May 13, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Unifor Local 2002’s recent executive board elections were conducted in a fair, transparent, and democratic manner, in full accordance with the Unifor National Union Policy on Local Union Elections. Throughout the election process, measures were taken to ensure that all candidates and members were treated equally and that the integrity of the vote was maintained at every stage. While this election period was highly contested and, at times, challenging, the results reflect the democratic will of the membership. We would like to thank all members who participated in the process by engaging in discussion, and exercising their right to vote.
#1 Why was there a change to the voter registration process to upload valid government issued photo ID.
This change was made to add an additional security measure and was communicated to the membership on the local’s website and via E-blast on April 1, 2026. Data submitted within the online form is sent automatically by email to the 2002 admin department. The documents are not stored but deleted as soon as the Database is updated. Members who prefer not to upload a document may request that their District Chair forward their information to Administration. Given that District Chairs are familiar with their members and have taken an oath of office, this approach is considered secure.
#2 Why is the Local’s Elections Committee not providing the raw data with segmented regional and unit results?
The Elections Committee does not provide raw results broken down by region. This is intentional and consistent with the committee’s long standing practice. When results are broken down regionally, it creates the risk that a candidate may approach or pressure members in a specific area because they believe that region "didn't vote for them." That is not healthy for our membership, and it is not the environment we want to create.
The Elections Committee’s goal is to ensure that members feel safe, respected, and confident that their vote is valued — not scrutinized. The expectation is that all candidates share the belief that participation should be encouraged, and that members should never feel targeted based on how their region voted.
#3 Retirees weren’t told that they could vote until the election was underway or even over.
There was a bulletin sent out to all retired workers on March 16, 2026, to advise that, and retired workers that have provided their contact information to Unifor Local 2002 would receive the writ of the executive board elections with the directions of how to register to vote. The bulletin also advised that any retired workers that had previously registered to vote in prior elections, did not have to re-register.
#4 Voters thought that the polls closed at 1200 Eastern on May 7th, why did they close later?
There was a clarification bulletin sent out to all members and added to the local’s website advising that the end time of the election was 1200 Pacific time, not Eastern time. Unifor Local 2002 has consistently scheduled its national elections at the same time since switching to electronic only voting, including in 2023.