Reading Our Rights: Labour and Literacy

• Tweet
• 

Canada’s largest union is celebrating International Literacy Day with a new project highlighting inspirational stories of workplace literacy.

“Our union values literacy and essential skills programs, which help workers at work, and in all aspects of life-long learning,” says Paul Moist, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.  “We are pleased to announce this new major initiative to share labour’s literacy stories during this last year of the United Nations Literacy Decade.”

The Reading Our Rights: Labour and Literacy project will invite workers to share their stories of literacy in their lives and of their experiences of labour’s efforts to act on literacy needs and issues. Stories will be featured in videos, displays and an updated edition of the book, A Quest for Learning: The Canadian Labour Movement and Worker Literacy Education.

“The need for training and upgrading has never been greater,” says Sylvia Sioufi, CUPE literacy program coordinator. “This project will inspire our ongoing efforts to improve the lives of workers.”

For over ten years, CUPE has worked with employers, governments and educators to develop workplace-based literacy training. CUPE aims to set up programs that meet its members’ unique needs. Workplace education programs offer courses in writing, reading skills, numeracy, basic computer training and other topics. CUPE’s Literacy Program has also changed how the union and its members interact.

“Workplace education is a right and we challenge all employers to share the responsibility in providing it. Our new project will help make that right a reality,” says Moist.