Featuring guests like Jacques Parizeau, former premier of Quebec, CUPE National President Paul Moist, National Secretary-Treasurer Claude Généreux and highlighting the work of Oxfam-Quebec, the 25th CUPE-Quebec convention, begins tomorrow, May 8, 2007. It is expected to be the largest ever with six hundred registered delegates.
The convention, under the theme, Looking to the Future, continues until May 11th. However many delegates arrived early to attend sectoral meetings today, May 7, 2007. The meetings aim to provide province-wide strategy direction for the coming year.
In addition to passing resolutions in areas such as resistance to privatization, pay equity and international solidarity in the face of massive globalization, delegates to the convention are expected to provide significant support to the locked out workers at Quebec City’s Journal de Québec.
The daily’s staff, members of CUPE were locked out by owner Sun Media Corporation, on April 22, 2007. The lockout is seen by many as a move by Sun Media Corporation to bring even more pressure on unionized workers to give up negotiated benefits. Le Journal de Québec is recognized to be a highly profitable media venture.
The newspaper, the worker’s alternative to picketing offers Quebeckers primarily local news. CUPE members publish 40,000 papers per day, from Monday to Friday. The paper will be distributed to convention delegates.
CUPE-QUEBEC is the largest union in the Quebec Federation of Labour with 100,000 members.
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