CUPE National would like to state that it does not support the resolution passed by the Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee (OUWCC) of CUPE Ontario on February 22, 2009. The views expressed in the resolution are those of a small number of CUPE Ontario members. The resolution does not represent CUPE National policy.
CUPE is made up of autonomous provincial divisions and local unions, each of which has the right to adopt policies independent of one another, and independent of the national union.
As a national union, we are governed by policy resolutions adopted at our national conventions. The promotion of peace and social justice is an integral part of CUPE’s work since its founding 46 years ago.
CUPE’s national policy on the Middle East was fully debated and adopted at our 2003 National Convention and reaffirmed at the 2007 National Convention.
That policy states that we:
“Demand that the Israeli Government immediately withdraw from the occupied territories and abide by UN Resolutions 242 and 338;
Call for and actively work towards an end to all acts of violence that take the lives of innocent people, whether they be Palestinian or Israeli; and,
Help develop a peace process based on equality between Israelis and Palestinians and based on the implementation of United Nations resolutions and international law.”
