10 BLACK HISTORYMONTH 2022 ALUMNI MEMBERS: * Aabuthnott Gallimore * Alpha Academy * Anchovy * Ardenne * Bethany * Bethlehem Teachers’ College * Beulah * Calabar * Camperdown * Campion * Clarendon College * Cornwall College * Denham Town * Dinthill Technical * Eastern Hanover * Edwin Allen * Excelsior * Glenmuir * Godfrey Stewart * Grantham College Herbert Morrison * Holy Childhood * Immaculate Conception * Jamaica College * Jose Marti * Kingston College * Kingston Technical * Knockalva * Knox College * Lime Hall * Manchester * Manning’s * Meadowbrook * Merl Grove * Mico College * Montego Bay * Morant Bay * Munro Hampton * New Day * Ole Farmers * Pike * Rosemount * Rusea’s * Shortwood * St. Andrew Technical * St. Catherine * St. Elizabeth Technical * St. George’s College * St. Hugh’s * St. Jago * Titchfield * Tivoli Gardens * UTECH * Westwood * Wolmer’s * York Castle * York Street ASSOCIATE MEMBERS: *AFUWI * Friends of Charlemont HS Inc * Friends of Port Maria * JAMCCAR * NE Alumni & Friends of GSHS Inc. * True Tribute Organization Foundation Inc. Over 30 Years of Commitment, Dedication and Service Education is Empowerment, Only the Educated are Free Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (USA), Inc. www.ujaausa.org info@ujaausa.org Tel: 347-927-3606 Neil Armstrong/Gleaner Writer TORONTO: I VAN DAWNS, a JamaicanCanadian drywall finisher and plasterer, decided on a career in the skilled trades initially to change his mother’s perception of him as not being able to do hard work. I t has been his vocation now for the past 24 years. In fact, he has not only excelled there, but also in his work within the community. DAWNS, WHO is from Corn Piece in Hayes, Clarendon, says he went to church one Sabbath and overheard a woman, whose son worked in drywall finishing, telling his mother that he should try it because it was a well-paying job. “My mom said, ‘He can’t do that, he don’t know how to do hard work.’ And when she said that, I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m going to prove you wrong.’” He successfully completed the apprenticeship programme at the Interior Finishing Centre and afterwards worked with a few companies. Initially, he wanted to be a professional cricketer and travelled to England, but did not like it there, so he decided to follow his parents who came to Canada in 1992. “When I came to Canada in 1997, originally I told my mom that I am going to be a schoolteacher,” says Dawns, who loves to teach and now, as a union representative, has trained others. During a period when he was unemployed, Dawns called a company, Four Seasons Drywall, early one morning and when someone picked up, he told the person that he needed a job. He was asked if he was available to start that day, and within minutes he was at his new job. He stayed there until he became a leader and was running a crew, but eventually left to become a union representative. In April 2013, he became the first black representative of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT). Having attended Hayes All-Age School, he developed his leadership skills when he moved on to Bustamante High School, where he became the head boy in 1992 and captain of the school’s cricket team. After graduation, he worked as the manager of Beaches Electronics in May Pen. BLACK MEMBERS As chair of the African American Community Organizing for Real Economics Committee (AACORE) of IUPAT, Dawns examines ways in which the union can better serve its black members. He notes that when he started out, black people were not being represented in the union, and he told the general manager that such representation mattered. Dawns co-wrote a resolution for the recruitment and retention of black persons and for them to be in leadership roles. He is pleased that IUPAT District Council 46 has just hired another black person. “I am not satisfied, because two in the whole of Canada is unacceptable. I want to see everywhere in Canada have more black representation,” says Dawns. He has drafted recommendations on racism to address incidents of anti-black racism on job sites. The union leader has been recognised for his work in the community. In 2021, he was the recipient of the Bromley L. Armstrong Award, presented by the Equity Committee of Toronto &York Region Labour Council. At the end of January 2022, he received the Ontario Black History Society’s Dr Anderson Abbott Award for High Achievement for his contribution to the community. Dawns also mentors youth as part of the Toronto Community Benefits Network’s NextGen Programme. He is a member of the Local’s Apprentice Committee at the Interior Finishing SystemsTraining Centre and amember of the Central Ontario Building Trade Central Committee. For Black History Month in 2019, he organised 20 members of his union to paint the Jamaican Canadian Centre. He also got IUPAT to sponsor a float in the Toronto Caribbean Carnival. In 2018, he helped the Carpenters’Union to build Wakefield Infant School in Trelawny, Jamaica, a Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation project. Dawns urged his union to make a donation to the initiative, which it did, and gave him the time off to travel to the island. In December 2021, he organised and funded a Christmas dinner for homeless people in Oshawa, Ontario, and got his family involved. I t was a success and gained media attention, which resulted in his boss offering to pay for this year’s dinner. Dawns plans to sponsor a soccer team made up of school-leavers uncertain about their future. He envisions hosting a dinner at the end of the season, and having various professionals make career presentations to them. He wants young people, especially those in youth shelters, to know that working in the skilled trades is a lucrative area to explore. For his 50th birthday on September 15, he is planning to hold a barbecue and asks everyone invited to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to a youth shelter. IVAN DAWNS SHINES IN THE SKILLED TRADES IVAN DAWNS THE MONTHLY GLEANER | FEBRUARY 14 - MARCH 16, 2022 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS
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