Vikki Quocksister became president of the Yukon Federation of Labour on July 1.
Her exact duties as president of the federation are still being determined, but she is keeping busy and is excited to learn about the different issues faced by unions in Yukon.
Quocksister has been involved with the organization since 2010 but her union experience extends beyond that time. She has been a rural route carrier with Canada Post for 25 years and an executive member of the Whitehorse local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers for five years. She is currently their secretary-treasurer. As far as she knows, she is the first postal worker to be the president of any labour federation across Canada. She is also YFL’s first aboriginal president.
A member of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation of Campbell River,
B.C., she said she wants to work with Yukon’s First Nations and show them that businesses are interested in working with them.
Quocksister also wants to increase Return to Work courses offered through the Workers’ Compensation Board. “I believe we’re stronger when we’re educated,” she said.
The YFL is experiencing a time of transition, Quocksister said. She follows previous president Don Austin who left for a job in Alberta. Austin became president last July replacing Alex Furlong, who became president in 2010
Furlong, now in Saskatchewan, was elected to a three-year term as regional director for the prairie region of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Long-time YFL member Del Young will serve as vice-president. Ronald Rousseau, who is the president of the local of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, is second vice-president.
The YFL is an umbrella organization of affiliated unions and locals throughout the territory and has over 4,500 members.