Autobiographical Essay/personal Narrative Essay Sample (Page 4 of 6) in pdf

Autobiographical Essay/personal Narrative Essay Sample Page 4

Federation. In 1999, I was elected to a two-year position on the Educational Support

Staff Sector at the provincial level.

Since I was a part-time employee with the French Catholic School Board, I

applied for a full time position as an educational assistant with the French public

secondary school in the fall of 1999. As the principal pointed out to me during the

interview, I was chosen because I was the only person with qualifications in Small

Town. As a result, I took a leave of absence from the Catholic board and retained all my

rights. This proved to be a wise decision because in February 2000, the principal fired

me a day before finishing the three month probation period. I subsequently filed a

grievance and just before the arbitrator heard my case, the board settled.

While an employee of the French Public School Board, I bid for a position on the

executive of BU 102, District B. I was subsequently chosen as their communications

officer. I occupied the post until the end of the school year because my case was

ongoing; I remained an active member. At the AGM, members nominated me for the

position of President. The secretariat liaison from the provincial office took time out of

the meeting to talk to me and indicated I could not accept the nomination. The reasons

were because of my grievance and that there were no guarantees my case would be

won. I was being forced to decline the nomination. It seemed my rights were taken from

me and this gave me a bigger drive to become an advocate for the rights of workers. I

was determined to educate myself about the laws which govern workers, employers and

unions.

During the grievance process, I found myself without employment and therefore,

I returned to work for the French Catholic Board in a temporary position (50%) at an

Stephanie Jones_Autobiographical Essay/Personal Narrative

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