Dave Cassidy is Unifor Local 444’s President representing 20,000 active and retired members in 31 workplaces that range from Automotive, Gaming, Energy, Transportation, Administrative, Waste & Recycle Management, Policing and Retirement Living. In 2005, Dave was elected to the National Skilled Trades Council as a Trustee, and then in 2008, he was elected as the President of the National Skilled Trades Council of the CAW, a position he held until the formation of Unifor. Dave continues to hold the position of Unifor’s National Chair of Trades, representing thousands of members in the trades from the Pacific to the Atlantic in Canada. Dave is also a member of Unifor’s distinguished National Executive Board. The people elected Dave for his “Membership First” attitude. Though politics and social fabric are essential, they must come second to the members and their JOBS and acknowledge that the Union does not need to participate, debate, or throw money ideals if it is not helping the members and their jobs. We need to stay in our lane and refocus our time and energy on the main thing….JOBS. Dave brought in an open-door policymaking the President as accessible as your partner at work. Destroying years of entitlement thinking that created a gap between leadership and the rank-and-file members. Members must have a say and never kept in the dark was the thinking behind Dave’s excellence in communication initiative, which takes full advantage of the social media platforms in which the local can better be in touch with its members. Dave has done in Windsor with one of the most prominent locals in Unifor, and what Dave has accomplished with the National Trades Dave will do in Toronto and bring the Union back to the members. This is not the Union of a select few. The handful in Toronto does not own this Union.