Young activist selected to help build
diversity in union leadership
A CWA Canada nominee has been selected
to participate in a special training program that is
designed to increase the involvement of women and minorities
at all levels of the union, including leadership.
Ka Yan Ng
Ka Yan Ng, president of the Thomson
Reuters Branch of the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), will
take two weeks of classroom training at the CWA Minority
Leadership Institute (MLI) at the National Labor College
in Silver Spring, Maryland, from Sept. 14 to 26. That
will be followed by a week-long internship at the CMG's
headquarters in Toronto at a later date.
CWA Canada Director Arnold Amber says Ng became an
online reporter/editor at the Reuters news service
upon her graduation from Ryerson University's journalism
program in 1999.
"This is the first Canadian member to attend
the MLI and it couldn't come at a better time. CWA|SCA
Canada is working hard right now to develop leaders
from equity-seeking groups. Ka Yan and our national
union will benefit greatly from what she learns at
the institute," says Amber.
All of the CWA's districts, sectors
and the Canadian Region are invited each year to put
forward several nominees. Participants are selected
based on their commitment, energy and dedication to
union work; interest in organizing and political internship;
potential for future leadership and years of activism;
and the formation of a diverse MLI class.
Ng, now a breaking news editor, stepped up her union
activism when she was elected vice-president of CMG's
Reuters Branch in April 2006. In January this year,
she was elected president, heading up a four-person
executive. In that capacity, she leads 85 members from
editorial, technical and administrative departments
across Canada.
Aside from being a delegate to CMG's national conventions
in 2006 and 2008, she has taken courses on the art
of negotiation and effective activism. She also serves
on the CMG National Executive and on its management
and education committees.
Ng's stint in Maryland will see her receive rigourous
training in leadership development, workplace issues,
labour economics, labour law and communications.
Course offerings include: labour history, union leadership,
organizing, core union values, effective writing and
speaking, civil rights and the labour movement, collective
bargaining, teaching union activists, communicating
with computers, and international labour issues.
The CWA covers wages and expenses for participants
in the three-week program, which is in its 25th year.
Since the institute was established in 1983, some 200
CWA members have taken the training.
