Dear Sisters, Brothers, and Friends:
I am pleased to report that the second quarter of 2022 was extremely busy and productive as Division Conventions took place across the country. Our activities intensified as cross-country travel increased and both in-person and virtual events brought CUPE activists together in each region. I was honoured to address and participate in each convention, conference and meeting that I attended. There is nothing like the energy created when we are together in the same meeting space. At the same time, our increased familiarity with virtual events allows for a different type of increased participation.
Division Conventions 2022
For the third year running, some of the Division convention season was transformed on to virtual platforms. Some Division conventions happened in person for the first time since 2019. I attended and brought greetings to the following conventions:
CUPE Alberta virtual Convention March 16 and 17
CUPE New Brunswick virtual Convention – April 1-2
CUPE Saskatchewan Convention – April 25 to 27
CUPE Ontario virtual Convention – April 27 to 30
CUPE British Columbia Convention – April 27 to May 1
CUPE Newfoundland and Labrador Convention – May 2 to 4
CUPE Prince Edward Island Convention – May 26 and 27
CUPE Nova Scotia Convention – May 29 to June 1
Manitoba Division Convention and the HEU Convention will happen in October and the Quebec Division Convention takes place every second year.
It was a real honour for me to address the delegates and to spend time with the Division Executive Boards. At the in-person events, Mark and I hosted the National Officers’ Breakfast/lunch sessions and this year’s theme was an in-depth update on the Safer Union Spaces work underway to change the culture in CUPE so that we eliminate compliancy or denial that sexual violence, harassment and many forms of discrimination take place within our union. Most significantly we spoke of the work taken on to review our complaint processes, investigate implementing an Independent Ombudsperson Office and to increase and intensify our prevention work in every area of our union.
In my convention remarks I thanked delegates for the incredible support and trust of the members and locals across the country electing me at convention last fall. I pledged to never forget where I’ve come from, and I promised to live up to my campaign pledge to work with every level of CUPE to build greater union power, so that together we can make real gains for our members and the entire working class. I also addressed another priority – the issue of equity in our leadership structures, and our staff.
I committed to delegates that I am working with our staff union’s bargaining agent representatives, and with CUPE’s Human Resources Department, to explore how we can accelerate employment equity beyond what we are already doing. My message was clear – I think our progress has been too slow and we must do better. We can’t be a strong, democratic, responsive, and progressive union if our leadership bodies, and our staff, don’t reflect the full diversity of our members and communities.
Ontario Council of Hospital Unions
In April, I addressed the annual convention of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU). Their membership – primarily women and many who are racialized – has suffered greatly under Bill 124 and Doug Ford’s mismanagement of the pandemic. They are in a tough round of bargaining, fighting to reverse real wage losses. In their case they do so without the right to strike, and so CUPE National has invested heavily in their bargaining campaign efforts in this last quarter. OCHU is working in coalition with other healthcare unions in a significant communication and mobilizing push, with both air (advertising) and ground (organizing and communications) campaigns.
Ontario School Board Council of Unions
In early June, I attended and addressed the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) convention in Windsor. Representing more than 55,000 education workers in Ontario, they have recently served notice to bargain in advance of their August collective agreement expiry. Under Ontario legislation, they will bargain wages, job security, and other central issues on behalf of all CUPE education workers in the province.
The OSBCU has been working hard to organize members to be strike-ready for the fall. Their members need to see real wage gains to make up for years of wages losses under Doug Ford and Bill 124. I addressed their annual convention in early June and pledged the support of the national union as they build bargaining power and potentially exercise strike action to achieve their goals.
Ontario School Board workers’ wages have increased by an average of 9% over a 10-year period. Inflation over that same period has increased by 19.5%. It is absolutely crucial that this bargaining round secures a significant wage increase for members to help make up the ground that has been lost. This will be an important round of bargaining for the entire union, and represents CUPE’s largest bargaining table anywhere in the country.
At this NEB meeting I will present a motion regarding OSBCU’s access to strike averting funds. I am proposing funding approval before the strike votes occur. This approval is on an exceptional basis as the vast majority of the school board members are on lay off for the summer as bargaining occurs. Strike votes will be held in the fall when the schools are reopened and members get back to work.
Quebec Provincial Council of Municipalities Convention (CPSM)
It was with great pleasure that I went to the Quebec Provincial Council of Municipalities convention on May 18. The convention was well attended and welcomed back Local 301, Montreal outside workers in their ranks. Over 250 people participated. During this 20th meeting, delegates heard from their executive board on the upcoming challenges for the municipal sector, including the impact of inflation on municipal budgets and the upcoming rounds of bargaining that will be more difficult in this context.
