Tracy Miller works as a Process Improvement Coordinator for Hydro One and serves as a Unit Director. She was Chair of United Sisters from 2008-2022.
Rebecca Caron works as FLM Inspection and Maintenance at OPG and is President of the Society. She has been the Chair of United Sisters since 2022.
Society President Rebecca Caron and Hydro One Unit Director Tracy Miller
When was the committee created?
TRACY: United Sisters first formed as Sisters in Society in 2008. Prior to 2008, there was a Family Status committee that had dissolved. Now called United Sisters, the committee’s name aligns with the union’s name United Professionals. We want to be a united front.
REBECCA: The committee has really evolved over the years. In 2022, I assumed the role as chair. We put a callout to all the locals for volunteers to participate in the committee to build our capacity and increase representation across the union. We updated the workplan and went through a rebranding exercise. When we changed the name to United Sisters, a new logo was created.
Feb. 22, 1989 - Delegate Alison Barlow at a recruitment luncheon held for Society-represented women.
What inspired the creation of the committee?
TRACY: At the time, the Society was getting more involved with the labour movement through the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). I think its equity committees ignited a spark. Leslie Forge, the Executive Vice-President of Policy at the time, was the only female-elected senior leader in our organization. She sent an email looking to start the committee. There was some encouragement from staff officer Matthew Kellway. We wanted to advance our social justice movement and be more than just the union of the former Ontario Hydro.
"And all our members were walking in this hot pink “Women Rising and Organizing” shirts. It opened my eyes to see that there’s so much that we can do."
I remember in July 2008 there were three of us that had gone to a leadership training course in Cornwall as part of the CLC’s Summer School. It was me, now-President Michelle Johnston and Shirley Hayes, a then-unit director from Bruce Power. We were so motivated and inspired that we ended up designing t-shirts for the Labour Day parade that year. And all our members were walking in this hot pink “Women Rising and Organizing” shirts. It opened my eyes to see that there’s so much that we can do. And we have support from the leadership to do new things – to be leaders and demonstrate the different ways that members can become connected to the union.
What is one way the committee has had an impact on union members?
TRACY: At the beginning, we created a calendar and a cookbook. We did some fundraising for Heart and Stroke and Big Brothers and Big Sisters. We would sell 50-50 tickets at Council and make donations to women’s shelters. The goal was to do more community-based activities that would draw members into the union to connect in a different way than through a grievance or negotiations. We stopped fundraising because it was as if we were becoming the Women’s Axillary. We didn’t want to be the union’s fundraisers.
I think the biggest event that we hosted was An Evening of Empowerment in October 2009. It was a networking event open only to women. You wouldn’t have known that we were in an office. We had decorated it and we had an amazing female-run caterer. We had 50 women show up after work. We had some speakers, and we really dug into issues that were taking place in the workplace. When we did events like this, people showed up. Women were interested. I think that was the event that really inspired me to keep doing this.
Some of the men wanted to know what we were up to. We got a lot of push back, there’s no question about it. We were asked, “Why do you need a Women’s Committee? Then we’ll need a Men’s Committee.” We heard a lot of that rhetoric, but we just kept going. It was demonstrated over and over again that we really needed to do this – have a Women’s Committee.
REBECCA: Our work now has focused on preventing violence and harassment at work through education and awareness. We have supported campaigns that grew out of the CLC’s valuable 2022 report, “Harassment and Violence in Canadian Workplaces: It’s [Not] Part of the Job.” The report is based on a nation-wide survey of nearly 5,000 respondents and highlights the important role the labour movement can play in stopping workplace harassment and violence.
We’ve also participated in the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, which take place from Nov. 25-Dec. 10.
I am proud that we put women in the energy and legal sectors in the spotlight on a global scale through participating in the UN Commission on the Status of Women 2024. The Society joined a panel of women in labour who discussed organizing women against climate change.
We need to determine the barriers that are preventing women from being a part of the workforce and develop “outside the box” strategies where everyone can participate. A workforce where women can unionize and thrive will benefit society as a whole.
What is a lesson you’ve learned looking back on the work you did?
TRACY: When we started the committee, we really struggled around how to do it. So, in 2009, I went to the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) convention. We had put through a resolution about the Women’s Committee. We were trying to get more information about how to start one. We were not the first union in IFPTE to have a women’s committee. It’s in the constitution! Through that process, I became the chair of the international Women’s Committee - and have been since 2009 - only since I asked the question.
What I’ve learned over these last years is that there is no one way to do things. It’s organic, and it needs to change. And what Rebecca is doing is very different from what I was doing. And to me, that’s amazing. You take the leadership that you have in the membership, and you make it something. The committee carries on. And that to me is the sign of success.
Jan. 21, 2017 - Women's March on Washington, Toronto
What can members do to support the committee or their women colleagues in the workplace?
TRACY: Encourage women to get involved and remind them that their voices are important. We need to reach out to them to learn their interests. You don’t have to be a delegate that’s going to fight a grievance. You don’t have to be a Unit Director or Local Vice-President. There’s another space for you to be an advocate or to participate.
I have heard from others that they wouldn’t have done some of the things they’ve done unless they had been asked. So just asking somebody to join you goes a long way.
To get in touch with United Sisters, contact: [email protected].
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