Officers

Rob Ashton

Vice President

Prior to becoming President in 2016, Rob also served as First Vice President of ILWU Canada. A Longshore Worker since 1994 with ILWU 500 in Vancouver, Rob was elected to the Local 500 Executive Board, served on various Local committees, and was a Business Agent for five years.

Sheryl Burns

Vice President

As an active labour, women’s and disability justice activist, Sheryl Burns was first elected as President of CUPE Local 1936, CUPE’S largest Community Social Services Local, in 2017. She has served as General Vice-President of CUPE BC since 2021 and several terms as the BC Federation of Labour Accessible Workers Representative. She is Co-Chair of the BC NDP Persons Living with Disabilities Caucus and an appointee to the Provincial Accessibility Committee tasked with implementation of the Accessible BC Act.

Tom Doran

Vice President

Tom Doran brings over 25+ years of Waterfront experience to the table. Through this experience Tom is closely acquainted with the nuances of day-to-day shipping operations both vessel work and dockside. Tom’s experience includes container terminal operations, break bulk, bulk, rail and truck operations. Added to this on the job understanding of shipping and trade in Western Canada is his decades of experience in labour relations and management of the union side of operations. Tom’s vision encompasses the entirety of the supply chain. Tom prides himself on his collaborative approach to the complex challenges facing transportation workers in Western Canada, particularly in the shipping industry. Tom's greatest strength is his wealth of experience as he navigates ever changing conditions facing workers and employers alike. Transparency, and open dialogue are of critical importance to Tom as he strives to advance the social and economic interests of workers along the supply chain.
Tom was elected to the position of First Vice President of ILWU Canada in April of 2024 and is currently still in the position. Prior to assuming his role at ILWU Canada Tom served in numerous positions at ILWU Local 502 including President, Secretary Treasurer, Labour Relations Officer, Executive Board member, Chair of the Local 502 Constitution Committee, Grievance and Credentials Committee member, Local 502 WCB Worker Advocate, Joint Occupational Health and Safety Co-Chair and Local Trustee. Tom also served as Third Vice President of ILWU Canada from 2012 to 2014. Tom is now the newly elected President of the Pacific Coast Maritime Council.

Patrick Johnson

Vice President

Patrick served as Executive Assistant to UFCW 1518 leadership from 2016-2019 and was elected by the membership to the position of Secretary-Treasurer in 2019 and again in 2023. In June of 2024, Patrick was unanimously elected by UFCW 1518’s Executive Board to the position of President. Patrick started with the UFCW 1518 in 2009, working as an Organizer and fighting to bring the rights and benefits of the union to non-unionized workers. Since then, he has led successful organizing drives in the retail and industrial sectors and bargained many strong collective agreements, helping tip the scales toward justice for more British Columbian workers.

Sarah Kooner

Vice President

Sarah Kooner was elected president of the Health Sciences Association of BC in April 2025, following two years as HSABC’s regional director for Surrey and Fraser Valley. A passionate advocate for equity in health care and community services, she has worked for nearly a decade as an infant and child development consultant at the Fraser Valley Child Development Centre in Abbotsford.

Maria Middlemiss

Vice President

Maria Bennett was elected to be the treasurer of the BCGEU at the union’s convention in June of 2024.
Maria became a BCGEU member in 1995 and served as a steward for two decades. She has been a member at large on the local executive, chair of local 1201 since 2014, and component 1st vice president. She was elected as Administrative Professionals component vice president in 2016. She also serves Vice Chair of the Public Service Pension Plan.
Maria is passionate about women’s issues — especially breaking down barriers in the workplace. One of the first disputes she handled as a steward was to address an issue of fairness at her worksite when the employer was trying to strip away job share language in the collective agreement impacting women. That advocacy and solidarity inspired her then, and continues to inspire her now.
Coming from an administrative professionals background, she knows firsthand that women in jobs primarily and traditionally performed by women rarely receive the respect they deserve. That’s why she has directed several union-driven campaigns to win recognition for the important work BCGEU members do.
Bennett works with the Ministry of Health’s PharmaCare program and lives in Victoria.

Barb Nederpel

Vice President

An active labour and women’s rights activist, and president of her local labour council, Barb was elected in 2018 as the first woman president of the 49,000-member Hospital Employees’ Union. She is a health records clerk and former LPN from Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.

Joulene Parent

Vice President

Her maternal lines come from the Indigenous Dene Nation of Northern Saskatchewan, and paternal lines come from a father who was a working immigrant from Canton, China. Most of her childhood was raised in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, the unceded territory of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
She is an active union member of the International Longshore Warehouse Union. Currently, Joulene sits on Executive for the Local 500 Vancouver and the ILWU Canada Board.
She is also a Facilitator for the ‘Be More Than a Bystander’ Workplace Harassment & Violence Prevention Instructor, in her workplace.
Her past positions include Vancouver District Labour Council, as a Delegate and Co-Chair on the Women’s Committee, in addition to being a past Indigenous Workers Representative for the BC Federation of Labour, as well as Facilitator/Co-Facilitator at the Summer Institute of Union Women, as well as Winter School at Canadian Labour Congress.
Her interests include travel, hiking, music, public speaking, education & service to her community. She enjoys walks with Her husband Mike and dog, Robin.

Karen Ranalletta

Vice President

Karen is President of CUPE BC elected in May, 2021. CUPE BC is a provincial division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, representing 85,000 workers in more than 170 local unions and across many different sectors.