I was pleased to be there for the conference on Human Rights, led by our Human Rights Representative, Julie Girard-Lemay. She was able to make the delegates aware that systemic discrimination was present in our workplaces through simple and concrete examples. I look forward to participating to the third Human Rights Conference for the Quebec Region next fall.
CUPE National Audits
Although many chartered organizations continue to experience disruptions due to the pandemic, it continues to be a busy audit season for Secretary-Treasurers and Trustees across the country. My office continues to receive a significant number of Trustees’ Audit Report submissions. A big thank you to all of the local Trustees and Treasurers who are working so hard to get these completed.
At CUPE National, our external auditors are back to a combination of in-person and virtual work. They have completed their extensive annual review of our finances and financial systems. Our CUPE National Trustees conducted their annual audit of 2021 in June. Both audit reports will be presented at this NEB meeting.
I would like to recognize the very important work of our Trustees and our staff at the National office who worked very hard to create the conditions for success and to support these evolving processes. Specifically, I wish to thank Meliza Fournier and Tammy Griffin for their support of the Trustees and their work.
Zoom Support for Locals
Following Sister Ranalletta’s proposition made at a previous NEB meeting to explore the possibility of making ZOOM licences available for our locals to use when needed, I am pleased to inform you that we will kick start a pilot project in BC. We will purchase ten licenses to be managed by staff at the BCRO on a first come, first serve basis. This pilot project of a couple of months will permit us to iron out any wrinkles that could come up before we expand it to all regions in the country.
In collaboration with our IT department and my office, we will be working with the region in assigning the licenses, creating an easy access calendar for bookings and making sure proper training is provided to staff and locals if need be.
The pandemic has forced us to change our ways of doing business, one of them being virtual or hybrid meetings. It is important we give our locals the tools they need to successfully run their activities and keep an active and efficient communication line with their members even when meeting in person is not possible.
NEB Safer Union Spaces Working Group
The working group and key senior staff met for a strategic planning meeting in February 2022. The meeting ended with the creation of an agreed upon workplan that identified key issues and the way forward. NEB members and staff/branches have been identified to work together on each of these priority areas.
In addition to dedicated staff from the national branches, the work is being resourced with two additional full-time supernumerary positions:
Anne Healy will be responsible for putting together a proposal for an independent Office of the Ombudsperson after a review of all our complaint processes and doing a comprehensive analysis of other organizations programs. In addition, Anne will oversee recommendations and development regarding enhanced mediation and restorative practices in CUPE as part of this work.
Sylvia Sioufi will direct the work within National Services and Organizing and Regional Services to coordinate implementation of the workplan including such areas as prevention, education, bystander training, awareness programs, equity member leadership training, supports for locals and other aspects of the extensive culture change that is required. In addition, Sylvia will assist Human Resources in advancing the necessary aspects of the plan.
My goal is to report to each NEB meeting on concrete changes to policy and practice as we achieve each step of the plan. Some of the work will require drafted constitutional amendments for our next National Convention in the fall of 2023.
Regional Office Re-Opening Plans and Vaccination Policy
Phase 2 of our office re-openings began on March 28 and progressed gradually so that as of May 30 we moved to Phase 3 with our offices fully reopened.
Our COVID policy has been implemented and as previously reported in March, is being administered based on an honour system. We have implemented a QR code for screening which is available at every office. There is no requirement for staff, members or visitors to provide proof of their attestations. Unvaccinated staff, visitors and members or those who have not disclosed their vaccination status will need to conduct a COVID-19 rapid test before entering the workplace or attending CUPE sponsored events. Masks continue to be required when moving around in CUPE spaces or when sitting in proximity. The policy has been reviewed by the senior staff and status quo will remain in place until at least August 1, 2022, as it will be reviewed again on July 15 with the hope of being able to lift some of the measures in place.
We have received 1,400 free rapid covid testing kits provided to organizations from the federal government and we have purchased another 2,000 tests. They will be made available to staff as needed. We are also providing testing kits to Union Education to be at onsite workshops where necessary.
CUPE Staff Bargaining Update
I am pleased to report that the first and largest of our seven CUPE staff bargaining tables has been successfully concluded after three long days of bargaining and has been ratified by the National Executive Board. The minutes of settlement include a four-year deal which both parties agreed to recommend.
