Indigenous Community across Canada, and understand what we can do to reconcile our history there.

We have an inclusion moment that talks about, you know, our diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and

where our Values and Beliefs fit into that.

So I think those conversations are  important, but words don't always go far enough, and we need to do more education.

We've got a good partnership with Interval House of Hamilton, we've got a good partnership with Electricity Human Resource Canada and the initiatives that they support, we've got the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum and the equity conferences that they hold,

so we've got some good partners there that I think we can

 get a better understanding of how we can improve on, and ensure no one feels discriminated against. No one feels harassed in the workplace. No one feels sexually harassed in the workplace.

If our members are experiencing those things, we need to do more to support them and prevent that from happening.

And I think it starts with educating our members as a whole on what that means, and what our expectations are when we're interacting with one another.

And hopefully those things will transition into society, because you only have to read the newspaper or listen to the news or get on your smartphone and scroll through what's happening in the world.

There's a need for more unity and more respect and working with one another.

Lots to do around that in 2026.

For sure, especially if you compare the numbers of society and the numbers of the industry that we work in, those numbers aren't the same as far as population goes.

Like, society has the regular amount of women and men the way it's supposed to be, our industry is very, very top heavy on the man side, and with the focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion nowadays and with our workforce becoming much higher in the women's side, which is great, the workforce is going to be visually changed for us.

Yeah.

Now is the time for us to get a grip on all of this new DEI, diversity, equity, inclusion, 'cause everybody is just as important as the next.

It's not just a topic of conversation, like we've experienced very positive outcomes in having a more diverse workplace, whether it's indigenous, community members participating, women in trades, new Canadians participating,

but we do have to recognize, we come from different cultures, different upbringings, and we need to figure out how we can be respectful of one another and educate each other on the differences.

But at the end of the day, those diverse ideas and thoughts make it better for everybody,

 whether it's safety equipment or work equipment that we use, just approaches to our work procedures and introducing new technology, having diversity in those forums where we're talking about it and learning about it, it benefits everybody at the end of the day.

Yeah, exactly. Just because you've done it one way your whole life doesn't mean Joe beside you can't do it his way, and be just as good at it sort of thing.

 There's so many avenues for us to grow and for us to build within ourselves and within the Union, within the industries that we take part of.

Yeah, our Constitution is built on that, right?

Yep.

Like I said before, we are not a traditionally structured Union. We just aren't.

And having that diversity of thought in the conversation has just made our organization that much better. So..

Yeah.

 And none of these milestones happen without the relationships, and these relationships never happen without a conversation.

And that's how it all starts with just being open and ready to listen to your fellow workers, listen to our colleagues.

Is our Union brothers and sisters.

Yeah. Nope, we're doing well.

We really are. John, on behalf of the CUSW Union, everybody who follows you, who's behind you, we all appreciate all the hard work you put in the last 25 years of service building the Union,

you've done a lot for all of us and I myself, I truly thank you for being part of it, and I'm sure everybody else does as well. As we sign off here today, any words of parting for you?

Yeah, just on that topic, I'm just another member like everybody else.

 My unit is the central unit, right?

Me and my family, we live in Whitby and I've worked across the province as both an electrician as a power line technician.

So, I've got the same background and the same base that all the other members that are in leadership roles come from, and I've had good mentors over the years.

So, just everybody keep that in mind.

Every member has a place to participate 'cause you've got good thoughts and good ideas and we're all moving in the right direction.

That's sort of a year end message.

I think it's important that we stop in a lot of our workplaces, we take an extended break over the holiday season, and regardless of your culture and your background, take the time to recharge the batteries, spend some extra time with family and friends.

And one thing I'd ask, and this has been pretty much a common theme over the years, is stop for a moment and think of the individual members that have retired.

They might be dealing with a family illness.

They may have been injured in the workplace, and they're not in that work every day interacting with the people that they spend a lot of time with.

Just stop for a moment and pick up the phone and give them a call or send them an email or a text and say hi, and how you doing?

 It can be a challenge over this time of year, for folks that are lonely or without family or not just in the groove as they normally are, and interacting with friends at work and family and that sort of thing.

So don't forget to take a minute and be thankful for where we are as individuals and our families.

But think of the folks that you've worked with over the year.

It doesn't hurt to pick up the phone and have a laugh, and reminisce a little bit.

As you've said many times before, the people that we work with, we tend to spend more time with them than our families, particularly our members that travel distances to work, and are away for, you know, a week or two weeks or three weeks on end to provide for, take the time to appreciate it.

There's folks that need our support and may not be as well off as a lot of our folks are, and it doesn't hurt to connect and say hi and encourage them.

Yeah.

That's for sure. From somebody who spent a lot of time in the hospital and a lot of time at home recovering, getting those unexpected phone calls, it can actually change your entire day. It can change your entire week. So it's a great point. Yeah.

It can change your life, as you've said.

 Yeah. Yep. It really, really does.

Well, John, I think we're coming to the point we're going to dim the lights on the podcast, and I truly appreciate you for being on the Spotlight today.

And for everybody at home who's interested in contacting John or contacting myself, please refer to the page at the end of the show, and you can find our information there.

Maybe you have some show suggestions., maybe you want to be a guest on the show, we'd love to hear from you.

Maybe you'd like to participate in one of the committees. Get in touch with us. We want your participation.

And on behalf of everybody at the CUSW Spotlight Podcast, the Canadian Union of Skilled Workers, thank you for everything, John, thanks to the membership for putting in such an incredible progressive year and enjoy the holidays everybody. Thank you.

Yeah, enjoy the holidays Dan and Nasia. Take care.

Take care, John.

Bye.