Shanette Dallyn, Local 342P

POS Pilot Plant
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Just two months after graduate in Geoenvironmental Sciences was hired at the POS Pilot Plant, Shanette Dallyn stood up to become shop steward. “In the history of POS there had been a lot of workplace issues with the management, so the union had been a huge blessing and help for the members here.”

Shanette is just one of two women process operators on the 25-member operations staff at the Saskatoon laboratory and facility that designs and tests high tech production systems for the making of  everything from biodiesel, to vitamins. While she only just completed her First Step steward training in March 2008, Shanette’s commitment goes much further back.

“I’ve always had a high regard and respect for unions. They make it fair setting for every one, so that the people who actually do the work don’t get stepped on.”

After attending a UFCW Canada Women’s Conference at nearby Local 1400 in Saskatoon, Shanette returned even more convinced of the role unions play in promoting gender equality in the workplace.

“We are equals and we should be treated as equals. A lot men, and women, don’t realize the huge contribution women make in the workforce.”

“My goal in the union is to be a shop steward for now. I do work in a male-dominated workplace, so I see it as part of my responsibility that there still be an equal voice for women here. And while I did get kind of the cold shoulder from some of my co-workers when I first arrived here, I’ve proven I can do as good as job or better, so now I have their confidence.”

“It’s vital that women be respected equally in the workforce. Sometimes we have to fight tooth-and-nail to get it, and having a union is part of that.”

“So I’ve always been aligned with the principles of solidarity — that equality is a human right, and that when workers of both genders stand together as one voice, it makes us all stronger.”