The overall settlement is one which recognizes and respects the hard work staff do for CUPE members.
We have had productive conversations with many of our other staff unions and hope to reach fair settlements following the pattern set with CSU.
Further dates for COPE, SEIU, both UNIFOR groups, CDU and CEU will be taking place over the next few weeks.
NSTO Staffing Updates
I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Andrea Addario to the position of Executive Assistant to the National Secretary-Treasurer effective May 16, 2022. Andrea is fully bilingual and brings over 20 years of experience in CUPE, having worked as a Servicing Representative, a Communications Officer, and most recently in the Union Education Branch. She was also the Communications Director for former Mayor David Miller in Toronto. In June, Andrea will represent CUPE and the labour movement at the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conferemce.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Anne Healy for her support and dedication to the office of the Treasurer over the past eight years. As mentioned above, I am excited to share that Anne has accepted the offer from Mark and myself to serve in the capacity of Senior Advisor, Office of the Independent Ombudsperson, as CUPE embarks on an initiative and recommendation from the Safer Spaces Working Group to develop a comprehensive proposal for the creation of an Independent Ombudsperson’s Office.
Anne’s activism as a progressive feminist is rooted in her work in Women’s Shelters and Women’s Services providing support and advocacy to assaulted women. As a certified mediator, Anne has decades of experience designing and delivering mediation and conflict programs for CUPE locals and staff. Along with extensive collaborative experience at the National level, Anne will bring her organizational and program development skills to this new role. Anne will assume this new role as of July 1, 2022 and will remain in her Executive Assistant role until that time.
Employee Future Benefits Liability
I am very pleased to announce that as of December 31, 2021 we have achieved the goal of recording the full liability for our employee future benefit costs in the liability section on our Balance Sheet. This has been a long and historic road for CUPE.
Prior to 2005, these costs were being recorded on a pay as you go basis, with no liability recognized for the amounts that would be paid out to our employees and their families in their retirement years. This accounting policy was in contravention to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and has resulted in CUPE having a qualified audit opinion all these years. The accounting standards require an organization to record the entire cost of employee benefits over the period in which an employee provides service – in other words, the expected cost of the benefits we expect to pay to an employee in their retirement years are to be recorded on our books by the date they retire.
In 2005 the National Executive Board adopted what has become known as the Employee Benefit Roadmap. This put in place the plan for us to gradually start to recognize the cost of our liability to our employees in their retirement years by recording an extra amount each year over a multi-year period. This was achieved by adding some of this cost to our operating budget as an additional expense in every year since 2005. The extra amount recorded started at $580,000 in 2005 and the Roadmap was a plan to increase that amount by $900,000 in each operating budget until we got the liability fully recorded.
I am very pleased to report that we achieved this result as at December 31, 2021, a full two years earlier than was projected by Don Smith, CUPE’s pension and benefits advisor. This was achieved partly because we recorded $18 million in unrealized gains on our investments last year and were able to book an extra $5 million last year due to prolonged reduction in travel costs and other expenses due to COVID.
Now that we have achieved our goal, the objective changes for us. The next step is to ensure we have some stability in this area. These future benefit cost change every year and are highly dependent on things like economic forecasts, interest rates and the expected rise in future health care costs to name a few. Although we are hopeful that our 2022 budget, which is still based on the Roadmap, will result in our expenses being higher than necessary, we will continue to follow the Roadmap for the remainder of our 2022 financial reporting. We will reassess the budget for 2023 and will only have a clearer picture of how we fare at the end of 2022 once we get our next actuarial valuation report.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2022
GENERAL FUND
Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet)
The total assets in the General Fund at March 31, 2022 were $350.9 million compared to $351.8 million at December 31, 2021. The items of significance are discussed below.
The bank balance at March 31, 2022 was $16.7 million down $1.7 million from the balance at December 31, 2021. The bank balance includes various internal cash reserves which are set aside for the 2023 convention, retirement payouts, future benefits funding, property maintenance and the Regional Building Fund.
The total liabilities in the General Fund were $305.1 million at March 31, 2022 down from $308.1 million at December 31, 2021.
The true Future Employee Benefit Liability as calculated by our Actuary at December 31, 2021 stood at $240.3 million, in comparison to $244.6 million at the end of 2020. The December 31, 2021, Balance Sheet has recorded a liability of $240.3 million meaning the liability is now fully recorded on our Balance Sheet.
