Our Members

A Day in the Life of a Teamster

A Day in the Life of Doug McLean

Doug is the Filtration Technician/Operator at Lakeport Breweries in Hamilton, Ontario and has been with the beer maker for 16 years. He has also been a Teamster for 19 years. The process he manages is a complex one and Doug’s skills help provide consumers of the variety of Lakeport products with the consistency and taste that keep beer drinkers coming back time and again for their favourite brand. Doug and his wife Jane have a 22-year old son Jim, and the former soccer player’s passion off the job is spending as much quality time as he can cruising the streets and hills around Hamilton on his Harley.

 
     

Doug monitors the source beer for the filtration process in Lakeport’s storage celler.

 

This part of the process filters out any suspended solids in the beer that are left over including hops and yeast.

     
 
     

This is the step in beer making where the filling process begins on it’s journey towards bottling.

  

Testing for oxygen and CO2 are an important part of the process to insure product consistency.
     

A Day in the Life of George Stockwell

George Stockwell has been a Service Provider at UPS working out of the Airway facility for 19 years. He has been a Teamster for all of those years and enjoyed his position as Shop Steward for the last 15 of them. He prides himself on knowing 50% of the 500 or so members of Local 938 working at UPS Airway, on a first name basis, an important requirement of a shop steward who is working closely with members and management. George greets about 100 customers during an average day’s work and loves his interaction with them. The Stockwell’s including wife Ileana, Meagan 26, Michael 19, and Adrian 18 live in the historic Streetsville area of Mississauga. Oldest daughter Tara 26 lives in Australia.

 
     

UPS Pre-Loader Marie Campbell helps get George
on the road by loading his delivery truck with
customer packages.

  

Prior to his early morning deliveries, George ties up union business with Operations Supervisor Doug Taylor.
     
 
     

George conducts a final inspection and delivery schedule before heading out to his customers.

  

Canadian Tire customer Cindy Hamlin signs for her package.

     

A Day in the Life of Patricia Wilson

Patricia Wilson took a job with Cott Beverages right after graduation 16 years ago and she loves her job as much today as she did then. The 16-year Teamster is a Quality Assurance Technician with the company. “My colleagues and I have to make sure that the quality of Cott products are within governed standards and that the ingredients that are supposed to be in the companies drinks are in fact there. “What I like about my job is that you don’t see the same four walls every day” Patricia claims, “and all of us in the Quality Assurance Lab have been working together as a team for a long time and get along so well .” Her day starts at 6:30 a.m. and finishes at 3:00 in the afternoon so she is able to miss the traffic from her long commute from the family’s home in Barrie, Ontario. This way, daughters Nicole 6 and Samantha 4 get to see more of Mom while Dad manages the family’s travel agency in Barrie. When the time allows, Patricia and the family like to be outdoors, riding bikes and swimming. “I also love to cook” adds the self proclaimed gourmet, “and entertaining friends and family is a big part of our lives. Being a member of the Teamsters this long has been a positive experience for me” she says, “I’m happy that they are there in case they are needed.”

 
     
Patricia conducts tests to measure the amount of acid in Cott Beverages diet products.
   Working with colleague Armando Tamondong, the Quality Assurance Lead Hand, micro samples on sensitive products are tested to make certain that they are microbiologically sound.
     
 
     
Patricia checks to make sure that correct labeling and capping is completed on the finished products.   The fill test uses X-ray equipment to determine how much volume is in the can. If it is low, the can is rejected.
 

A Day in the Life of Cathy Piper

Cathy Piper is in her 7th year driving and performing other duties for Cardinal Coach Lines. A typical day starts at 6:00 a.m. where she conducts a “Circle Check” of all company vehicles to insure that they are operating at peak efficiency for her fellow drivers and the safety of the young passengers that will be in their charge throughout the day. She completes three runs, A.M., Lunch and P.M. and can be chauffeuring everyone from Jr. Kindergarten  to High School teens to kids with a variety of handicaps. In between these shifts she can sometimes be found in the dispatch Centre, directing traffic. She has won several safe driving awards, is an alternate shop steward and serves on the Health and Safety Committee. In her spare time, she operates her own event planning company and will look after your wedding, celebrations of any kind and even funerals. Like the relationship youngsters going to school have with their crossing guard, “bus drivers gain the same admiration and respect from the kids also” she claims. “That’s the best part of the job – put me in a school bus for 24 hours a day and I’m happy”.

Cathy is particularly proud to be a Teamster and was part of the negotiating committee that completed a 5-year contract recently with Cardinal. “Life is good here” she says, “and I feel with the strong relationship that management and the employees have here at Cardinal we have set a precedent for others in the bussing industry to emulate.”

   
         
Cathy Piper heads out on her first run of the day at Cardinal Coach Lines   Cathy performs a "Circle Check" of her vehicle before starting the day   Cathy can occasionally be found directing traffic in the busy dispatch centre at Cardinal