Our National Executive Board met December 11 – 13, 2018 in Ottawa. These are the highlights of their deliberations and decisions.
In Memory
The National Executive Board (NEB) observed a minute of silence to reflect upon the loss of members in our CUPE family. Remembered were: Carole Morin, Local 4979; Remy Brault, Local 4400; Rick Keep, Local 500; Alfred Sahr Koineh, Local 2348; David Hyde, Local 1975; Tim Powchuk, Local 2268; Nicole (Hasselman) Porciello, Local 15; Joseph (Bud) Shapiro, retired staff; Darlene Dick, retired staff; Gilles Lebel, retired staff; Elias (Elie) Ouellette, retired staff; Darlene Morin, retired staff; Robert Matthews, retired staff.
2019 Budget
After more than a decade of diminished revenue and lower rates of membership growth, our per capita revenue has grown over the past few years. While we know that operational costs will continue to rise, our increased membership (through successful new member organizing and investment income growth) have resulted in more resources available for our 2019 budget.
Our 2019 budget includes 17 new staff positions, with the vast majority allocated directly to servicing our members in all regions.
There are 84 servicing and specialist staff eligible for retirement in the next 24 months, and we anticipate staffing will be a significant challenge for CUPE in the years ahead. To that end, we are updating our recruitment and training plan.
NEB Resolution – Protecting Language Rights in Canada
Recent actions by the Ontario provincial government to threaten the language rights of Franco-Ontarians lead to a discussion at the Board of the importance of bilingualism as a defining characteristic of Canadian cultural identity and the challenges often faced by linguistic minorities in communities across the country.
The NEB adopted a resolution denouncing language-based discrimination in Canada, in all forms, and committed that CUPE will provide leadership by continuing to respect and promote language rights within our union and ensure our members are able to participate in CUPE in their choice of Canada’s two official languages.
Barring a member from CUPE events
The Board received a report regarding an incident of sexual violence that occurred at a CUPE Ontario event earlier in 2018. The incident had been reported to the Ombudsperson at the time, investigated per CUPE’s Code of Conduct, and the offending member was expelled from the event. Upon reviewing the report, the National President determined that it was necessary to bar the member from attending future CUPE events. His decision was supported by the National Executive Board.
Financial Support
The National Executive Board approved 17 cost-share campaign requests totaling $1,980,221.70 and 11 requests for legal and arbitration support, totaling $437,064.53.
