Hot Tubbin' For Justice

BCNDP Women's Rights Committee Convention We started our BCNDP convention experience off by attending the Women's Rights Committee (WRC) convention which occurs prior to the opening plenary.  We were fortunate to have Rhiannon Bennett, from Delta, give the territorial acknowledgement. She started off by holding up a purse and a scarf, and acknowledged that both of which belonged to Maurine Karagianis. She asked "is it enough to acknowledge these items of Maurine's if I have them, for her to access the economy ?" Nope. We, the NDP need to do better - it's not about shame or guilt, but about acknowledging the privilege of what we've been given. She talked to us about the resilience of indigenous peoples and how they've been able to save their languages in the face of being being jailed for speaking their languages, having needles poked into their tongues in residential school, and other horrific things. Rhiannon brought humour and heart to her te...

"Solidarity of the working class is the greatest force for change in history."  Sara Nelson, CUPE National Convention 2019 The 2019 CUPE National Convention took place in Montreal, October 6-11th. This convention marked 10 years since I attended my first union event and as the BC Caucus Whip, I was really excited for the ensuing week. I am so proud to be from BC. I tried to coordinate the floor differently this time by using an app that would enable communication to get to delegates in a more consistent and timely manner. Our executive board came together, we huddled, chatted and cheered each other on. Everyone stepped up when I needed help and I thought we did a great job repping our region.  Here are some of my thoughts on various parts of convention. Post-Secondary Sector Meeting This year, the post-secondary sector meeting focused on the rise of hate on our campuses. We were fortunate to have Kimalee Phillip, one of our Human Rights reps, speak to...

10 years ago, I entered the convention hall at the Palais de Congres in Montreal and had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was my very first CUPE National Convention. I was new to the union, a young worker, and really overwhelmed by the size of the floor and the number of chairs in the room. I'll admit, I thought the whole "brother/sister" thing was super creepy. (I did not know the history of those terms, that I have come to love). There was so much going on - it  was hard to keep track. The paramedics in BC were on strike and we all got t-shirts as a solidarity act and I thought that was pretty cool. Then we shut down the streets of Montreal and marched to city hall in support of local 301, Montreal's blue collar workers. That was FUN! I went to the Young Workers caucus and there were maybe 20 of us there - probably less. Later in the week, I was approached by someone from the Young Workers' Committee to speak on one of their resolutions. I HATED p...

The 2017 CUPE National Convention took place in Toronto, October 2-6. Every 2 years CUPE members from across Canada gather to set the course of the national union for the next two years. Prior to the opening of convention, each sector meets for a couple of hours to get caught up with the goings on across the country.  As co-chair of the CUPE National Library Workers' Committee I was happy to wish the convention a happy "Canadian Library Month." I decided to use the signs created by National to profile and introduce people to our members who work in libraries. Throughout the week I got to know our library workers and allies about what their work/library means to them and I invite y'all to take a look. :) Highlights: Equality Forum: Art as Resistance Against Precarity One of the best experiences in the labour movement I had was at the 2016 Summer Institute for Union Women where each session we had featured a local spoken word artist. Art allows history to...

"So..Um...What is it that you do again?"  I spend a lot of time explaining to people what it is I do for the union, so here's a rundown of my activities. I am a proud member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees - local 2950. I am an administrative assistant in the library at the University of British Columbia - that's my day job. Do I get paid extra for my union work? Nope, but I am happy to do it and am committed to make things better for our members. At this point in my life I have the time to go to evening labour council meetings, to attend conventions, to be a shop steward, to sit on both the executive and contract committees, the University Health and Safety Committee... So here's a little bit of a breakdown of what I do for 2950 and for CUPE: Shop Steward As a steward I've had to read the collective agreement numerous times to understand what the responsibilities of the employer and the workers are. I attend grievance meetings, usually with ...