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If there’s one thing a union guy knows it’s that we are stronger and more effective when we work together – collectively - than when we go it alone.
Edmonton (19 July 2013) — For Jody and Cory Mitic, the lesson is about the value of working together. The brothers are competing in the new The Amazing Race Canada series which started this week on CTV.
Brothers value working together to get the mission done
“Teamwork is what completes the mission,” says Jody, the 36-year-old former Canadian Armed Forces master sniper who lost both legs below the knee in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan. “My joke was that if Cory had to jump on my back and beat me like a rented mule, well, my job right now is to be a rented mule, because that’s what's going to get the team to the finish line.”
The value of working together is something Jody appreciated during his military career, but it’s also something he and Cory grew up with, being raised in a union family.
Knows why unions matter
Their father spent most of his career with the United Automobile Workers union (UAW) and its successor in Canada, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union. He was an organizer who rose to become one of four assistants to then president Buzz Hargrove.
If there’s one thing a union guy knows it’s that we are stronger and more effective when we work together – collectively - than when we go it alone. It’s a point that Cory picked up from his father at an early age.
“I spent a lot of time with my father at conventions, at meetings, at plant takeovers and strike lines. Did I know what the union was? Absolutely, I did. I was singing Solidarity Forever probably when I was seven years old,” says the 32-year-old Labour Relations Officer (LRO) with the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA/NUPGE).
Being family is advantage in competition: Stick together through good and bad
Of course, Jody and Cory had one more really important reason to stick together – they’re family!
“To me … one of the things that defines you as a person is how you are with your family,” says Jody, who now has a family of his own (wife Alannah, daughters Aylah aged four-and-a-half and Kierah, one-and-a-half).
“These are the people that know you the best and are going to be there for you when you're at your worst, no matter what and that's true for us,” he says.
Family supported Jody after he lost his legs in explosion in Afghanistan
Jody’s family, including Cory, was by his side after he lost his legs in 2007, spending countless hours at his hospital bedside and helping him with recovery.
The speed of that recovery is an inspiration. Jody was running five-kilometre charity runs a little more than a year after the injury. In 2009, he ran a half-marathon. His success has led to a new career as a motivational speaker.
Despite what he has achieved since the explosion, it was the state of what remains of Jody’s legs that were the biggest concerns for the brothers before they began competing in The Amazing Race, which was filmed over four weeks in the spring. (Don’t ask who won. They’re not allowed to say.)
Competition posed challenges and pressure
“For me it was almost a monumental thing, because I didn't know if I was going to be able to do everything,” says Jody. “It certainly loomed over my head considering the task. This isn’t something for myself and my brother and my family. This is for national television and the whole country is going to be watching, so it’s a lot of pressure.”
However, the brothers planned ahead and encountered nothing they couldn’t handle.
Did the pressure of competing in an intense show broadcast to millions lead to strained relations between the siblings?
“There were a couple of moments where we bickered, but we'd bicker and it would be over,” says Cory. “I think both he and I have the type of personality that we don't really hold grudges. It kind of rolls off our backs pretty quickly. Especially with us being brothers, it is just that much faster. It’s over as fast as it happened.”
In fact, he says, the brothers are now closer than they have ever been.
Would they do it again?
“I’d do it again tomorrow,” says Jody.
“100 times,” says Cory.
Now that’s brotherly love.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE