History

The Council was first organized in 1954 by United Auto Workers (UAW) Locals from the counties of Perth, Oxford, Elgin and Middlesex. (P.O.E.M.)

P.O.E.M. Council was the First Regional Recreation Council within the UAW. The acronym “P.O.E.M.”, represents the different counties from which the UAW Locals originate.

Today P.O.E.M. Council also represents workers from the counties of Brant, Huron, Norfolk, Waterloo and Wellington.

In total P.O.E.M. Council represents over 34,000 workers.

The P.O.E.M. Sports Council was originated in 1954.

The Locals that first belonged to the Council were from Stratford (Perth County), Woodstock (Oxford County), St. Thomas (Elgin County), and London (Middlesex County).

Thus the name of P.O.E.M. was originated by the counties involved: Perth, Oxford, Elgin, Middlesex.

(history cont’d)

UAW Local 397 from Brantford joined the Council in 1955 and other areas soon followed.

The Council remained the same size for many years until the late 1960’s. The early 1970’s saw P.O.E.M. Council starting to grow. Today we have various affiliated Locals in the surrounding areas.

Local 16-O – Goderich

Local 27 – London

Local 88 – Ingersoll

Local 302 – Represents over 3,500 workers from the London & area

Local 636 – Woodstock

Local 1106/1524 – Kitchener

Local 1520 – Talbotville

Local 1859 – Tillsonburg

(history cont’d)

Local 1917 – Guelph

Local 2163 – Ingersoll

Local 4207 – Wingham

Local 4304 – Kitchener

Local 4451 – Stratford

Local 6005 – London

The Council has officers: President, Vice-President, Recording Secretary, Treasurer and three (3) Trustees. The Elections for Officers is held every three (3) years.

The Council has its’ own By-Laws, each Local is allowed two (2) delegates. The Local’s must notify P.O.E.M. Council of their delegates.

P.O.E.M. Council meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month; except for July & August.  The meetings are held at a different Local Union Hall each month and move around to as many Locals as possible in a year. Each Local pays an affiliation cost to be a member of P.O.E.M.  Council which is one cent per member per month.

(history cont’d)

The P.O.E.M. Council runs a variety of Sporting events.

Curling, Hockey, Cribbage, Euchre, 5 pin & 10 pin Bowling, Golf, Horseshoes, Baseball, Darts, Fishing, Trap Shoot, Indoor Golf, Texas Hold’em, Tubing, Washer Toss and Soccer.

Most of our Tournaments we break even on the costs. On the Baseball and Hockey tournaments, which are our largest, we could have up to 40 teams. On these two (2) tournaments we make some profit, which is used to offset any loss, which may occur on the smaller tournaments.

At a National Recreation Level we have in the past hosted such Tournament events as:

5-pin & 10 pin Bowling, Baseball, Hockey, Golf, Curling, Texas Hold’em, Trap Shoot, Darts, Euchre & Cribbage.

Unifor P.O.E.M. Council has been involved and continues to be involved with many groups in the community such as:

Big Brother and Big Sisters

George Bray Sports Association

Heart & Stroke Foundation

Bob White’s Charity Golf Tournament

Women’s Community House – London

Women’s Emergency Centre – Oxford County