The Union of Health and Environment Workers’ National Council consists of a full-time National President, a National Vice-President (one full-time), and fifteen Regional Vice-Presidents from the following regions: Atlantic, Newfoundland/Labrador, Scotia-Fundy, New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island, Quebec, National Capital Region, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prairie/Northern, Alberta/B.C./Yukon and British-Columbia/Yukon. This structure was decided upon following the merger between Union of Environment Workers and National Health Union.
The National Council meets twice a year for two or three-day business meetings. At these meetings, new policies are developed, the Policies and Regulations endorsed at Convention and/or at National Council meetings are followed and the operations of the organization are monitored.
UHEW National Council Committees
Shimen Fayad
National President
Shimen Fayad
×National President
Shimen has always been a workplace activist for the fair treatment of all employees. Shimen started as a contract worker for the federal government in 1994. When she realized that contract workers were treated unfairly and against Revenue Canada determination of an employer/employee relationship, she filed a complaint against the employer and in 1996, contract employees were made indeterminate public service employees. A few years later, she led a classification grievance which ended with her and her co-workers being reclassified from a CR-03 to a CR-04. In 2002, Shimen started on the local executive as the Treasurer of her Local. Later, she served as both Local Vice-President and President. From 2008 through 2011, she was an alternate Regional Vice-President and moved up to Regional Vice-President in 2011. In 2014 she was elected as National Vice-President, re-elected in 2017 as NVP and in February 2020 she assumed the role of National President of the Union of Health and Environment Workers following the resignation of the former National President.
In 2021 Shimen became the first woman elected as the National President of the Union of Health and Environment Workers. In this role she is the chief spokesperson for the UHEW and represents the Union on the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s Board of Directors. She also presides over meetings of the UHEW National Council and all sessions of the UHEW National Convention. She interprets the By-Laws of UHEW and is responsible for the overall management of staff and finances of the Union.
Shimen is a strong advocate for trade union principles and for social justice and equality in the workplace and throughout society. She has been and continues to be a mentor and supporter of union women at the local and national levels and she works every day to creating a safe and healthy workplace for all members of the Union of Health and Environment Workers. Shimen believes in fairness and honesty and transparency and is committed to ensuring that she and the Union are open and accountable to the membership.
Benoît Thibault
National Vice-President
Benoît Thibault
×National Vice-President
Benoît has been involved with the Union since 2004 when he became a Shop Steward for Local 10052. A year later, he was elected Local President, position he kept until he was elected Quebec’s UHEW RVP in August 2017. Benoit was also the President for the Eastern Quebec Area Council, from 2012 to 2017. In March 2020, Benoît took on another challenge as he was elected National Vice President for the UHEW. His responsibilities at the national level include supervising the staff of the UHEW National Office, Chair of the Finance Committee, UHEW Lead for NJOHSP, and other National issues as directed by the National President. In addition to his UHEW files, Benoît has been involve with the Joint Learning Program (JLP) for the last 5 years, with more than 30 workshops to his credit and a dozen of the new JLP discussion series.
Karla Levangie-Connor
HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Karla Levangie-Connor
×HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Karla has been a strong union supporter and activist for many years. She was first elected to her Local as Vice-President in 2007 and in 2009 she became President of her Local in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 2014 she was elected as a Component Regional Vice-President and was subsequently elected a Regional Vice-President for UHEW in 2017. Karla has been involved in many UHEW committees and has been active in training at the PSAC and Component levels. She was part of the Committee that developed the first-ever RVP handbook for the Union of Health and Environment Workers.
Robert Chafe
DFO, ECCC
Robert Chafe
×DFO, ECCC
Robert Chafe has been involved in the Union since 2006 when he became a Shop Steward in his Local. This was followed by two years as Chief Shop Steward and then Local Vice-President and President of his Local. He has been a strong advocate for Health and Safety at the local and regional levels and has co-chaired the departmental Labour Management Consultation committee for many years. He is active in the Respectful Workplace Committee and in working with management to ensure that members receive the necessary Covid protection and PPE. He has also been active in the PSAC Area Council in his region and has been UHEW Regional Vice-President for Newfoundland and Labrador since 2017.
Marc Blanchard
DFO, ECCC
Marc Blanchard
×DFO, ECCC
Marc’s first role within the Union was as a shop steward back in 2008. Since then, he has served as both Local Vice President and Local President, eventually being elected as RVP for Scotia Fundy Region in 2017. Marc has been a strong advocate for many issues within the Component including Harassment and Workplace Violence, Staffing, and Health and Safety at both the Regional and National levels. He has also been active in the PSAC and the broader labour movement having served as Area Council President, a member of the TC Bargaining team and also a PSAC representative on the Executive of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour. He continues to be a strong advocate for environmental issues in his region and sits on the UHEW Environment Committee as well as the UHEW Health and Safety Committee and the UHEW Bylaws, Regulations and Policies Committee.
Todd Davies
DFO, ECCC, CFS, NRCan (CFS only)
Todd Davies
×DFO, ECCC, CFS, NRCan (CFS only)
Todd Davies has been active member of the Union since 2001. He was elected as a Shop Steward for his Local in 2014. In 2016 he was elected as Local President and in 2017 assumed the office of Alternate Regional Vice-President for NS, PE and NB. In 2020 he became the Regional Vice-President. Todd has a long history of community involvement with the NB Crime Stoppers and the New Brunswick Peace Officer Memorial. For the last five years he has been a strong advocate for members facing the impact of the Phoenix Pay fiasco.
