KITCHENER, Ontario, Nov. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The General Presidents’ Maintenance Committee for Canada (GPMC) and the National Maintenance Council for Canada (NMC) announced the Craftperson of the Year Awards as part of the 2023 Canadian Safety Achievement Awards (CS2A) recently held at the Bell Studio National Music Centre in Calgary, Alberta. The CS2A is a national awards program designed to showcase exceptional health and safety performance of stakeholders within the confines of the unionized maintenance industry.
The Craftperson of the Year Award honours outstanding craftsmanship, professionalism, and safety leadership of a skilled building trades union member through their performance on a maintenance job. Elise Mailloux was awarded the coveted C2SA award for Craftsperson of the Year 2023 in Western Canada. Mailloux is a Journeyperson Iron Worker (Local Union 720) working for Connect Group Inc (CGI) at Suncor. She discovered iron work was her passion after taking a course and apprenticeship in welding and ornamental/structural iron working. Mailloux became the first fully certified female ironworker in 1998.
Robert Foster was the recipient of the CS2A Craftperson of the Year 2023 in Eastern Canada. Foster’s career spans over forty years, and he is an 18-year NAUSC certified UA job steward (Local Union 663). His contributions to work and process safety have created a safer working environment. His inspiration for his career came from his father, who was also a UA pipefitter.
“The dedication of building trades members who tirelessly work to improve safety conditions on the job site is inspiring,” states Charmaine Symmers, Director of the CS2A program. “With an abundance of outstanding candidates to choose from, we elected to select two deserving winners: one individual from Eastern Canada and one from Western Canada. This decision reflects the exceptional craftsmanship and commitment to excellence demonstrated by our pool of diverse nominees.”
The Craftperson of the Year 2023 winners each received a prize package donated by event sponsor, Milwaukee Tool, in addition to a trophy, and cheque for $5,000 from the GPMC/NMC.
More information about the CS2A can be found at www.CS2A.ca.
About General Presidents’ Maintenance Committee for Canada and the National Maintenance Council for Canada (GPMC/NMC)
The General Presidents’ Maintenance Committee for Canada and the National Maintenance Council for Canada is an alliance of International Building Trades Unions that negotiates and administers labour agreements for maintenance work at industrial plants across Canada. The agreements make it possible for industry to employ up to 13 different construction trades under a single set of terms and conditions. The alliance, in cooperation with Contractors and Project Owners provides stable, long-term agreements for routine industrial maintenance and short-term agreements for plant shutdowns and intermittent maintenance. The GPMC/NMC was created in 1952 and negotiated its first contract to cover maintenance work at what is now the Shell Refinery in Sarnia, Ontario. Today, the Committee administers collective agreements in seven out of the ten Canadian provinces and serves a wide range of industrial sectors.
For more information:
Nicole Sendey
Communications Manager
General Presidents’ Maintenance Committee for Canada and the National Maintenance Council for Canada (GPMC/NMC)
Email:nsendey@gpmccanada.com
Office:(519)744-4762
Cell:(250) 802-2858
