In 2015, CUPE members will face many challenges at the bargaining table and beyond. Governments at all levels will pursue their cost-cutting agenda. Attacks on our public services, pensions and rights as trade unionists will persist. And together, we will continue to fight back in order to make gains on all fronts. We will continue to fight for good wages, pensions and working conditions for all workers.
But in October 2015 we will also have an opportunity – the opportunity to defeat the Harper Conservative government and elect an NDP government that will fight for everyday Canadians.
Delegates at the last national convention were clear: we have the mandate to work to defeat the Harper’s Conservatives and elect a NDP government that shares our priorities of equality and justice for all.
United, we can succeed in electing the first NDP government at the federal level and accomplish real, positive changes for Canadian workers and their families. Canadians deserve good well-paid jobs, health care when they need it, accessible child care, and a secure retirement. That vision of a fairer future is shared by the NDP. We are just one election away from a government that will deliver on those priorities.
Prime Minister Harper is required by law to call an election on October 19th, 2015 at the latest. That gives us less than 10 months to prepare.
Every single vote will be important. We can win – if we work together. We will need to talk to our families and friends, and convince them to cast their ballot for the NDP. But first, through the Fairness Project, we need to have that conversation within the CUPE family. By reconnecting with our 628,000 members, we will built a powerful machine for political change in Canada.
Our solidarity will be a strong asset for the NDP. We are counting on your involvement and mobilization. Together, we will do our part, so that the Orange Wage goes from coast, to coast, to coast.
Let’s make 2015 the year we elect the first pro-worker federal government in Canadian history.
Happy New Year,
CUPE National President
Paul Moist
CUPE Secretary-Treasurer
Charles Fleury