Our National Executive Board met March 10 – 12, 2020 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: Linda Joyce, Local 1158; Peter Dahl, Local 787; John Fraser, HEU; Dennis Malone, Local 831; Lorne Saunders, retired staff; Yvonne Fast, retired staff.
COVID-19
While the NEB was meeting, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19
a global pandemic. They discussed the impact this would undoubtedly have on our members and our communities. Your National Executive Board continues to meet,
by teleconference, on a regular basis as this public health crisis evolves.
Information Technology
The Board reviewed the annual report on CUPE’s Information Technology. The report highlighted investments made to enhance and stabilize our network infrastructure by moving to the Cloud, in moving our telecommunications to Skype for Business, and in providing staff with laptops in place of desktop computers. All of these investments made our organization more nimble and have vastly improved our capacity to work remotely.
Alberta Fightback Campaign
The NEB approved a request from CUPE Alberta for financial support from
CUPE’s Fightback Fund in order to mobilize members in response to the provincial government’s attack on public sector pension plans and the Canada Pension Plan,
and in anticipation of legislative attacks on the Charter rights of unions and our members.
Regional Trial Panels
On recommendation of the National President, the Board appointed members to serve on regional trail panels. These members will receive training in the coming months and will be called upon to serve on trial committees as needed. The new trial procedure, adopted at our 2019 National Convention, comes into force on June 1st, 2020.
Financial Support
The National Executive Board approved 28 cost-shared campaign requests totaling $988,060.19, and 15 requests for legal support totaling $992,249.57.
