Tom Graham

Tom Graham is the President of the provincial division of the largest union in Canada: the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Tom Graham first became involved in CUPE in 1979, when he was hired by the City of Saskatoon Sign and Paint shop. Although Graham was a regular at union meetings for his home local, 859, nearly six years went by before he was given a larger reason for active involvement.

In 1985, Graham was struck by a motor vehicle while working on a Saskatoon roadway. The accident— which forced him to take several months away from work—taught Graham about the need for safer workplaces, and stronger advocacy on the behalf of workers.

In 1986, he was elected as a shop steward for Local 859, and took on other roles; as a member of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee, a trustee for the local’s pension plan, a member of the local’s negotiating committee, and was then elected as the local’s Vice- President before finally being elected president in 1996.

His involvement with CUPE’s political and policy body in Saskatchewan — CUPE Saskatchewan — grew as well during this time period. After serving as the organization’s vice-president for three years, Graham was elected to the position of CUPE Saskatchewan President in 1998.

In 1999, Graham was also elected by the National Convention to represent Saskatchewan as the Regional Vice-President, and then was elected in 2003 as a General Vice-President of CUPE.

Graham serves Saskatchewan’s 27,000 members by heeding his own advice: “Leaders come and go,” he says. “Our membership, on the other hand, is critical to this union because, when we stand together, we win.”