Friday, May 3, 2019

Why We Do What We Do

A CLAC rep reflects on why he does this job.

This past weekend, I attended the funeral of one of our Local 402 members from Clark Freightways, Jack Vleeming. Jack was a lifelong trucker and a legend on the highways of British Columbia. If you were to drive from Vancouver to Prince George and pull up to any truck stop along the way, you would no doubt run into someone who knew Jack. He was as tough as nails, but had a gentle, outgoing disposition. He was 74 when he passed away, and he drove truck right up to a few months before his death from liver complications.

When I arrived at Victory Memorial Park cemetery in Surrey, Jack’s truck was parked in front of the chapel. It was shined and buffed to perfection and was absolutely gleaming in the bright afternoon sun. I couldn’t help but get a little choked up seeing that.

In the chapel we were given a pamphlet with a picture of Jack along with a short biography. Jack was born in Westervoort, Netherlands, in July 1944. I’m a bit of a geography nut, so I googled the town and found out Westervoort is a suburb of Arnhem.

For all you history buffs, does “1944” and “Arnhem” mean anything to you? In September 1944, when Jack was less than three months old, the Allied armies in World War Two attempted to take the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine River. This would have enabled them to invade Germany and hopefully end the war before Christmas. What followed was one of the most famous battles of the war, which was later immortalized in the book and the movie, A Bridge Too Far.

Without a doubt, Jack’s parents and his three siblings would have been hiding in a basement or a cellar during the battle. I’m sure Jack’s mom tried to comfort him as the bombs and shells were falling nearby.

The Allies were unable to take Arnhem and were driven back to southern Holland. The following winter was one of incredible hardship and death in the Netherlands. Known as the Hunger Winter, upwards of 20,000 people died of starvation as the German armies took the majority of the food out of the country. Jack’s dad, along with most of the able bodied men in the Netherlands, was most likely conscripted by the Germans into forced labour for the remainder of the war.

This is the family history Jack was born into. He lived through some of the most cataclysmic events in Europe’s history. If you’ve ever wondered where Dutch people get their famous stubbornness from, part of it comes from stories like what Jack and his family lived through.

Jack’s family moved to Canada in the early 1950s, as part of a huge wave of Dutch people who immigrated to Canada. He grew up near Calgary and started driving truck in his early 20s and kept at it until just a few months ago. He will be deeply missed by his family at home and by his family at Clark Freightways.

Jack’s son John followed his father’s footsteps and got into trucking himself. He also worked for Clark Freightways and was part of the bargaining team during the first set of negotiations in 2013 after the workers at Clark joined Local 402. During the negotiations John, just like his dad, was tough as nails. He was also a pleasure to work with and his outgoing personality helped push negotiations to a successful conclusion. A few years later John ventured out on his own and started a new trucking company. He and I kept in touch over the years. John is an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan and when they won their first Super Bowl in 2018 I sent him a congratulatory text. He responded with thanks, followed by a derisive comment about my beloved Seahawks.

Jack’s daughter Natalie also joined the world of trucking and she too worked at Clark Freightways for a time.

At the funeral on the weekend, John and Natalie saw me and both came up and hugged me. I could tell they were thankful their union rep came to show respect for their dad.

I tell this story as an example of how CLAC touches the lives of our members and their families, sometimes in a profound way. It’s moments like yesterday that remind me of why I do this job. I get the opportunity to reach out and make a difference in people’s lives.

Before I came to CLAC, I worked for a large multinational company that sold their products in almost every company in the world. After a few years I came to the realization that I did not want to spend the rest of my life doing nothing more than working to increase the share price of the company.

When I came to CLAC, I immediately had the sense that this is more than a job. It’s a calling. And yes, sometimes we slog through the grind, and we fight and scratch and claw our way through the messiness of labour relations. We battle the employers and sometimes we battle our own members. But in the end, all of us here, not just the reps, but all of us—the people at reception, IT, Training, Communications, Member Services, Retirement, Benefits, Finance— whatever we do, we are impacting our members in a powerful way.

Jack’s funeral yesterday was a reminder for me of why I do what I do. Let it be a reminder for you too of why we at CLAC exist.

Why We Do What We Do

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