12 December 2006

Former Eastern VP Hatfield
moves into municipal politics

Percy Hatfield, a former TNG Canada/CWA Eastern vice-president, was elected to Windsor City Council in November's municipal elections.

Campaigning “was a lot of hard work,” he told the Canadian Media Guild's G-Force newsletter. “I lost 25 pounds going door to door – and that’s a good thing.”

Long-time Guild activist Hatfield, a videojournalist who retired from the CBC earlier this year, served on the CMG's bargaining committee that resolved the 2005 lockout.

Hatfield told G-Force that, during campaigning, he promised to “listen to people, return their phone calls and make common-sense decisions.”

It will not be long before residents of Windsor pat themselves on the back for choosing Hatfield to represent them. He undoubtedly will bring to municipal politics the same passions he brought to unionism in his many decades of volunteer service.

In his moving final report as Eastern VP, he urged his union colleagues to always follow the high road:

"Sometimes in the heat of debate, passion takes over, positions harden, and feelings are hurt. It's important to encourage a healing process, to strive for consensus, and to set aside personal ambitions in order to serve the wider goals and purposes of the union. It helps to have a sense of humour and to reach out to those who may have felt slighted, and bring them back into the fold."