Brother Rush was elevated to president when Don Bennett stepped down. He had been appointed the national vice-president at the 1966 meeting that established the component. In replacing Bennett, he served 14 months in the office. When members gathered in Ottawa for the first delegated Triannual Component Convention in 1969, Rush could not attend. Rush spoke of the challenges of introducing collective bargaining into the federal government in his report to the delegates. He believed that if it were to be successful, it would be because of the shop stewards in the locals. He noted that for the first time in the history of the staff association movement, it had become necessary to identify members by occupational groups, which was a challenge and an adjustment that the locals were dealing with well. The component would be known as the Union of Canadian Transport Employees (UCTE) when the convention ended.