As part of our union’s commitment to learn from the experiences and celebrate the successes of Black, Indigenous and racialized CUPE members, CUPE is profiling members of the National Indigenous Council and National Racial Justice Committee. This month, meet National Indigenous Council member Brandon Murdock. 

Brandon Murdock understands the importance of education. He also understands that sometimes people need some assistance and guidance to overcome barriers on their education journey.  

“With high school students in the inner city from grades 8 to 12, there’s this huge graduation gap. So our job is making sure that vulnerable kids in a lower socio-economic status don’t face too many barriers to graduate.” 

Helping youth overcome barriers he faced 

Murdock is a support worker at Community Education Development Association’s Pathways to Education Program in Winnipeg. He helps students overcome barriers to graduating high school. He is also a CUPE 2348 member and member of CUPE’s National Indigenous Council.  

“We do recruitments in schools, so we work with specific schools in the North End, we give students an incentive every month. We give them a bus pass. If they don’t need a bus pass, they’ll get a gift card. Little rewards every month for the hours they put in. A main component is also food, so we feed them,” says Murdock. 

Murdock knows the value of the Pathways program, not only from his work, but because he came through the program himself when he was in high school in 2012. He started to work for CEDA in 2015. 

Guidance in his union education 

Much like his educational journey, it took a little guidance and mentorship to get Murdock involved in his union, CUPE 2348, a composite local that represents many social service workers in the Winnipeg area.  

“I had been working at CEDA for about two, three years. I had been paying all these dues, but was really not aware of where my union dues were going. A more experienced worker just asked me to come and join the bargaining committee so I was like, ‘Ok let’s go.’”  

He describes getting involved in the union by going straight to the bargaining table as “pretty intense” for a young worker. “As a newer worker, you don’t really know the power and the voice you have at the table. So I was mostly just observing a lot during that first round. And it was kind of intimidating at times, knowing where to find your voice.” 

Finding his voice in the union 

But Murdock didn’t let the intimidation he felt in that first round of bargaining stop him. The extra push he got from his co-worker sent him on a path from bargaining committee member, to shop steward, to secretary-treasurer and eventually vice-president of his local. Throughout this journey he has continued to learn, step into new challenges and find his voice at the bargaining table and in his union.  

Murdock made the jump from local union to national committee when he joined the National Young Workers’ Committee. It was through his committee work that he first learned about and reviewed CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy. In looking at the strategy he sees parallels with his own experience of trying to find his place in the union.  

Helping CUPE members overcome barriers 

“When I was starting to get involved, there was some racism toward racialized workers who wanted to try to get involved. I recall one member was trying to apply for an executive [position] and was told, ‘You shouldn’t apply.’ People should be comfortable to put their name forward and if they don’t get voted, then they don’t get voted,” says Murdock. 

He sees CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy as a way to hear from the members directly, especially those who might not feel empowered to make their voices heard within their own locals.  

“Our union is diverse, our people are workers, they need to be represented. If we’re not making space for them to be safe or if they are being hurt in these spaces, they’re never going to get involved. So we need to make sure that we’re making space for all of these people and that their voices are heard. Not only the executives, but we’re making sure that we’re hearing from members directly also.” 

Much like the students that Murdock helps to overcome barriers in completing their education, racialized union members sometimes need support in overcoming the barriers to getting involved in their union. Murdock was fortunate to have supportive co-workers and a supportive president who helped him on his journey.  

“My local president has been very supportive for me ever since I was a shop steward. If it wasn’t for my president, I probably would have just been like, ‘Oh, I’m done with the union.’ But you know, she was very encouraging and made sure I got involved in not only my local, but our provincial executive which I’m on, and the CUPE Manitoba Indigenous Council and the National Indigenous Council that I applied to last year.” 

The union is stronger when everyone is involved  

But there is still a lot of work to be done, Murdock acknowledges, and that’s where CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy comes in.  

“Last CUPE Manitoba Convention, we had about 170 members. I went to my Indigenous Council meeting. I was the only one there. I think we had another person there, but he wasn’t able to come to that meeting. We had two people, two Indigenous members out of 170 members for our convention.” 

He believes that if CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy can encourage more people to get involved in their union, and encourage more executives to send Indigenous, Black and racialized workers to convention, they will see the union as a place to raise their concerns and make their voices heard, which will help develop the next generation of union leaders.  

“We should try to encourage sending young workers, Indigenous workers or racialized workers, so they can learn about what we do at convention. And then maybe they might get involved, and think, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll join the bargaining team. Maybe I’ll join something else.’ It could be very rewarding for someone and inspire them to do that work. I think if we can get some more representation in these rooms, it will be impactful,” says Murdock. 

Learn more about CUPE’s Anti-Racism Strategy including Goal 4, which focuses on highlighting the lived experiences of Black, Indigenous and racialized members and celebrating their successes, at cupe.ca/cupes-anti-racism-strategy. And check out these tips for putting the strategy into action in your local.