In the first quarter of 2022, partly due to negative performance of the investment markets, we recorded an overall decrease of $2.4 million in the booked liability, bringing the total recorded liability at March 31, 2022 to $240.7 million.
The Fund Balance at March 31, 2022 is $45.8 million of which a total of $3.4 million is restricted as follows: Convention and National Events Assistance Fund $994,000 and Regional Building Fund, $2.4 million. Of the remaining Fund Balance, we have invested $67 million in fixed assets leaving a negative unrestricted balance of $24.7 million. This means that all the equity in the General Fund is spoken for either in terms of being allocated for a restricted purpose or tied up in fixed assets.
Statement of Operations
The operating surplus for the year-to-date is $2.1 million, compared to a budgeted deficit of $1.9 million or a variance of just over $4 million. Per Capita revenue is over budget by $1.1 million and total revenue is under by $3.8 million due primarily to an unrealized loss of $6 million in our investment accounts caused by a marked decline in the financial markets in the first quarter of the year. Total expenses are under budget by $7.8 million.
Salaries are virtually on budget, current benefits are over budget by $400,000 and future benefits, excluding the provision to add the investment gains and losses to the liability, are over budget by $384,000. Directors and Representatives salaries are over budget by 2.5% or $372,000 while Administrative and Technical Salaries are 1.7% or 53,000 over budget. Clerical salaries are under budget by 2.9% or $139,000. Vacation Relief is under budget by 50% or $203,000.
Cumulatively, the other operating expenses including Programs are $4.1 million under budget. Below are some of the more significant items:
- Operational Travel costs are $1.3 million under budget due primarily to reduced business travel.
- Fixed Staffing Costs are $618,000 under budget largely due to reduced vehicle travel so far in the year.
- Overall programs for the national departments are $599,000 under budget for the first quarter largely due to timing of expenditures incurred.
- Strategic Directions is $492,000 under budget to this point in the year.
- EAP Care Costs are $88,000 over budget.
NATIONAL DEFENCE FUND
Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet)
As at March 31, 2022, we have $24 million in Total Assets compared to $23.3 million at December 31, 2021. The cash balance at March 31, 2022 is $2.3 million down $3.9 million from December 31, 2021. In addition, we have investments totalling $19.5 million on the books at March 31, 2022, up $4.8 million from December 31, 2021. The increase due to additional funds moved from cash into investments during the first quarter of 2022.
Under Liabilities we have accounts payable and accrued liabilities of $270,000 at March 31, 2022 compared to $1.8 million at December 31, 2021. There is also $10.7 million in cost-shared campaigns’ liabilities which have increased by $330,000 from December 31, 2021. Finally, $549,000 is owed to the General Fund at March 31, 2022.
At March 31, 2022, the Fund Balance was $12.5 million, compared to $11.1 million at December 31, 2021.
Statement of Operations
Cost-Shared Campaigns: In the first quarter, the National Executive Board approved a total of $1,683,597 in cost-shared campaigns with an annual budget of $4.4 million. There was a recovery of $1.1 million in unused funds from prior years cost-shared campaigns that have been closed out during the first quarter of the year.
Major Organizing: Expenses were $590,226 against an annual budget of $4.25 million.
National Strategic Initiatives: Expenses were $616,927 against an annual budget of $2.85 million.
Regional Strategic Initiatives: Expenses were $142,776 with a budget for the year of $2.375 million.
NATIONAL STRIKE FUND
Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet)
Total Assets in the National Strike Fund as of March 31, 2022 were $139.5 million, up $2.8 million from December 31, 2021. These assets consisted of $2.6 million in cash, $2.2 million in per capita receivable and $134.6 million in investments.
Under Liabilities we have accounts payable and accrued liabilities totalling $863,000, and $6,000 due to the General Fund.
Statement of Operations
Revenue into the Strike Fund, including investment income, was $3.6 million and expenditures of $919,000, resulting in a surplus before unrealized gains of $2.7 million. There was an unrealized gain of $591,000 recorded on our Strike Fund investments in the first quarter of 2022.
Strike Related Expenses: $419,516
Strike Averting Expenses: $292,228
Legal and Arbitration Expenses: $164,422
Bargaining Rights Legal Challenges: $47,720
STRIKES, LOCKOUTS AND SETTLEMENTS
Local 301 (QC) – Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal, 27 members who were on rotating strike since January 24, 2022, ratified a new collective agreement on April 4, 2022.