Vacant
DFO, ECCC, CFS, NRCan (CFS only)
Diane De Berardinis
HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Quebec • Rubin Kooner
DFO, ECCC, NRCan (CFS only), CEAA
Rubin Kooner
×DFO, ECCC, NRCan (CFS only), CEAA
Rubin became involved with the Union in 2013 after being part of the WFA process and wanting to ensure fellow members did not have the same experiences. She started as Local Chief Steward and 2 years later moved into the role of Local President. Since 2017 she has served as Regional Vice-President for the NCR Region. Throughout her union career, Rubin has been involved as an advocate in many of the challenges facing UHEW members. Her accomplishments include representing members nationally in Job Descriptions, Classification, Contracting Out, Health & Safety and many other issues. She is active in the Union at the Local, Component and PSAC levels. Rubin also serves as a member of the UHEW National By-Laws Committee.
Diane Girouard
HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Diane Girouard
×HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Diane has been a union activist since the early 2000s through many rounds of negotiations and picket line activities. In 2014 she took a formal leadership role as a Shop Steward, then becoming Co-Chair of the PSAC Education Committee, a member of the Health & Safety Committee and the Ottawa Regional Women’s Committee. She also worked with the PSAC NCR Office, assisting in the development of training material. That prompted her to become a Joint Learning Program facilitator, mostly focusing on delivering Mental Health in the Workplace workshops. Over the years she has successfully completed dozens of courses to improve her skills as a union representative. In 2017 she was elected as Local Secretary and Alternate Regional Vice-President for the Component. In 2018 Diane became the Regional Vice-President for over 3000 members. Diane is the PSAC NCR Treasurer and was elected as the first alternate of the PSAC Bargaining Team’s PA Group. She continues to be a strong advocate for Young Professionals, Occupational Health and Safety, DOHS Policy and Mental Health in the Workplace. She created a “Safe Person Program” at her workplace to help members and management resolve very sensitive issues.
Janine Etherington
DFO, ECCC, NRCan (CFS only)
Kevin Lundstrom
HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only), some Six Nations
Kevin Lundstrom
×HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only), some Six Nations
Kevin Lundstrom has been a union activist and leader since 1992. He has been President of two different Locals, President of the PSAC Area Council and has served multiple terms as Region 1 Representative on the PSAC Ontario Regional Council. He has been a member of the PSAC TC National Collective Bargaining team and has held Local Health and Safety Representative positions for years. He has also been involved with two different District Labour Councils and been an Executive member of one of them. He is currently A/President of a PSAC Members with Disabilities Committee, is an Alliance Facilitator, and a PSAC Area Council Delegate. He has been on the UHEW National Council for the last four years as Ontario Regional Vice-President.
Mark Gilchrist
DFO, ECCC, NRCan (CFS only)
Mark Gilchrist
×DFO, ECCC, NRCan (CFS only)
Mark has been actively involved in the Union since 2004 when he started as Local Health and Safety Representative. He was elected Local Vice President for a year then served five years as Local President. He has served two terms as a Regional Vice President for nearly seven years plus three years as an Alternate. Mark was the Co-Chair of the National Joint OSH Policy Committee for Environment Canada and has served in various capacities with his Area Council and the Prairie Region of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. On Council, he currently serves as the Chair of the UHEW Honours and Awards Committee. In addition, Mark has also received Union's Internal Investigation Training and participated in two internal investigations.
Faye Kingyens
HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Faye Kingyens
×HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Faye’s desire to get things right and to keep them that way led directly to her involvement with the Union. She started off as a Health and Safety representative for her Local in November 2009. With more union training and experience she started to take on more responsibilities and in 2013 became Local President. In 2014 she was elected as Regional Vice-President and re-elected in 2017. In that role she participates in the National Policy Health and Safety Committee for HC and PHAC and Regional Labour Management Consultation Committees as well as the Workplace Health and Safety Committee and Local LMCCs. She also sits as Treasurer for the PSAC Winnipeg Women’s Committee.
Larry Schlosser
HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Larry Schlosser
×HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Larry has been involved with the Union since 2007 when he became a Shop Steward. In 2008 he was elected Local Vice-President and then Local President in 2009. He has been a National Officer of the Component since 2010 and has served as the RVP for Saskatchewan since 2014. Larry has been quite active in Union activities at the local, regional and national levels for many years. He has worked on health and safety and equity issues within the Component and PSAC and currently serves as a Member of the UHEW National Finance Committee.
Darlene Lewis
HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Darlene Lewis
×HC, PHAC, ISC (FNIHB only)
Darlene Lewis has been involved with the Union since 2002 when she was elected as Vice-President of her Local and went on serve in other Local roles as Treasurer, President, and Chief Shop Steward. She has been active with the PSAC Prairie Region and has sat on their Council. She is currently Chair of the PSAC Edmonton Area Council, the political arm of the union and has been working on engaging and mobilizing members to support PSAC campaigns. In August 2017 she was elected as the Regional Vice-President for Alberta, BC and Yukon.
Richard May
DFO, ECCC, NRCan (CFS only)
Richard May
×DFO, ECCC, NRCan (CFS only)
Richard May has been involved in unions since he started working in the forestry industry in 1995. He is a former Shop Steward with the International Woodworkers of America and he joined the Executive of his Local as soon as he began his career in the federal public service in 2004. He ahs been actively involved in the Union ever since and has worked tirelessly to help improve the lives of his fellow employees. He has served as the PSAC North Vancouver Island Area Council President from 2016-2020 and been involved with the Nanaimo Duncan District Labour council for that same period. He is a member of the PSAC BC regional mobilization team and works with multiple Departmental Union Management consultation committees and Health and Safety committees. He has been UHEW RVP BC/Yukon since 2016.
