A strong and united CUPE means ensuring every voice is heard. A crucial part of that is inspiring and inviting equity-deserving members, like Indigenous, Black, and racialized members, to participate in local union meetings and activities. Keep reading to find out how you can boost the participation of these members in your local.

Here are some tips to consider:

  • Amplify the work already being done by Indigenous, Black, and racialized members. Find out which spaces Indigenous, Black, and racialized members are already involved in, such as local volunteer organizations or community groups, and see if there’s an opportunity to collaborate or amplify their work.
  • Show solidarity with members who are migrant workers. CUPE has more members with temporary work permits than ever before. With the 2024–2025 immigration changes, these CUPE members are facing challenges like even more precarious work status, expiring work permits, and risks of deportation. The Temporary foreign workers in our union: A solidarity and action guide suggests showing union solidarity with migrant workers in the local. Here are some tips:
    • Identify and address structural barriers, like language, in the local that prevent migrant workers from fully participating in the union. For example, offer collective agreement orientation sessions and consider translation services in the languages that migrant workers speak.
    • Create committees for migrant worker participation.
    • Organize events, such as inviting migrant worker organizations to host lunch-and-learns, celebrating significant cultural days, or holding a community barbecue.
    • Attend rallies, sign petitions, and participate in virtual or in-person events.
  • Host events for commemorative days or months. Organizing lunch-and-learns or events for commemorative days or months can increase participation of Indigenous, Black, or racialized workers. Locals can hold events to honour dates of cultural importance to their diverse members, such as Ramadan, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Yom Kippur, or the Lunar New Year.
  • Create an equity committee, such as a Racial Justice Committee or an Indigenous Council.
  • Add an equity or diversity seat to your local executive. When an Indigenous, Black or racialized member sees someone who looks like them and has similar lived experiences on the executive, they may feel more comfortable and be more motivated to engage in union activities. Check your bylaws to see what is needed to add a seat (example, a resolution, an amendment, advance notice, etc.).
  • Create a position within the local assigned to support Indigenous, Black, and racialized members. This position could be an Equity and Diversity Coordinator, an Equity and Diversity Chair, or a member at large assigned to support Indigenous, Black, and racialized members in the local. Members in these positions should be:
    • From one of these equity-deserving groups: Indigenous, 2SLGBTQI+, persons living with disabilities, Black or racialized, women or young workers (age 30 and under).
    • Able to engage equity-deserving members within the union and advise the executive board on topics concerning equity-deserving groups.
    • Able to organize the local and encourage committee participation in commemorative days or months such as Black History Month, International Women’s Day, Pride, Take Back the Night, and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
  • Send members from equity-deserving groups to the National Convention and human rights and equity conferences. Locals can send members from equity-deserving groups to the National Convention, using existing constitutional clauses such as article 6.4 of CUPE’s Constitution, as well as to regional and national human rights, women’s, and equity conferences.
  • Promote leadership development for Indigenous, Black, and racialized members. Open registration to Indigenous, Black and racialized members, track the progression of participants in leadership trainings, and amend book-off language to address equitable opportunities.
  • Collaborate with other unions’ equity or racial justice committees. Check the website of other unions for committees for human rights, workers of colour,
    anti-racism or Indigenous issues. Contact those committees to co-organize events, host joint meetings or other actions to strengthen solidarity among Indigenous, Black and racialized workers.

Resources

CUPE has a range of resources that can give your local ideas on how to increase participation and representation of Indigenous, Black, and racialized members in meetings and throughout your local.

Increasing participation of Indigenous, Black, and racialized members in your local can strengthen union solidarity, expand our pool of leaders and activists, and more.

Every member has a role to play in building an anti-racist CUPE. Check out the other tip sheets in this toolkit and learn more about how you can get involved in our union’s Anti-Racism Strategy: cupe.ca/antiracism.

Download a printable copy of this tip sheet