Local 401 (BC) – Vancouver Island Regional Library, 17 members on strike from March 9 to April 12, 2022.
Local 3939 (QC) – Montreal Casino, 545 members on strike since May 14, 2022.
Local 5454 (QC) – Société québécoise du cannabis, 150 members on strike since May 17, 2022.
PER CAPITA ARREARS
For the quarter ended March 2022 the total arrears were $4,801,492 which was a decrease of $4,310,431 or 47.31% from the previous quarter ended December 2021. Total arrears have decreased 5.51% as compared to March 2021.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) REPORT
With the second quarter of 2022 well underway, the IT Branch continues to work on approved plans for the replacement of CUPE’s Per Capita Tax system (PCIS), new releases of the MRMS, enhancements to CUPE’s Avanti Human Resource Management System, CUPE’s Information Management Project and finally, strengthening CUPE’s IT Security posture.
Per Capita System Re-Development
The PCIS project is in a testing phase. The focus is on data entry, the user interface and the required integration with CUPE’s financial system. The new system is targeting a go live for late Q4 2022.
Avanti Human Resources System Enhancements
The project to enhance the tracking and reporting of position management for the Avanti system was implemented successfully in April 2022. The next key item in the pipeline is Recruitment/Onboarding Implementation (September 2022 – November 2022).
Member Relationship Management System (MRMS) Enhancements
The IT Dev team continues to work with the Alberta Region and Organizing & Regional Services (ORS) on the rollout of an electronic form specific for members of Alberta locals to fill out online for opting in to pay the Non-Core dues that complies with the new Bill 32 legislation. ORS has successfully conducted online training to Alberta locals to use the new electronic form in MRM LUI.
The IT Development team remains focused on a new Strike Fund project with the objective to implement a system that will automate workflow processes, create the ability to fill out forms online, expedite the approval and reporting processes online. This will eliminate the problem of maintaining and managing paper forms, the delay in collecting signatures and providing the necessary reporting and auditing requirements.
The project is in the development phase. This will be followed by the user acceptance testing phase tentatively scheduled for Q3, 2022 with an anticipated release of the new system slated for Q4, 2022.
Lastly, the IT Development team, in collaboration with ORS, are in the implementation planning stage for releasing the MRM LUI enhancement for tracking and reporting on organizing drives.
Information Management (IM) Solution
CUPE is moving forward with the implementation of a bilingual, IM Solution called (CUPEdocs | DocsSCFP) based on Microsoft 365 tools. The first phase of the project for 2022 will focus on implementing the IM solution for CUPE National with the objective of rolling out the IM solution across all regions in 2023.
The National Secretary-Treasurer’s Office (NSTO) is the IM Solution pilot group. As part of the planning and discovery phase, the IM Project Team met with NSTO for an initial consultation which was then followed by workshops and meetings that helped the project team understand current information management habits, and what unique information needs staff have throughout NSTO. With the information gathered, the IM Project Team is currently focused on the design and build phase specific to the needs of the NSTO. The IM Project Team will be moving to address the IM needs of the National President’s Office (NPO) next.
IT Infrastructure and Improving CUPE’s IT Security Posture
With the increase in security threats, it is imperative that we continue to enhance our security measures and vigilance to protect CUPE resources. We will move next to implementing an antimalware solution on CUPE’s Smartphone fleet and then to an enhanced password policy. Stronger more complex passwords will allow CUPE to further strengthen its security posture and protect users and CUPE information.
PROPERTIES AND LEASEHOLDS
The Property Management Team continues to implement and manage the COVID preventive measures to maximise the safety of our staff as they return to the office. The measures include daily disinfection of points of contacts, increased ventilation and fresh air, supply of masks, hand disinfectant, and COVID preventive measures signage.
Due to COVID related budgetary restrictions and associated uncertainties related to how we will return to the office, CUPE has continued to opt for short or medium-term lease renewal strategies where possible.
During this second quarter of the year, we are pursuing a renewal and expansion agreement in New Glasgow, negotiating for new space in Sydney and Oshawa, and are looking at the Regina real estate market in order to evaluate various opportunities for a long-term solution relating to the Saskatchewan Regional Office.
We completed the fit-up and moved into our new space in Fort McMurray, and have started the leasehold improvements for our new space in Gatineau. We continue to work on the Manitoba Regional Office expansion project and are also performing capital investments in several of our properties, including numerous security systems upgrades.
