Cost-shared campaigns are often set up to help local unions fight back and win. Your CUPE representative or a Communications rep can work with you to prepare a request for support to the National Executive Board. The request sets out the issue, the campaign strategy and a budget, and confirms the local’s commitment to pay its share of the costs.
Communications specialists are here to help and in most of the country, work out of your regional office. Talk to your CUPE rep about what you want to do and have them connect you with the Communications Branch’s resources.
CUPE’s web site is a tremendous support to union communicators, offering the latest news, facts and arguments, story ideas and campaign materials you can download.
CUPE Communications workshops are offered at regular intervals through the education schools co-ordinated by your Union Development representative. If you need specialized help, speak to your rep about arranging for a course in your region.
CALM, the Canadian Association of Labour Media, is a national co-operative of union newsletters, magazines and TV programs. It provides its member editors with a monthly news and graphics service, computer graphics and a quarterly how-to newsletter. It also holds an annual editor’s conference in the spring of each year, and sponsors an annual awards program for union communications. The organization is supported by dues from member publications, including CUPE National and local unions of CUPE.
Check the CALM web site at www.calm.ca or contact the CALM editor, Rosemarie Bahr, at (416) 1-800-290-2256, roseb@calm.ca or 76 Westmount Avenue, Toronto, ON, M6H 3K1.
The Canadian Labour Congress also has some excellent materials including Making it clear, a guide to clear writing and design for labour communicators.
CUPE’s Communications Branch can be contacted at 1375 St. Laurent Ottawa, Ontario K1G 0Z7. Our e-mail address is comm@cupe.ca, our phone number is (613) 237-1590 and our fax number is (613) 237-5508.
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