Let's Build a Stronger Union, Together — New President's Message

May 1, 2026

I am hon­oured by the trust you have placed in me as your new union pres­i­dent. It is a priv­i­lege to serve in this role, and I take that respon­si­bil­i­ty seri­ous­ly.

As I step into this posi­tion, my focus is clear: to strength­en our union in ways that are mean­ing­ful, inclu­sive, and ground­ed in the real­i­ties of our mem­bers’ work­ing lives.

Our strength lies in the diver­si­ty of our mem­ber­ship. I am com­mit­ted to ensur­ing that mem­bers from all sev­en bar­gain­ing units feel rep­re­sent­ed and respect­ed. That means lis­ten­ing care­ful­ly, remov­ing bar­ri­ers to par­tic­i­pa­tion, and ensur­ing that a range of per­spec­tives inform our union’s deci­sions.

At the core of our union is ser­vice to mem­bers. My expe­ri­ence as URFA’s Griev­ance Offi­cer has giv­en me a deep under­stand­ing of the chal­lenges many of you face in your work­places. I will car­ry that for­ward in advo­cat­ing on your behalf and in sup­port­ing strong, effec­tive col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing.

You can expect a pres­i­den­cy ground­ed in clear process, thought­ful deci­sion-mak­ing, and respect for the role of your elect­ed exec­u­tive. Strong gov­er­nance is essen­tial to build­ing trust and ensur­ing that our union acts in the best inter­ests of its mem­bers.

In the com­ing weeks, I will be con­nect­ing with mem­bers across bar­gain­ing units to bet­ter under­stand your pri­or­i­ties and ensure our work reflects your real­i­ties.

This is work we have to do togeth­er.

Across the post-sec­ondary sec­tor, we are fac­ing increas­ing pres­sure — from cuts to pub­lic fund­ing to the expan­sion of pre­car­i­ous work. Meet­ing these chal­lenges will require an engaged and con­nect­ed mem­ber­ship. It takes all of us to build a union that can face these chal­lenges head on.

Final­ly, I would like to thank out­go­ing pres­i­dent Britt Hall for her lead­er­ship and com­mit­ment over the past six years. Her con­tri­bu­tions have played an impor­tant role in shap­ing the union we car­ry for­ward today.

I encour­age you to stay involved and help shape the direc­tion of our union. Let’s build a stronger union, togeth­er.

In sol­i­dar­i­ty,

Roz Kelsey
URFA Pres­i­dent