We have submitted an offer to purchase a 9,000 square foot parcel of land that has been listed for sale immediately adjacent to the Ottawa Area office. This property will allow us to very positively complement our land holdings at the national office complex and will increase the overall value of our real estate asset in a significant manner.
We hope to complete our due diligence on this transaction over the next few months. There will be a motion brought to this NEB meeting for approval of this transaction.
We are reviewing the design of our offices and looking at different ways they can better serve our operational requirements. In light of recent developments in real estate markets, and of new realities highlighted by this pandemic period, we seek to improve our facilities and better align them to our new realities.
CONFERENCES AND EVENTS
CUPE began 2022 with more virtual meetings as well as a hybrid National Executive Committee and Board Meeting in March. Since then, we have been busy scheduling and rescheduling both virtual and in-person meetings throughout 2022.
Our 2022 All Committees Meeting originally set to take place in March at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa has been rescheduled for later in the year and will take place from October 31 to November 3, 2022, at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Even though this meeting was rescheduled, the national committee staff advisors and co-chairs still had an opportunity to meet virtually in a plenary session and in their individual committee meeting on March 28, 2022, allowing them the opportunity to meet and discuss their roles and expectations of the committees for the next two years. Several of the committees have met virtually already this year and I have had the opportunity to bring greetings to some of them.
This National Executive Committee and Board meeting is being held using a hybrid model however for the June Board meeting, we are back to full-day meeting for the first time since our initial shutdown in March 2020. In addition to these meetings, we also had a hybrid Directors’ Meeting which took place at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa from June 14 to18, 2022.
Our National Sector Council Conference will be held in Ottawa October 3-6, 2022.
While CUPE is busier than ever planning for both virtual and in-person events, we are hopeful that the conferences and meetings scheduled for this fall will take place as planned which will allow our members and staff to gather to full capacity once again.
PENSION ADMINISTRATION
The retirees’ inflation protection payments were made in June 2022 as a result of the January 1, 2022 actuarial valuation and in accordance with Plan provisions. Effective January 1, 2022, members who retired prior to January 1, 2021 had their pension benefits payable from the CEPP increased by 4.61%. This rate was proportionally adjusted for those who retired in 2021. The June payments also included a retroactive adjustment for the period from January 1 to May 31, 2022. A letter with indexation details was sent to all retired members in May.
The Joint Board of Trustees held a JBT meeting in June to discuss ongoing issues and activities of the pension plan.
The auditors of the CUPE Employees’ Pension Plan have completed the 2021 Pension Fund audit and the 2021 Financial Statements will be filed with the Regulators in June.
The spring edition of the CEPP newsletter “Pension Connection” is available on the CEPP website.
The Pension Plan staff is currently working on the preparation of the 2021 Pension Plan Annual Statements for all plan members. Active plan members will also have access to their 2021 annual statements through the Plan’s website at www.cepp.ca for pension estimates purposes.
A motion was adopted at the recent JBT naming myself the Chair of the board for the remainder of 2022 and the Vice Chair for 2023. I wish to thank Charles Fleury for his leadership as chair of the JBT up until June of 2022. Charles will remain on the JBT as CUPE Trustee.
CUPE appointed a new alternate Trustee, Alison Davidson, who is replacing Cavelle Lane.
Retirements
- William Lee Mossman, B.C. Regional Office – June 1, 2022
- Susan Arab, Ontario Regional Office – July 1, 2022
- Joseph Matasic, Ontario Regional Office – July 1, 2022
- Christine C. Lang, Peterborough Area Office – July 1, 2022
- Sheena M. Murdoch, Kelowna Area Office – August 1, 2022
- Jodi Andre, B.C. Regional Office – September 1, 2022
- Yves Lalonde, Quebec Regional Office – October 1, 2022
- Denise-Anne Magnus, B.C. Regional Office – October 1, 2022
- Danielle Lamy, Quebec Regional Office – October 1, 2022
- Sylvie M. Ouellet, Human Resources Department – March 1, 2023
- Joseph C. Leonard-Boland, Research, Job Evaluation, Health and Safety Branch – May 1, 2023
CONCLUSION
As the second quarter of 2022 comes to a close, I feel enormous pride in the work that is taking place across the country in every part of CUPE. As I get to meet more leaders, activists and staff across the country my resolve strengthens. In my role of CUPE National Secretary-Treasurer I will continue to support each and every campaign, bargaining table, and effort that we take on to improve the lives of our members and our communities.
Respectfully submitted,
CANDACE RENNICK
National Secretary-Treasurer
