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Archived BAC Articles for Canadian Members

Local 1 Quebec Members and Leaders Proud to be BAC
A Message from Director/Financial Secretary Mario Basilico
March - April 2004

It’s great to be back with the IUBAC.

Local 1 Quebec is proud to be part of the IUBAC’s long tradition and dedication to the trowel trades. After an absence of more than 19 years, it was easy for Local 1 to re-affiliate after meeting President John Flynn, Secretary-Treasurer Jim Boland, the Executive Board, Canadian Director Joe Bognar, and all of the Business Managers across Canada.

What most impressed us about the IUBAC leadership is their belief in the advancement of the trowel trades and their concern for the grass roots membership.

In the province of Quebec it’s mandatory to be unionized if you work in the construction industry. During a ‘raiding period,’ workers can change their union affiliation. As a result, Local 1 is always on the lookout to try to develop better ways to attract and keep members.

Local 1 Quebec has embraced a philosophy and priority of service, service, and service. We are on job sites every day; visibility is one of the ways our members know we’re working for them. We give our members the 24-hour promise: if they call us with a problem on a job, we’re there within 24 hours of the call. Visibility, one-on-one communication, and a sense of belonging are very important to maintaining our membership.

We have also developed a network of contacts in all the trade schools, which gives us access to new people and the chance to explain what we are all about. Since we began this practice, about 25 percent of all new members come from the provincial trade schools.

When our members wear our t-shirts, caps, and hardhats
on jobs, we see and feel their sense of pride in belonging to Local 1 of the IUBAC. Our dedication to service, pride and belonging has allowed Local 1’s membership to go from just over 200 members in 1996 to over 900 active members in 2004.