Eldon Bergson: Equipment Operator - Local 53
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“For as long as I can remember, I’ve always stood up for everybody. If I see someone being bullied or treated unfairly, I cannot stand it. I just can’t.”
In his fifteen years working on Manitoba highways, Eldon Bergson has driven them all – graders, rollers, loaders, and snowplows. The last are his favourite.
“There is nothing like being out there on a big tandem on a fresh snow-covered highway, watching the snow fly off the wing, sparkling down over the trees,” he says. “On a morning like that, with no on else out there, the world feels different.”
Whatever the season, Bergson takes great pride in keeping our roads as safe as possible for Manitobans. The toughest part of the job is keeping himself and his fellow members safe.
“People will weave in and around us, not even stop when there’s a sign,” he says. “You’ll be standing there in a closed zone filling potholes and someone will nearly drive right into you and demand to get through. I’ve been on leave a number of times due to injury.”
As Safety and Health rep, Bergson works tireless to minimize risks. Sometimes this means identifying hazards on equipment and completing dangerous occurrence reports, whiles others it means organizing first-aid certification courses and in-house hearing tests.
Based out of Steinbach, Bergson’s official title is Equipment Operator 4 -- but along with Health and Safety rep, he’s also held every union position there is, including steward, Local President, and now, Director of the MGEU Trades Component.
“My priority as Director will be to address wages,” Bergson says. “These days, jobs with the Province pay about ten dollars less per hour than the private companies. Used to be people were attracted to public jobs because of the pension, but now folks have to work even after retirement because that pension just isn’t enough to live.”
Before getting into construction, Bergson was a rural mail carrier for many years, where he was central in unionizing the casual workforce and gaining them entry into the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve always stood up for everybody. If I see someone being bullied or treated unfairly, I cannot stand it. I just can’t.”
As a new Board member, it seems Bergson is just the guy to help make sure our public services, and those who provide them, are better protected and respected.